Been a lot of talk about re opening the schools, especially k thru 12. Parents are all in favor, with out open schools they cannot go to work, someone has to stay home and look after children. The teachers are NOT in favor, they claim they will all catch COVID-19 and curl up and die. Most of the medics say this is not a problem, that small children are mostly immune to COVID-19. And now we have some talk about "opening" the schools to offer "remote learning". That's not really opening the schools in most people's book.
The younger children need an adult, Mom, Dad, a grandparent, someone, to teach them. The adult picks the lessons, finds the textbook or DVD or logs them in. The children need someone to explain what they are supposed to be learning, and to insist that they sit down and work the home work problems. The really small children have not learned to read yet, so following written directions is beyond them. And even teen aged high school students can be exceptionally unmotivated and fail to do any of the "remote learning" work. They need an adult to push them into learning.
At this point, I don't see much difference to the parents between "remote learning" and home schooling. I'm thinking unless your school is really open and the children can go to it 5 days a week, you better set up for homeschooling. One parent has to stay home and school the kids. To my way of thinking, a good textbook[s] is/are essential. You explain the lesson best you can. The kids won't remember everything first time thru it. They have the textbook to reread the lesson, pick up the points they missed, and lots of homework. There are some very good lectures out on VHS or DVD. My little local library has a set of VHS tapes of a course in the American Revolution. A Gettysburg University professor stood behind a lectern and just lectured. He was good. He had some maps, and some prints of period paintings, but none of the fancy re enactment stuff you see on the history channel. He told it straight, none of that Charles&Mary Beard "Economic Interpretation of the Constitution" stuff. It was a college course, but it would work just fine for high school. It was so good I watched all the tapes, on my own time, just for enjoyment. There has got to be more good stuff like this out there.
Watching the Shakespeare plays is educational, especially if you discuss each one after watching it. Writing an essay every day is excellent. Word-for-Windows takes a lot of the curse out of writing. Field trips to historic sites, Bunker Hill, the Constitution, Lexington, Saratoga, what ever is in your part of the country, are great learning opportunities.
