The decision to send kids back to a traditional school or not has been weighing on the minds of working parents everywhere. The decision becomes even more difficult if you have younger children. It seems most working moms have opted to let their older children make this decision on their own, but can younger children really make this difficult choice?
Today we’re going to share some advice to help you work through the decision-making process of deciding whether you’ll be sending your kids back to in-person learning, remote learning, or switch them to homeschool education.
Consider the Options
Some school districts aren’t providing options for students and are simply opening school back up as normal with some requirements such as social distancing and masks being worn. Other schools have decided to offer a hybrid model where kids spend some time in-person at school and the rest of the time at home with remote learning. Review all of the options that your school district has to offer you so that you can evaluate the pros and cons of each.
Discuss Work Schedule
Your next step is to discuss your work schedule with your spouse. You’ll need to figure out which back to school option works best for your work schedule. If you’re a working mom who can adapt their work schedule to be home more often with your children, then you may opt for a hybrid or remote learning option rather than placing your kids in full-time school with masks and social distancing requirements. Perhaps your spouse has an easier time adjusting their work schedule, too. These are things to discuss before making an educated decision about back to school options.
Ask your Children
While younger children may not be allowed to make their own decision, it’s important to hear what their thoughts are about the in-person sessions. Explain to each child what will be expected of them for each of the back to school options and listen to what they have to say. You might find that your children are ready to return to school full time and are more than willing to abide by the social distancing and mask-wearing mandates for their school district.
Review Statistics
At this point, you probably have seen other school districts around the world open back up for back to school season so that you can review some of the statistics surrounding remote learning, hybrid learning, homeschooling, and in-person school days. Try to read statistics from a variety of sources, to include online friends, so that you can get a glimpse into what back to school looks like for each family during the current times.
Using each of these tips for working moms making kids’ back to school decisions and following your gut, you’ll soon be well on your way to making a firm decision on what will work best for your family.