Back to school

Back to School 2020

3rd grader, 7th grader, 10th grader, SENIOR

I think enough time has past that I can post about the kid’s back to school online year without crying. It has been a somber affair. My two high schoolers have 4 classes per quarter. The school district was in a battle over class schedules before school started and this is what we ended up with. So for now 4 classes a day but moving at double the speed they would normally (a typical year long class finishing in a semesters time and a semester long class finishing in a quarters time.) They spend an hour on zoom per class with breaks and then have 30 minutes per class to work by themselves. They start at 9 am and end around 2:30 with their zoom and then have their own work time after that. Things have been going ok. Julia is not loving her online ceramics class but to give the class some credit she is working with ceramics clay almost everyday. Julia is missing her friends and spends most her lunch breaks talking to them over zoom. 

Natalie’s schedule is more normal with her 6 periods. She has 3 periods a day with a homeroom. She alternates classes every other day. She spends most of her day on zoom with classes.  In 2020 we have learned what “zoom bombing” is. If you don’t know what that is look it up! And according to Julia “a federal offense.”

Lucy was excited for school to start even with it online. The night before she was so excited she couldn’t sleep. She has a two to three live zoom meetings a day with work she is supposed to do by herself mixed in. She starts at 9 am and finishes around 2:30 everyday. It seems to be going okay. She is working on multiplication and division and writing her own book. 

The kids seem to be adjusting although at times I can feel their emotional state to be down. A few weeks ago we were riding bikes and we rode by the elementary school. Lucy looked at me and said if I could choose online school or school with masks I would sure choose wearing a mask. That made me so sad. The good news is that maybe by mid-November we might be able to go to in person school 2 times a week. 😬 

Braces

 

Natalie got braces! Looking at her teeth one might not think she needed them but her poor molars are twisted and turned so bad in her mouth her orthodontist said if she didn’t get these on soon that she was going to need to have teeth pulled and would have adult years of alignment problems. We sure hope that it works and her teeth rotate correctly. 

Joy!

 I must be getting old when this is what gives me so much joy! We have been talking about this stupid chimney for far too long and yesterday Mitch made it happen. 

Better late than never?

 Today Julia received her YW medallion. She finished it last November. So ya know, why not wait this long to recognize her? But none the less we are proud of her working really hard and finishing something she put her mind to. She had to speak to all the YW and other ward members today on zoom about her experiences and did a great job!