No school? No problem: Hamilton parents ditch online learning in favour of the school of life

Ali Noble felt a weight lift off her shoulders when she finally decided to ditch online learning.

I emailed (my daughter's Grade 1) teacher and said, I appreciate what you've been doing ... but we're opting out of formal schooling,'" Noble said. It just wasn't working for us."

Since mid-March, thousands of Hamilton parents have been grappling with how to play the role of both parent and teacher as their kids navigate pandemic-imposed online learning. Two months in, some are still diligently ensuring their kids follow their teachers' best-laid lesson plans, but others, like Noble, have given up entirely.

Honestly, within a day of receiving (the online resources), I just thought this is crazy," Noble said.

Noble said she felt she was spending more time struggling to navigate the school's websites and resources, or troubleshoot issues - such as when online programs required her to print documents and she didn't have a printer - than she was actually helping her six-year-old, Gwen, with school work.

So instead of formal school, Noble has opted for the school of life.

We just got back from bike ride and a chain came off," Noble said on a sunny Thursday. We flipped bike over and she had to watch how chain goes back on bike."

The same conscious hands-on learning now applies to gardening. And baking. And buying things.

All the things that you don't normally have time to sit down and work on - peeling clementines and tying shoes - we have nothing but time today, so let's go over that," Noble said.

This style of learning wouldn't work for all families, Noble acknowledges, and likely not for those with older kids. But Gwen, for the most part, is loving it.

Angelune Des Lauriers is taking a similar approach.

Two weeks ago, her son Sebastien decided he was done with online schooling. With both Des Lauriers and her husband working from home, already feeling pulled in every direction" and also trying to raise their three-year-old daughter, she didn't fight him.

He's been having a hard time emotionally and mentally with not seeing friends and with all the change," Des Lauriers said of her Grade 2 son. Reducing the number of tantrums by saying, School is the one thing that can be dropped,' just made life easier."

Now, she finds opportunities to teach him as they arise.

On Thursday, he was in charge of making macaroni. Each box required six cups of water and he was making two boxes. The measuring cup held four cups of water.

He figured out he needed to fill it three times to get 12 cups," Des Lauriers said. Math by doing."

She's also encouraging her son's reading with a reward system - for every 20 minutes of reading, he gets one punch in a punch card. When he gets to 10, he gets a few coins to invest in video games.

For Jason Allen and his son, Sam, online learning is presenting different challenges.

Trying to get him to learn things off a screen is just not happening," Allen said. Sam sitting in a Zoom meeting for more than two seconds ... he will make a funny face or wander off."

Sam, 13, has Down syndrome. There is a huge mental leap required for him to manipulate a screen or take anything away from a lesson taught online, Allen says.

He does better in the physical world, not the virtual world," he said.

Initially, Allen's goal was to prevent Sam from sliding backwards and losing any gains he'd made at school. To keep Sam learning, Allen and his wife are reading with him twice a day, working on numeracy by creating a candy store" at which Sam purchases M&Ms and jujubes with coins, and watching educational TV shows.

His reading is getting stronger and stronger," said Allen.

Allen, and other parents who spoke with The Spectator, had nothing but good things to say about their kids' teachers.

It's the model that's failing their kids, they say.

Education advocates have said the current system is best described as emergency" online learning. It was thrust on teachers just as it was thrust on kids - unexpectedly and without proper preparedness.

But what do school boards say about opting out of school amid a pandemic?

To our knowledge, we have had very few examples of this, but in the case that it does happen, principals and teachers continue to reach out to students and families if there is a disengagement and we will continue to try and encourage the student to become engaged," said Pat Daly, chairperson of the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board.

The public board says they understand families have to make the best decisions for their kids.

However, we believe that a strong school connection has great value for student learning and well-being even as we navigate the COVID-19 crisis," said Manny Figueiredo, director of education with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.

Students are still required to attend school, but we are approaching this with great sensitivity as we support our students and their families."

As for grades, they won't drop below what they were on March 13, the last day of in-class learning, but they can go up.

In the meantime, parents have another month to go until the unconventional school year comes to a formal close. But it remains yet to be seen what the fall holds.

Parents say they, and their kids, will just keep trying their best.

I don't think there's any easy answers," Allen said. We're just going to have to be creative and muddle through."

Katrina Clarke is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: katrinaclarke@thespec.com