As much as our family was looking forward to the new school year — after six long, uncertain months stuck at home — I still wasn’t sure how it would go.
I knew there would be a lot of changes, especially for our son (who was starting at a new school and entering junior high at a younger age than we’d ever expected). I wondered if they’d adjust to this very different school year, with its many regulations. I remained optimistic, but I was still curious as to how it would all play out.
What shocked me is that not only are our kids loving being back at school, they’re either fine with the changes or they actually prefer the changes to how things used to be!
Both kids have always enjoyed eating in the cafeteria, especially since they relaxed the rules last year to allow different classes to sit together at the long tables and benches. This year? Everybody eats in their classroom, at their own desk. The kids don’t seem to miss the cafeteria at all. In fact, they actually like that their hot lunch and milk is delivered right to them, rather than having to line up for it. It’s literally room service!
Once they’re let outside to play for recess and lunch, they must stick with only their classmates and stay in their class’s designated “zone.” I figured they’d complain about not being able to “mix” with any other classes and/or be bored being confined to one specific area, rather than having free rein on the school grounds. Nope. They don’t even seem to notice that anything is different. They play where they’re told to play — without crossing over the spray-painted lines — and they play with the kids in their class cohort. Our daughter, especially, seems to be developing closer friendships with the kids in her class, since those are the only kids she can play with.
One of the biggest changes for the 2019-2020 school year is that masks must be worn on the bus by all students, and worn in class by students in Grade 4 and above (including 3/4 split classes). Our eight-year-old daughter has never minded wearing a mask, so it’s no big deal to wear one on the bus and in the hallway. But our son spent the summer teetering on the edge of panic when he had to wear one for more than a few minutes. Since he’s in Grade 5, he now has to wear a mask almost all day. Does he care? Nope. He prefers the stretchy buff-style ones, but he wears them without complaint.
When the kids watched the outdoor classrooms (a.k.a. stump circles) being installed in August, our son was skeptical he’d enjoy sitting outside for class. Fast forward a couple of weeks and he loves that his class gathers just inside the forest on a cluster of stumps and hewn benches each morning, using clipboards to keep their papers from blowing away. It started to rain the other day, and he delighted in telling me that the teacher gave them permission to huddle in the nearby trees — close enough to still hear their lesson.
Phys. Ed. classes have moved outdoors, so everyone’s careful to dress for the weather (I’ve never checked forecasts this often in my life.) Our son’s junior high backs onto Truro’s 3,000-acre Victoria Park, so he gets to spend his Phys. Ed. classes running through the trees, playing hide-and-seek and doing Parkour moves in the brush. It’s a 10-year-old kid’s dream come true. He took our family on a tour of their “Panther track,” and I teased him by saying I would sneak into the woods and set up a tent so I could surprise him one day during his Phys. Ed. class. (He said that would only be OK if I brought cookies for everyone.)
It’s been fascinating to hear about the many ways teachers are making things fun while keeping our kids safe. Our daughter described an outdoor game called Squirt that sounded a lot like a socially-distanced, no-tagging version of Duck Duck Goose. Our son’s school has a special Panther “handshake” (no touching hands required) and teachers call out casual reminders to “GPS” (Give Panthers Space).
One full week into the 2019-2020 school year, and I’ve been blown away by how much our children are loving being back at school. Our son, in particular, who has always enjoyed school, is positively flourishing in this new fresh-air environment.
Children are far more adaptable than we give them credit for, and while there is nothing “normal” about this school year, they’re awesome at pointing out the parts that are even better than normal.
Heather Laura Clarke is a freelance journalist who married her high-school sweetheart. They moved from the city to the country, where they spend their days making messes and memories with their 10-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter. Follow their family’s adventures over at www.HeathersHandmadeLife.com.
