To my son’s first-grade teacher, Ms. Lassner,
A week before spring break, the schools closed to help stop the spread of COVID-19, a highly contagious virus. Since then, my family has been praying a lot more.
In addition to my six-year-old son, Camden, who is a student in your class, I also have a three-year-old daughter, Addison, who starts off our prayers.
She begins by saying, “God is good. God is great. Thank you for my lovely day.”
My husband will continue, expressing thanks for our health and his ability to work, while I stay home with our children. We also say a prayer for everyone who is suffering right now.
It’s almost as if our world has completely slowed down, which has given us as a family, and certainly me as a mother, a greater perspective on many aspects of life.
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Now that the kids are learning from home, we have a much more structured schedule in our house. Everyone wakes up for school, makes their beds and gets themselves ready for the day. We then have breakfast and, immediately after, we start learning.
I try to follow the sample schedule that you sent over, but it has not been easy, as my son doesn’t always want to sit still and focus. However, we are managing.
This week we compared nonfiction and fiction stories. In science, we went over plants and their different parts as well as what they need to grow. We also studied spelling words and how to tell time.
Sometimes, he gets frustrated with me and sometimes I get frustrated with him.
He will tell me that I am not explaining a lesson the same way you would. And when he started typing on the computer, I wanted so badly to go in and type for him, as he was hitting the keys one finger at a time.
It’s almost as if our world has completely slowed down, which has given us as a family, and certainly me as a mother, a greater perspective on many aspects of life.
Slowly but surely, we are both learning together. Even though I am his mom, together, we are teaching each other a new schedule, new technology and a new world.
It’s a process and a journey, but along the way, I have developed a new level of appreciation for you as a teacher.
As a teacher, you are creative, developing fun ways for kids to learn so you can keep them engaged. Above all else, you are patient, as children don’t always understand or listen right away. And when you teach, you aren’t just working with my child; you have a whole class of students.
Even from afar, you are able to work with Camden. Today, you, Camden and the rest of his class had a drawing lesson through video conferencing, which allowed me 20 minutes to work with Addison on her letters.
Outside of learning, this new routine has given my kids and me more time all together. We watch Disney movies at night and eat all our meals together. We have even gotten to use our boat, which is luckily in our backyard, more than usual.
While my children are enjoying themselves and keeping busy, my son tells me that he wants to be with his friends and he keeps asking when he is going to see you in person again.
What I have realized throughout these last few weeks is that when I send my son to school, he is not just receiving an education, but he is also getting a ton of love.
And now, as we take a little longer to say our prayers, it’s not just because we have extra time on our hands. It is because we realize even more how much we have to be grateful for, which most certainly includes you.
Thank you for caring about my child. Camden misses you. Hopefully, we will see you soon.