This is the largest summer school class I've ever seen

[Duncanpup]

A school secretary said this yesterday to me when I was returning a hot spot to the elementary school this is the largest group of summer schoolers we’ve ever had in my eight years here. Our eleven year old is attending summer school today is the first day and goes until July 22, our son then will be able to proceed to sixth grade.

Covid would have come to us regardless, yet these children are victims of the trumpig administration, and the repig who made the pandemic a political litmus test, a us against them blow that dog whistle get the morons barking.

So I’m sitting with this fine young man who came to us through foster care we were talking this morning. He is very embarrassed over summer school he is in learning disabilities class in regular school year , so I get him in how he is thinking , I truly worry over this child.

He came to us with his possessions in a plastic garbage bag a year ago lacking confidence and trust. So this morning he asked if I could walk with him to the end of driveway and wait with him for the bus , I said yup and I told him school is only four hours. Nothing replaces one on one teaching even our sixteen and seventeen year old struggled this year with remote schooling they passed to eleventh grade.

[panader0]

1. You're a good man Duncanpup.

You are shaping that kid's life in a positive way.

[abqtommy]

4. +100 Ya got that right.

[dsc]

2. summer school had disappeared her at the high school level

now we have almost 200 students, which is about a fifth of our total enrollment.

[flying_wahini]

3. There's no shame in summer school. Lots of kids do it to stay fresh or extra credit.

I went to summer school for math every summer for 2-3 years and always took an extra class
And was usually ahead in other subjects because of it.
I am still abysmal in math but they can’t say I didn’t try.

He may find new friends that will smooth the transition.

[wysimdnwyg]

5. This seems to be a thing this year

Our local news had a story about how big the SS classes are this year. Apparently a lot of kids/teachers/schools didn't transition well to remote learning, and it's shown in the need for some makeup classes.

[h2ebits]

6. Yes, this is happening

My poor little granddaughter, all of five years old, absolutely refused remote learning. She wouldn't respond to questions, wouldn't talk, and when she got tired of it, she would turn the computer off and walk away. Seems expectations were quite high, as well. The teacher wanted each of the kids to make a short video of themselves and my granddaughter absolutely refused.

When they were offered a return to the classroom, they sent her back to physical school. But catching up has been difficult so she's off to summer school. . . .

[FakeNoose]

7. I agree that the virtual schooling is a poor replacement for classroom teaching

It's hard AND unfair to the teachers, and equally for the kids who struggle to keep up. Luckily some kids do have the capability to thrive, but those are the same kids who would have done well in the traditional classroom. It's the borderline students who tend to get overlooked, and sometimes teachers aren't able to see that those kids need personal attention.

The pandemic year was a setback for everyone, and it's going to hurt for years to come. It takes special understanding from parents and guardians to know how to handle this. Not enough parents consider themselves partners with their children's teachers, they sometimes adopt an adversarial attitude which makes things even harder on everyone.