That may be true or it may not be, but internet schooling is much more difficult for parents than regular schooling. Here, let me list some points.
1. Food is much more of a financial time strain on the family with internet schooling.
Usually with regular school, the kids are eating lunch at the school. We pay something but it is subsidized by the government and is not as expensive. It is not as expensive as making them a lunch every day at home. Home cooking, and my wife is a good cook and tries very hard to keep them fed with good home cooking, not just store bought stuff, adds more to the budget that is for sure.
Also the time. You have to have a breakfast, a snack, a lunch, a snack and a dinner. whoo. So you have to do the shopping for this. It is much more time. Me, I dont prepare so well, so I tend to do a shopping before the meal. But admittedly if I had to do that every day I would go crazy. My wife says, lets do a big shopping once a week and load up. Yes this is better, but we havent gotten to doing it this way EVERY week. So we go back to the fly on the run. Oh darn I have to go to the store and get food. I know this is a first world complaint. For people who have the sickness or live in poorer countries they can not relate to me. What am I complaining about? Well, yes, with the covid pandemic you have to do more shopping. And you have to budget more money for shopping.
2. More responsibility on the back of the parents to help the kids.
I was dumbstruck a couple weeks ago when our younger daughter's teacher started yelling at the kids that their parents were not doing enough to teach the kids!!!!!! A) Who is supposed to be teaching the kids? B) Oh my god, I try to stay available to my daughter every day to help her with the classes I can help her with, Math and English. My wife takes the other classes. We help her every day. My wife often doesnt go to work, or takes a small holiday to help the kids more. Where does this teacher get off....
OK, I dont know what all the teachers are doing. I am not watching them the whole school day, but I do know that my younger daughter's day is finished with internet schooling usually by lunchtime, beginning at 8am. Then what? What does the teacher do? I dont know. But we make lunch and then get going with work and studying. Lets schedule it out: math at so and so and english in the evening. She will do some homework by herself from 1 to 2, walk the dog and then since the weather was pretty decent and no snow nor was it really cold yet, we went to the park several times to play ping pong on the tables there outside. This was during my lockdown in November. That was nice "work", I dont deny, but I am not doing my job. But then again, my kids are my job also. But what is the teacher doing? I can say matter of factly that while the kids are home doing school on line, we, the parents have a lot more work with them in the form of school work, fun work and food. Please teachers, dont make enemies with the parents at this time.
3. More discipline.
Internet schooling is such a pain. Normal school is easy. The kids sit in their chairs and they pay attention. If they dont pay attention then they can get yelled at or chosen to do the next work on the board. Internet schooling, there is no such thing.. The student can turn off her microphone. Ok, you dont need it on all the time, only when you are talking or called upon. But then when it is off you can talk to anyone else and nobody knows. The teacher doesnt know. And then you can turn off your camera too and start looking at your phone or playing a video game or generally not pay attention. I yell at my daughter to pay attention, she yells back saying another student is "at the board" or talking and she doesnt need to have her camera on. Well, pay attention, I say. But Daddy, I know this stuff, it is so boring. Pay attention. Dont get arrogant. Still the same problem with technology, you can be doing three different things when you should be just doing one: paying attention and learning. In school, in person, that happens. With technology on line school, it is a lot easier to wander and lose focus. Thus Dad has to either watch all the time, not possible. Or Dad has to make spot checks and make sure they are paying attention and yell at them if they are not. Not my favorite job.
4. MORE STRESSS. (yes, with three "s" es.)
I dont know what they would be thinking if they think they should use more on line teaching in the future with kids. I, as a parent, decline, disagree, disparage the notion that this would be a good idea. Banish the thought. Parents, and I have more than just anecdotal evidence, are way more stressed with internet schooling.
I just answered a survey to this affect from a professor from North Carolina talking about my experience during covid with school for our K - 12 kids. I am interested to see what she will find out. I will be watching and let you know, hopefully in January.
Are our kids REALLY doing better or about the same as last year before the pandemic? Well even if the kids are not doing so badly, I can tell you that I and my wife are doing worse.
