Online Vs Traditional School

It is no competition. Traditional school is of course better in every possible way. Let's be clear of that.

Since March 2020, we have been on online school. Some days are great but some days I wonder if we should even bother attending them. Most of the time, I just wish and pray it would end and my kids can go back to physical school. They miss their friends.

Back in March, after being in lockdown for a while and not having any interactions with their friends and teachers, they were both very excited to see them online. I remember the first week of online class. No one was actually learning anything as they were just excited to see their friends and not focusing at all. Teachers also struggled to keep the class quiet before they discovered how to mute everyone.It was a learning process for all. It is not easy for everyone involved and certainly not an ideal environment. 

Parents are struggling to find a spot for the kids to do the class. Imagine having more than 1 kid. It is so hard to walk around the house when class is in session too. We have to mind our conversations because the other side could be listening and it can be distracting. I've heard so many parents talking in the background many times. I've even heard them shouting and screaming to their staff too(they were working from home). There's also connectivity problems here and there that parents need to be on top of because I can promise you there will be at least once when they cant connect due to poor wifi. We have to be on standby. My new job this year is IT Support. Gosh I hate this title so much!

Kids are struggling because online classes can get really boring sometimes. It is not the same as being in school. Getting the help from teachers is harder to do online than offline. Distractions at home too when the fridge(and snakcs) are just a feet away. They're constantly snacking throughout class and it is not so simple to just stop them from getting drinks during class. 

Teachers are struggling too. It is so much easier to manage a class on site than online. You dont know who is paying attention and who just doze off when you're online. Bless them. They do try and I do feel for the teachers. It is really not easy. They also miss the kids a lot. Most teachers will tell you that they prefer traditional school too.

On top of everything else..... we pay school fees to have our kids in school and getting all the benefits of being there. Some schools dont offer much discount. Parents are paying more to keep their kids home. Yes, their safety is number 1 in everything but we cant discount the fact that we are paying for something we are not getting 100%. 

I wish schools would be more understanding to the fact that online class is not for everyone. Some parents requested to pull their kids out of school (and not attend online class at all) but this is not allowed by most schools. The standard withdrawal procedure would apply in such cases but we are living in Covid time here. Shouldnt they take this into consideration too? Most schools are money making machine and fortunately for them, despite this pandemic they are still making money. I dont think this is fair.

For me, I am grateful that we have an option to send our kids to online school because most arent so lucky. Government school kids dont really have this option and some dont even have electronic devices to support online lessons. So yes, I am grateful that we still have this option BUT I feel the pain in the pocket having to pay so much for something that shouldnt necessarily cost this much. We dont have that option to just opt out at this point but if we did, maybe I might just opt for that. My kids wont miss much academically if I take them out of school completely. I'm not worried about that. For me, the social aspect of school is important too. But like I said, the policy and procedures that we have to follow is such, we cant do that.

I miss seeing my kids playing with their friends in person. They interact and play with their friends online daily but it isnt the same. I miss sending them off to school and listening to their stories when I pick them up. I miss seeing them do stuff other than being on their devices all day every day. 

Covid, please go away!