31 January 2021
Relief That Ottawa Schools Re-open Monday
Parents were jumping for joy to hear the announcement that Ottawa schools re-open Monday for in class learning. They have been closed to in person learning for far too long for many area families. Though we all want to stay safe, some of the impacts kids are having due to online learning and stay at home measures are not good either.
Kids need human interaction and lots of play time including physical activity for their brains to work well. In fact a child’s brain is primarily wired to learn through play.
In person school learning not only covers the basic academic curriculum but many life skills that are 100% lost through the online portal. The stress of the ongoing changes of city wide and provincial rules has been immense for us all. No matter how many times we repeat the mantra that kids are resilient, this is not necessarily true.
Families Over Stressed With Home Schooling & Working From Home
Families under the stress of having everyone working at home fulfilling multiple duties such as:
- earning their income through work
- teaching the kids the curriculum and often without extra online tools like computers, phones or even internet connectivity
- grocery shopping and meal prep in during office hours
- play time breaks to keep the kids well
- some even navigating abusive situations
- navigating household struggles with mental health and behavioural issues
The changing rules and guidelines in many cases for this last Ottawa lockdown did not make logical sense to many of us, adding anger to the growing stress. It was with great relief and lots of municipal advocacy with the province to finally get the announcement that schools will re-open Monday while local Ottawa Businesses still wait.