On March 13, 2020, we took Morgan out of school early for the March Cruise. This was not an unusual event. We often took Morgan out of school early on Friday to leave for a cruise down river, but on this occasion, the office did not give us a hard time. If fact, not a question was raised and no one reminded us that school resumed Monday so don’t be late. It was if they didn’t even care if Morgan returned to school.
They didn’t care because school didn’t resume Monday, or the following the week, or the following month. In fact, school never resumed again and this was the beginning of the national and even worldwide lockdown. People weren’t allowed to leave their homes unless they needed food or building supplies…you could remodel your home but you couldn’t float down the river. This period of my life was without doubt the craziest, most counter intuitive moments during my entire life on this earth. It also became a political lightning rod (as a learned quarrey, how did we know a person wearing a mask outside or alone in a car voted Biden? And, why? The answer should prove to show that liberals and conservatives don’t only think differently, but psychologically are different.).
At some point, the school tried to institute “Distant Learning Protocols” made up of zoom classes amounting to teachers reading lessons directly from text books normally sent home as homework. Morgan’s frustration mounted evermore with every passing day. I walked through the hallway one day and heard the teacher on reading on Morgan’s computer.
I asked, “What is your teacher reading from?” hoping to hear Shakespare or other difficult text.
“The history lesson we had for homework,” she replied in a tone clearly suggesting a rolling of her eyes. “No one bothered to read the lesson so she’s making us listen to her read it.”
In my mind I laughed at the insanity but outwardly I accepted Morgan’s disgust at the situation. “Did you read the lesson?”
Morgan replied. “Yes, and now I have to listen to again. And the people who didn’t do the reading aren’t even listening; they may not even be in the same room as their computers.”
“How do you know that?” I asked a bit surprised.
“They have their cameras off and when the teacher asks a question, they never reply. Even when she asks a direct question to one of the other kids, no one answers.” Morgan turned her computer screen toward me and I observed that all but a couple of the student’s cameras and microphones were turned off. Clearly, most of the kids in Morgan’s class were not taking education seriously and a good education requires good students. Morgan had to get out of this impossible situation.
The search for a homeschooling program began. With these schools having many years teaching students under these conditions, and no possible return to in-school learning even discussed, we needed to make a change for the benefit of Morgan. We didn’t take this search lightly because it was our child’s future. After many months of reading reviews and discussing the possibilities with educators and parents, we settled on a large school admitted in several states. We were impressed by the school’s record for sending students to college and the teachers’ commitment to their students’ performance in their classes.
But finding the school was just the first hurdle. As it turned out, changing school in the middle of COVID was a political issue. How can educating your child become politically polarizing? I’m guessing many people were disappointment in the public schools’ responses to distant learning and these parents sought alternatives. Unfortunately, the alternatives were not supported by the teacher’s union and this resulted in our state government barring many parents from changing their student’s school. We did not take “no” for an answer and eventually Morgan was allowed to change her school, but before we succeeded she had to attend two months of her former public school and their pathetic attempt at homeschool.
Morgan has done well in homeschooling and enjoyed the process since the beginning, which allows us to travel away from the geographical constraints of her physical school. Our goal to complete America’s Great Loop just became more in reach. Addressing Morgan’s needs is our most important concerned; at least until we get her into college and finding a school she likes and able to provide a good education is a huge relief on us, even after the COVID Stay-at-Home order lifts.
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