It has been been three weeks since Ontario school boards rolled out the distance learning plan for students in junior kindergarten to Grade 12.
Sudbury.com checked in with parents and guardians, and invited them to share their thoughts on how learning at home is going so far.
The majority of parents we spoke to applaud the teachers for making the transition as easy as possible.
"I have so much respect for our teachers," Lynn Kohls said.
Her daughter Kailin is in Grade 11 and although it took time to get back on a regular schedule, "the learning is getting done and the lessons are getting taught, but just as importantly, the students are getting that social interaction that they are missing out on."
Lauren Raymond says she is "really happy with the distance learning the schools have put together."
"My son is in Grade 5 at Redwood Acres," Raymond said. "The school lent us a Chromebook, too, which is a big help. My daughter is in Grade 8 at Confederation. Both her teachers have been sending slides with schoolwork. There were a few hiccups with one teacher’s stuff, but they’re working stuff out. It’s a learning curve for everyone."
Jenna Lyn Dobbs has kids in Grades 3, 5 and 9.
"So thankful my kids have awesome teachers," Dobbs said. "It's not easy. My husband and I are both working full-time (from home), and we are used to working, parenting, cooking, cleaning and volunteering — adding in schooling is tricky but their teachers are making it as easy as it can possibly be!"
But for some parents Sudbury.com spoke to, balancing the kids and keeping up with their full-time jobs is proving to be a challenge.
Nathalie, who wished not to provide her last name, is a front-line worker and mom of three.
"After I work all day taking care of the frail and elderly, I come home to my three children who just want my attention," Nathalie said. "After I make dinner, I sit down to teach my three children ages 8, 9 and 12. I think teachers should try to empathize with our situation and give flexible deadlines for those are affected on the front lines of this pandemic."
Another working mom, Samantha Morzsolos-Roy, said the process has been stressful at times. "Technical difficulties (are) especially hard after working all day, then (doing) homework all night."
Josée Gagné has two children in two different school boards.
"Most of their teachers are doing amazing jobs," Gagné said. "It can't be easy. My issue is at that age (Grades 5 and 7) they have different teachers for different subjects and every single teacher has a different program ... it gets confusing as to who wants what on what program."
Stevio Montague has children in Grades 2, 4 and 7.
"The school is trying. I just wish the programs worked on every platform instead of having to fight to get them to work." Montague said.
For example, Lexia is a program that runs on only certain iPads, but doesn't work on other tablets. Seesaw you can download on most things. However, you can't perform all the steps.
"It's hard enough when you're juggling three kids on one computer and one tablet," Montague said.
Sheena Wells praises St. John's and St. Charles schools for taking the initiative, but admits it's been a difficult to get things in order, especially with a special needs child.
"Having a 14-year-old daughter who is autistic and requires a steady schedule and needs routine has put a lot of pressure on us to find a way to make this all work," Wells said. "She needs full-time assistance from me. My 10-year-old son has been managing quite well. He participates in the activities given to him without any troubles at all.
"Thanks you to the teachers that are still working hard to help our kids achieve."
Karleen Haché praises the teachers for their "amazing" efforts, but is feeling overwhelmed.
"It's so hard for parents of children with special needs," Haché said. "What some kids can accomplish in five minutes takes mine 30 minutes and I have to work from home and have another child to take care of. Very overwhelming!"
Elizabeth Merrifield's son is an SK student in the ISP Autism program at Princess Anne Public School.
"Princess Anne Public School is doing great work! The school has us follow their Facebook page," Merrifield said. "Every morning they do a slide show of morning announcements, including O Canada."
"Teachers are doing great," Beth McKay said. "It is very hard for parents who are still working to monitor. I think everyone is doing their best."
Sudbury.com reached out to the four school boards in the Sudbury district. Here is what they had to say to families who may be experiencing challenges with online learning:
Rainbow District School Board
From director of education Norm Blaseg
By learning together while safely apart, we can take comfort in knowing that we are engaging students in their education while limiting the spread of COVID-19.
Health and safety is always first and foremost. We are very proud of our staff for responding to distance learning with creativity and compassion. We thank families for their patience and their support. Feedback has been positive, however, we recognize that the transition to distance learning may not be simple or easy for everyone.
We know parents/guardians are providing incredible support to their children, while managing a number of stressors. We want parents to know that we do not intend to place an additional burden on families. We know that many parents are caring for elderly parents and young children, and many are still working during the day. To be clear, elementary students do not need to be online during a specific hour of the day.
They can be engaged in learning at any point during the day.
There may be occasions where a teacher will livestream in Grade 7 or 8, however, if a child is unable to participate in the livestreamed lesson, it will be recorded so that it can be accessed at a later time. Learning activities are being assigned with careful consideration of grade level, and accommodations that may be required for students.
We invite parents/guardians who have concerns to talk to their child's teachers and the school principal.
In collaboration with principals and teachers, support staff will follow up with students who require additional help and guidance, where needed.
Rainbow District School Board has also posted a number of resources on its website for distance learning, at home learning and mental health, including wellness tips for families.
Sudbury Catholic District School Board
From director of education Joanne Bénard
We know this is a very uncertain time for our students and families, as well as our staff. The Board has created a distance learning approach that is based on the expectations set out by the Ministry of Education. Educators have been in regular communication with students and parents/guardians regarding the delivery of the learning. Staff are differentiating the learning and the expectations are flexible in order to address student access to technology and their individual learning needs. By the end of this week we will have deployed approximately 900 laptops and iPads.
We continue to work with our families to ensure access to the learning, which does include providing paper packages for those who require them. All of our staff are on hand to work together to support our students. Our board psychologist, indigenous support workers, speech & language pathologists, educational assistants, student success teachers, guidance counsellors, social workers and many others are available to principals, teachers and families to ensure that supports are in place to promote continued learning and success. Our messaging to staff, students and our families has been that while we are doing our best to resume teaching and learning, we know that our solutions may not be perfect and that we need to be flexible and patient with ourselves and with each other.
We have endeavoured to maintain open and honest communication with our students and families through direct email, our board websites as well as through social media. We do understand that this is a very stressful time for students and their parents/guardians which is why we have also developed the SCDSBLearn@Home site. The resources on this site are designed to help support and to compliment what teachers have planned and include educational tools, wellness supports and information regarding technology and accessibility. On the main page there are links for the three main platforms we are using and videos to help log into these platforms. We have also set up an email that will help connect parents/guardians with someone from their school. We continue to add to this site and are currently planning online training sessions to offer to our parents/guardians.
For those parents/guardians and students who are experiencing difficulties transitioning to a distance learning model, we invite them to reach out to their school so that together we can problem solve and create the opportunities that they need in order to be successful in this new environment.
Our Learn@Home program is focused on helping our students learn the key concepts so that they can finish their academic year and advance to the next year or graduate. To this end, we thank our parents/guardians and our amazing staff for their support, flexibility, compassion and patience as we navigate this new way of teaching and learning. We also extend our gratitude to our hard working and dedicated students who have risen to the challenges that we all face at this time.
Conseil scolaire public du Grand Nord de l’Ontario
Our objective is to work closely with families in order to enable students to do their work at their own pace. We realize families are adjusting to this situation and every family’s reality is different. We encourage parents to communicate with their child’s teacher in order to establish a schedule that works best for them.
Numerous educational resources have been put on the board’s website to accompany parents and support student with assignments and homework.
Parents are also invited to access the website Eurêka which gives Grades 1 to 12 students in Ontario French-language schools help in all subjects, in addition to receiving specialized support in French and in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) related areas.
We encourage parents to stay in close communication with their child’s teacher and school principal. The Board is doing everything to ensure that families have the tools they need to help their child progress during these school closures. Their child’s success is our raison d’être, our purpose and our priority and we look forward to welcoming them back in school in the near future. Until then we wish them well and encourage them to stay safe and healthy.
Conseil scolaire catholique Nouvelon
We truly appreciate the support and collaboration of parents in supporting their child’s learning from home. With our at-home learning program, the goal is to support our students’ learning experience while also promoting their well-being.
We believe that the success of the program is dependent on flexibility and as a result, we strongly encourage students and parents to communicate with their teachers and inform them of all challenges and difficulties that may arise due to the circumstances.
The Conseil scolaire catholique Nouvelon’s learning team has assembled a broad range of valuable learning tools and resources in a website designed to support our students learning at home. This tool can be accessed on our website or through the Parents’ Portal.
We want to remind parents that our teachers have been in contact with their children for the past two weeks and are there to guide them, offer their support and share their expertise as we navigate through these unforeseen circumstances. Our teachers are also able to provide and suggest resources related to the subject matter being taught. The Conseil has also produced and distributed wellness focused newsletters for students and parents to share resilience-building strategies and reduce anxiety.
Additionally, we recommend that parents and students access various learning resources designed to contribute to their learning experience such as Eureka. Countless resources are available for our families: our teachers and schools will be pleased to share them with their students and their parents.
Learning at home is new to all of us and requires an adjustment from everyone in order to help our students thrive and succeed.
While promoting learning in their household, we also believe that families must focus on their child’s well-being by maintaining a balanced lifestyle.
We encourage all families to integrate learning in fun activities and to ensure they take the time to include family activities in their daily schedule.
What truly matters is remaining healthy and maintaining a balance at home so that parents and children will stay healthy and be ready to return to a “normal” routine once we are able to resume our regular school and family schedules.
