What Parents Say Their Kids Miss Most About School
It’s an understatement to say that the COVID-19 pandemic is uncharted territory for all of us. Unable to leave the house without a mask or mouth covering, we’re left feeling helpless and unsure of the future, while fighting to remain optimistic. From restaurants and schools to parks and beach closures -- the world is shut down. But what do we tell the children?
Graham of Florham Park, New Jersey asks his 6 year-old daughter and kindergartner, Eloise, what she misses most about going to school, she candidly replies, “I don’t know; it’s all so confusing. It’s been so long; I don’t remember what to miss.”
For fifth graders who are graduating, the last quarter of the year is usually filled with year-end field trips, preparing for middle school, yearbooks and graduation. “I would have never imagined that my son’s (potentially) last day of elementary school would have been in March,” Nicole of Randolph, New Jersey says. Americans are following the health guidelines and doing their best with the situation. With virtual learning being the only option and parents stepping in as teaching aids for their children, here are some things that elementary schoolers miss most about going to school...
They miss their friends.
Elementary school is an instrumental time in a child’s growth to develop their own personality, sense of freedom, and socializing with others. It’s a time where friendships made can last for a lifetime. Never would we have imagined that this rite of passage would be stunted. Graham says, “Eloise misses interacting with her friends on a daily basis. I set up video calls for her and her friend where they’ll stay on the phone for 2-3 hours playing games, dressing up and Barbies.”
They miss recess.
For many kids, recess was their escape in the school day to let their imagination run wild and have fun with their friends. Video calls are a great solution, but not everyone has siblings to play with during quarantine and playdates are strongly prohibited. Sophia of West Orange, New Jersey says, “My kids have been off the walls here at home! They miss recess where their only worry in those 45 minutes was who's 'it', who's on what team, and which of their friends can go the highest on the swings. Now we are juggling online gym zooms! It's confusing for them."
They miss their teachers.
"The other night at dinner my son told me that he wishes he could go back to school instead of being stuck at home. I never thought I’d hear those words come out of his mouth," Michael of Westchester, New York says about his fourth grade son. Virtual learning is making the best of a bad situation, leaving students feeling stressed out and disorganized at times. Parents are realizing now more than ever what it truly takes to be a teacher with a class of twenty students. He adds, "Andrew would come home everyday talking about what his favorite teacher, Mr. Baker, did. I feel terrible that he most likely won't be in a classroom with him again."
They miss lunchtime.
Cafeteria food may not be everyone's favorite, but some kids look forward to the pre-scheduled meals offered at their school. Days like "Pizza Fridays" are the highlight of the week for many students. Athena of Summit, New Jersey, mother of second-grader Nick, says, "Every week starting on Monday, all Nick would talk about was 'Pizza Fridays'. He never really liked pizza before he started having it in school and he even befriended the lunch ladies to secure the biggest piece." While it's uncertain if and when the students will return to school, Athena has kept up the tradition for all of quarantine, ordering pizzas for lunch every Friday for her son and family.
They miss preparing for graduation.
Nicole says, "I try not to make it a big deal because I know my son is upset that there might not be a normal graduation for his fifth grade class." Especially in elementary school, each year is an entirely new chapter of development from learning to read in Kindergarten to feeling confident and ready to take on middle school. "As a mother, it just destroys me because for a child of any age to work so hard and then not have this celebratory milestone of walking at graduation. It's a moment they're supposed to remember for the rest of their lives," she adds.
No matter how hard we try, we cannot fully recreate the school experience at home, friends and all. However, we as parents and guardians can continue to strive to create an environment where our children flourish to learn and interact with others (even if digitally is the only option). What we’re taking away from this, as parents and kids alike, is that the power of a friendly smile from the lunch lady, the hard work of the teachers and simply playing on the monkey bars during recess are to not be taken for granted again.
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