Rock Hill, S.C. (CN2 News) – To get a estimate on virtual versus in-person learning options, we decided to post a pole to our CN2 Facebook page. Out of 50 responses, 20 parents said they sent their kids back to school this year and will do the same in the fall. Twenty-three parents said they kept their kids virtual this year but will go back to in person in the fall. Four said their children will remain virtual & three parents say they decided to take the homeschool route.
Emily Jackson is one of those 23 who kept her kids home this past year, but will be sending them back to Sugar Creek Elementary for in person learning in the fall.
“I’m a nurse so I really did see how sick people were,” Jackson says, “but I also saw how good the school district was doing with keeping everyone safe and there was no back and forth, and that really helped because I really didn’t want him in and out.”
Sarah Brant, on the other hand, is planning to keep her son holden virtual again from fort mill middle next year for family safety and personal growth.
“Well, my husband is high risk for COVID and my mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last year, so it was kind of a no brainier for us to be virtual” Brant shares. “He really took to it, he is just a techy kid anyway, and he was live meeting with his teacher every day, we learned that when he’s home he’s able to focus on what’s going on in front of him and not all these other things around him.”
As always, every child is different, which means their learning styles vary. And while these two super moms may have separate plans for the fall, the best interest of THEIR child remains their priority.
“I definitely think that he pays attention better at school, the biggest part was the social aspect, he missed his friends and seeing his teachers face to face,” Jackson says.
As for Brant and her son, she says, “We saw a confidence in him that he doesn’t have in large groups, he has a confidence through the computer screen that he would ask questions and properly email his teachers, things that he wouldn’t learn in person. He knows how to work around the virtual world where I think this world is going eventually.”
Now as for what the school year will look like in the fall, districts are still waiting on the guidance from the CDC and the State Department of Education.
