Parents find new challenges, new rewards at home

As COVID-19 spread around the state, school districts made the tough decision to keep students home — a decision made effective for the rest of the school year by Gov. Mike Parson.

These decisions prompted a challenge parents are trying to meet; keeping their school-aged children active.

Chris Smith, parent to Oak Grove Elementary School first grader Spencer and pre-kindergarten student Aubrey, said the distance learning aspect of this change has been “a great addition to our households.”

Poplar Buff first grader Spencer Smith and pre-kindergarten student Aubrey Smith explore outside with their younger sister while out of school due to COVID-19.Photo provided

He credited this to his kids’ love of their teachers and the ability to see their friends over video conferences.

The Poplar Bluff R-I school district implemented office hours with teachers over video conferences and offers online resources, worksheet packets and WiFi spots — with help from the community — for parents to use.

None of these are for a grade or mandatory, but serve as a way for students to remain active in their school topics while not being at school.

Laura Stroud said she created a schedule for her son, Oak Grove Elementary School third grader Allen Yarbro, based on resources the district provided for school work time, chore time and physical activity time.

Since Stroud works part-time, she has a sitter who tries to stick to that schedule. Stroud also has a newborn at home, who Allen has helped with, along with other additional chores.

“I actually incorporate him doing chores that help me get everything done around the house,” she said. “We actually are working together better as a family, getting everything done since we’ve kind of added to that list.”

Allen is also taking part in the video conference classrooms with his teachers several times a week, which Stroud said is going well.

Stroud said her son is missing his friends and going to school, but using technology, such as Zoom or video games, he’s been able to still connect with them. They set up a reward system, she said, where after a certain amount of school work, he could spend time playing or talking with his friends.

“We set him up with messaging and then playing on the PlayStation with his friends, which gives him some interaction, even if it’s virtual, give him some virtual interaction,” she said.

For Smith’s kids, he said, they’re going outside as much as possible. He also has a routine he tries to keep them on. They go to the food drop off locations, take walks in the park and try to mix in physical education aspects into the activities.

“If the sun is out, we are going outside,” Smith said. “The playgrounds at the parks (were) closed, but the walking tracks (were) not. So we try to go for daily walks, and mix in some physical education aspects to our time outside.”

Spencer and Aubrey, Smith said, persuaded him to start a YouTube channel for them and they “are consistently on me” about making videos of their outside adventures.

There are challenges, Stroud said, and times when she gets frustrated trying to work with Allen on school work. Allen also got frustrated, especially when they first started doing school work at home. Stroud said they had conversations about her being a mean mom for making him do the work. However, he learned when he started talking with his friends more that they also couldn’t play video games until their school pages were done.

“I don’t want to sound like I’m Supermom because I’m definitely not Supermom, but I mean, I am trying ...” Stroud said.