Ginger Lambert, like many North East ISD parents, is still trying to figure all this out.
“The work-school-home-leisure parts of our days and evenings are no longer segmented into defined time periods,” said Lambert.
Along with maneuvering all that, Ginger has had to figure out how best to keep her daughter Avery learning during this campus closure. Avery is an eighth-grade Alternative Learning Experience (ALE) student at Bradley Middle School.
“Avery has a daily schedule, but we treat it more as a checklist for the day,” said Lambert. “It includes self-care, house chores, school work, exercise and downtime.”
There has been a learning curve for everyone. The Lamberts learned pretty quickly; one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to distance learning. It’s also given Avery new responsibility and confidence.
“This has been a good opportunity to have Avery be more in charge of her day, and she has really responded well to that,” said Lambert.
Gingers says Avery’s ALE teachers have also been invaluable during this time. They’ve delivered paperwork, helped set up the online learning and provided much-needed guidance.
“They were clear about which parts are critical for monitoring progress and which are for enrichment,” said Lambert. “They’ve been really great about having reasonable expectations and being reassuring that everything is going to be okay as far as long-term learning. I appreciate so much that they have helped relieve the pressure we put on ourselves as parents rather than adding to it.”
This has been a challenge for all of us, but Ginger and Avery are looking on the bright side as much as they can.
“Avery loves to see her classmates and teachers on Zoom meetings,” said Lambert. “She has not complained at all about being home and actually seems to enjoy it, which surprised us considering how outgoing and sociable she is, but her face really lights up during those online group sessions.”
The experience has also given Ginger a chance to slow down, and it’s also helped her realize that learning isn’t just completing worksheets.
“Learning the chores needed to help keep a household running are valuable life skills that have been harder for kids to learn in modern times with all of our over-scheduled lives,” said Lambert. “This feels like an opportunity for kids to learn a lot of things we took for granted as a part of our lives growing up in different decades. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.”
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