We’re into the third week of home based learning (HBL). By now, most kids have probably gotten the hang of waking up at 7.45am, and then sitting in front of a laptop by 8am to start their lessons on SLS, or zoom or Google meet.
This is at least true for primary school students. I have been seeing what my primary 4 daughter do this since the start of the circuit breaker (CB).
Full HBL isn’t easy. The kids have to make sure they know how to log on the right websites, and they need to know how to type (and type fast enough to respond).
For parents, we have to make sure the internet is working, and there are enough gadgets or laptops in ratio to the number of children and adults who need to work. And after the homework is done, some of us have to scan or take a photo and submit the homework online. And if there are corrections to be made, the child has to do the corrections and then we have to take photos and submit online again.
For preschoolers, it depends on what the school has planned. My son’s preschool sends a Dropbox link on a daily basis, with tasks for the day. Parents have to print 1 or 2 worksheets so that the child can complete the work.
I know of other preschools that are conducting classes on zoom for a few hours a day. The child is still kept occupied but a gadget has to be involved.
By now, it sounds like i am complaining about the woes of HBL. To be honest, i am not complaining.
I believe that the real inconvenience when full HBL started, was for educators, and i have nothing but appreciation and respect for everything that they are doing.
Yes, i have to get the laptop ready for my primary 4 daughter by 7.45am every morning. But her school Principal is the one who makes it into her office at an even earlier time to get her webcam ready to address the entire school at least twice a week on Facebook live. Through her online session, she keeps the students up to date about the latest announcements and measures, and encourages the students to stay positive, stay safe and stay at home.
Yes, my husband and i may have to scan our daughter’s homework and corrections and upload the work online. But her teachers are the ones who have to then look through 40 sets (and this is only per class) of homework, mark them, and scan or take photos of those that need corrections and send them back to the students. The amount of extra work Teachers have to do way surpasses the inconvenience we have to deal with.
Yes, I may have to check the preschool’s app and Dropbox and then print 1 or 2 pages of worksheets every day. But the school Principal, in an attempt to help parents keep the preschoolers occupied, has also been making story telling videos every day, just so the preschool children have something interesting to engage them. Can you imagine telling stories to a camera and then edit, and then upload online, all on a daily basis?
And at the end of the day, this full HBL is not the school’s fault. It isn’t anyone’s fault. It is just one of the measures put in place to keep everyone as safe as possible during the CB.
Way before the government decided to close schools, there were complaints about school still being open. When the government decided to close the schools, some parents started to complain about having the kids at home all day.
Full HBL is not something that our education system is used to. It isn’t something anyone anywhere is used to. Everything takes time to adjust and fall into place.
With the number of COVID-19 cases still rising, our government just announced yesterday that the CB will be extended till 1st June 2020. The ministry of education later announced that what used to be the June school holidays will take place from 4th May 2020 to 1st June 2020. The kids will then return to school in June, of course, if the situation permits.
This announcement, of course, is then met with all kinds of comments from parents. I shall not elaborate on that because i cannot speak for other parents.
As for me, to be very honest, i am thankful that the ministry made such a decision. It isn’t because it truly is troublesome to have to scan and upload homework, and make sure the child is doing proper work on the laptop. It is because i think our educators deserve a break.
Parents complain about how HBL is run. Some complain about having to print worksheets, some complain about the apps they have to use. Some don’t have enough gadgets to go around in the house.
(There are families who cannot even afford 3 square meals during the CB, while some of us are complaining about the “inconvenience” when our children can still attend classes online.)
I really really hope our educators get to take a breather when May comes. They didn’t ask for the full HBL to happen, and they had to roll with whatever was happening. Not every school was able to prepare hard copies of worksheets to last the kids till May. But I know they are all working hard to make sure our children still have resources for learning.
Really, our educators deserve appreciation and respect more than anything else.
We still have slightly more than one week of HBL before the school holidays begin. If you have a chance to, say thank you to your children’s Teachers and school leaders. Yes, it’s not easy to juggle working from home while helping kids with their HBL. But hey, our educators are doing the same thing, juggling working from home and balancing family life.
To our educators, thank you. Thank you for bearing the inconvenience of home based learning. You deserve more appreciation.
Mummy Priscilla 