If there is a silver lining to having a child attend online-only classes during a worldwide pandemic, it’s that wherever there’s internet, there’s school. Even if it’s at the beach.
Traveling during COVID-19 certainly is not recommended by healthcare experts. Summertime spikes in cases were often attributed to careless vacationers bringing coronavirus back with them along with silly T-shirts and sunburns. Still, like a lot of once-normal things we used to take for granted, traveling safely can be accomplished with some planning and discipline, even while school is in session.
I am sure school officials would glower at the prospect of students racing off on family vacations when they should be studying algebra. But it is possible to do both, especially in this age of asynchronous learning.
And if you don’t know what “asynchronous learning” is, then you probably don’t have a child doing online-only school. Don’t worry, I’d never heard the phrase either until the coronavirus-infected summer of 2020. Basically, it means students don’t need to check in to their classes at any specific time. The assignments are posted online and students have flexibility to do their work whenever the schedule allows.
To my family, that means “road trip.”
Even during real-time online classes — I guess that would be “synchronous learning” — a student can attend from anywhere. That’s why my family used some vacation time last month to visit a friend’s house near a beach. Our daughter did her schooling during the school day, then we boogie-boarded in the chilly waves in the afternoon. The trip brought some sanity and mental replenishment to our lives.
I know other families who have traveled while their children did their schoolwork online. It’s not an optimal way to learn, I’ll admit, but neither is being cooped up in your room during a pandemic watching a teacher lecture for 15 minutes before setting you loose on your “modules,” otherwise known as “classwork.” (The phrases I’ve learned this year.)
The Centers for Disease Control advises everyone to limit traveling during the COVID-19 pandemic. But if you’re going to do it, especially with holidays coming up, I have a few tips for doing it safely and for helping children keep up with their assignments.
First of all, parents should do their homework, too. Research the location where you’ll be traveling and try to avoid COVID-19 hot spots. The CDC’s website has a map that shows places across the United States where the disease is spiking. That map can be found online at https://tinyurl.com/y4a5pbhx.
Even if you travel to a place where cases are not increasing rapidly, wear your masks and stay away from crowds. Don’t make coronavirus just another vacation souvenir you wish you hadn’t picked up.
Make sure you’ll have high-speed internet service. You don’t want to get to Aunt Millie’s cabin by the lake and find out you have no internet.
Let teachers know in advance that your family will be traveling and that there could be times when your child misses class due to being in an automobile or away from internet. Make a plan for your child to have time to make up any missed assignments.
Try to establish a normal schoolday schedule if possible. During our recent beach trip, my daughter skipped some of her afternoon classes on the first day because our family decided to head outside and do something fun. We told her that she could catch up on her work later that evening. This turned out to be not such a terrific idea. My kid had so much work to do after we returned from our outing, she had to stay up extremely late to finish her assignments. My advice is to use the days for school and save the fun stuff for later.
Even though it’s possible to follow class lectures while riding in a car, thanks to wi-fi and cell service and hot spots (the smartphone kind, not the COVID kind), limiting the amount of backseat learning time is recommended. If you can, hit the road during a weekend and set up class at your vacation location.
Don’t forget to pack all necessary notebooks, pens and other school materials. Especially, don’t forget the laptop and charging cords.
Not everyone has the luxury to be able to take vacations or weekend getaways during this pandemic. But if you do, don’t consider it just an ordinary vacation. Just call it a school field trip in the time of COVID-19.
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October 25, 2020 at 10:45AM
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Dadline: How to travel during a virtual school year - Roanoke Times
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