Section II: “Got To Go Through It!”Schooling At Home

As COVID spread across the country, school after school after school shut down. All of a sudden school was now happening in our homes. Very young children, elementary age kids, adolescents and young adults along with their parents were now making school at home--from kitchens, backyards, bedrooms, closets. As much as we wanted, as much as parents might have wished, as much as many kids would have preferred, there was no way around it, over it or under it—school was happening in our homes. “We’ve got to go through it.”

As we have moved through the pandemic, some schools brought children back to school; some schools have a mix of in person and remote learning, and some schools are still fully remote. Some families have spent the year outside the school system, no longer tethered to traditional schooling. Others have gotten more involved in their schools than ever before, consulting on reopening plans and advising teachers learning to teach online. This section includes stories from across those realities and is organized roughly chronologically by children’s age. Beginning with young children, progressing into adolescence and ending with young adults, these parents offer a glimpse of their experience as they engaged in schooling at home.