Back to school on Monday for anyone else?

[prairiewindmomma]

I'm in the schoolroom and prepping for Monday. I had tidied before break, but hadn't fully prepped.  The older three will be back into the world, so it's time for us to begin again as well.

Dazzle me with what exciting things you have coming up this semester.  I'll take funny memes I can print and post as well.  

I'm filling the schoolroom with candles, chocolate, and cozy blankets so we can ease back in.  I suspect we'll be painting Monday afternoon while listening to audiobooks. 

[freesia]

I love this idea!  We were just going to begin on Monday. I love the hygge vibe. I am inspired. 

[SKL]

My kids start back to B&M school Monday.  It feels too early, doesn't it?  They'll be prepping for midterms which are the 2nd week of January.

[alisoncooks]

We will probably start back on Monday.  We took most of December off (terrible stomach virus, followed by some travels, followed by the holidays). It feels like it’s been ages since we were productive. 

[prairiewindmomma]

2 minutes ago, SKL said:

My kids start back to B&M school Monday.  It feels too early, doesn't it?  They'll be prepping for midterms which are the 2nd week of January.

This year it feels like they went onto break super early....university, public school, everybody.  I think everybody planned long breaks through the year to act as covid transmission breaks.  Across the board, the kids are getting 5-10 fewer in person instructional days.  Still, everyone feels stressed and burned out to a degree that is not normal.  

----

I am definitely aiming for a hygge vibe. It gets dark here by 3:30 pm right now. We need all of the inside light and warmth we can get.   I usually have some instrumental music going on during bookwork time also....  If everybody is calm and happy learning goes better, iykwim.

[ScoutTN]

My Dd gets to ease in. She has just math and one lit class this coming week. Plus some homework in her other classes. No extra curriculars. 
 

Ds goes to school and they start back Tuesday. Sports and Scouts will be up and running.

I tutor and will be back to work on Wednesday.

Until Omicron messes up everything….

Edited December 31, 2021 by ScoutTN

[KSera]

5 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

am definitely aiming for a hygge vibe. It gets dark here by 3:30 pm right now. We need all of the inside light and warmth we can get.   I usually have some instrumental music going on during bookwork time also....  If everybody is calm and happy learning goes better,

I love this also. I need to think how I can incorporate some of this vibe. My youngest is too young for me to have candles down low, but maybe it would be worth using a gift card on a couple of those realistic-ish led ones?

[LauraClark]

We're back on Monday too. I've changed up a couple curriculum things, but didn't intend to do anything fun to start it off.  I like the blanket idea-ds10 would really like that. Maybe I'll make a special snack or something-you've inspired me to do something fun as we start back! 😉

[SKL]

25 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

This year it feels like they went onto break super early....university, public school, everybody.  I think everybody planned long breaks through the year to act as covid transmission breaks.  Across the board, the kids are getting 5-10 fewer in person instructional days.  Still, everyone feels stressed and burned out to a degree that is not normal. 

Our school just took the standard 2 weeks like other years.  But they started break on a Monday, so they are ending it on a Monday.  Might have made more sense to do Wednesday to Wednesday or similar, but nobody asked me.  😛

It will be interesting to see if they go back in person.  We do have an all-year virtual option for families at risk, so I could see the schools forging ahead despite Omicron.  But either way, they do so much on the computer that the work won't ease up if they go virtual.

[LifeLovePassion]

My kids go back to b&m school on Monday.  They have a shortened break and only had off the Thursday and Friday before Christmas and then this week of course.  It was way too short.  Their school went distance the six school days before break due to increased COVID numbers. 

My school added an extra day for students so we go back on Tuesday with students.  Monday is a remote work day/ prep day for teachers that was just added to the calendar at the last school board meeting. 

Break felt way too short this year.  It didn't help that my two have been sick on and off in December and so they are struggling to stay caught up with school work as it is.  The first couple of days of break were spent working on missing assignments.  My oldest will be working on them again tomorrow. 

I really wish we were homeschooling and we could take the hygge approach. 

[athena1277]

Dd5 asked to start school back today.  We will start back Monday.  Ds14 isn’t as far along as I wish he was and I would love for him to be done for the year by the end of May.  I need summer break as much as the kids do.  

[lulalu]

We are starting back up on Tuesday. Monday we have a play date planned as local schools here take new years off until the end of January. 

I have hot chocolate purchased for us to have a poetry tea time. We also have cookies to finish up. 

We are doing some gameschooling for the month of January to ease us back in and give some variety. 

[Drama Llama]

I am back to work on Monday but the kids’ school is going asynchronous for a couple days to allow for whole school testing. So, figuring that out.  

[JennyD]

We took our winter break the second week of December so have been back at the usual school routine for two weeks.  

Two of my kids are supposed to go back to part-time in-person school on Tuesday but we will see.  Even if they open we may hold off for a couple of weeks.  We have a very important family event (that cannot be rescheduled)  in two weeks and I desperately want us to stay healthy until then.

 

[math teacher]

Teachers go back Monday, students on Tuesday. I've been up there 3 times working. 

[Eos]

11 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I'm in the schoolroom and prepping for Monday. I had tidied before break, but hadn't fully prepped.  The older three will be back into the world, so it's time for us to begin again as well.

Dazzle me with what exciting things you have coming up this semester.  I'll take funny memes I can print and post as well.  

I'm filling the schoolroom with candles, chocolate, and cozy blankets so we can ease back in.  I suspect we'll be painting Monday afternoon while listening to audiobooks. 

Thank you for posting this.  I've been trying to see my way into a new term here, starting Tuesday.  Junior dd finished a challenging fall term with two college classes and lots of hard work and is perilously close to burned out.  She gets seasonal affective disorder too, and so I have been wanting to do something special like candles, stretching, vitamin d, and maybe even a lightbox session each morning with her.  It will certainly not go over well in the beginning and she will reject the whole thing on general principle, but she does love her some hygge and I think I can break through if I keep it going.  

[Ditto]

We don't go back until the 10th.  We take an extra long (4 weeks)  Christmas/Winter break.    We are both really happy to still have another week off.  We aren't ready to go back at all.  

[NorthernBeth]

Well, we were supposed to go back to in-person school on Monday, but........ Covid just exploded in one of the nearby reservations so all the reserves have locked down hard.  No school for us, but we will be making up paper homework packages and hanging them on bags at everyone's door.  It has been so nice being back to full-time school this year and we have gotten so much farther than we did last year.  

12 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I'm filling the schoolroom with candles, chocolate, and cozy blankets so we can ease back in.  I suspect we'll be painting Monday afternoon while listening to audiobooks. 

Can I just say how nice this sounds, and how much I wish I could be doing that in my classroom??????? 

[Insertcreativenamehere]

I have one headed back to school on Monday but my homeschooler and my high schoolers won't start back until Thursday. I'm a little uncertain about how things are going to go given Omicron's contagiousness. 

[lmrich]

I start back Monday at my hybrid school. We will see how many will attend; I always offer my classes via Zoom so many will opt to stay home.

Enjoy your time homeschooling your kids - I miss it so much and I hope they appreciated those little things that I did to make it special. 

[Ali in OR]

I start back to teaching math at public high school on Monday. I will try to lesson plan today--I did some long-term planning over break (and 2 hours at school yesterday with the other 2 algebra 1 teachers). I'm trying to think of the public school equivalent of candles and blankets. I do feel a need to address social-emotional health and not just jump into math immediately. If I have my ups and downs right now (fear of Omicron for me), I'm sure the kids do too, but what to do about it is hard to figure out. A little "care and connect" time is all I'm coming up with.

[Longtime Lurker]

I start back on Monday, but I am a sub so I don't have anything to set up or prep. However, I was hired as a regular sub so I am (almost) always in the same building and am looking forward to seeing the people I work with regularly. DS23 starts back Monday as well (special ed school) and DD21 starts student teaching on the 11th. I am a little nervous about the omicron explosion, but all of us (including DH who is not regularly out in public) are vaxed and boostered. My biggest concern is the possibility of my son's school going remote again since he does not do well with the change in schedule. He has autism and cognitive delays and functions around a 2-year-old level, so remote school is almost like no school for him. I am excited for DD to start student teaching, but also a little concerned as she will be in a not super cautious (but otherwise excellent) district.

[mom2scouts]

We're starting back to homeschool on Monday too. Our schoolroom is always filled with blankets, candles, and chocolate, so I'm not sure that will help. LOL! It seems like a long time since we've done anything and I'm not really prepared. 

DS doesn't start back to college for a couple of weeks and our church has canceled everything except services for a couple of weeks due to a Covid surge, so it's going to be so hard mentally to get back to a routine!

[Tenaj]

I was looking forward to starting back into a routine on Monday but now it will be Tuesday? Or Wednesday?  We were all sick a lot in December so it feels like "normal" hasn't happened in a long time.  Then my mom took a bad turn this week, ended up in hospice and passed within 48 hours.  We are relieved that she is no longer suffering but , of course, normal is going to be delayed for a while longer.  As my brother said, December has sucked" - some may remember he was hospitalized with Covid for 8 days and is still struggling (now has a blood clot in his leg), my mom fell and broke her neck which started the downward spiral for her.  I am ready for January to bring new hope.

[Noreen Claire]

We will start back on Monday, but I'm upset about it. 

Now that my youngers are all vaccinated, we had been planning to use the week after the holidays to visit all the museums and other places that we had been avoiding for nearly two years due to the pandemic and omicron has now ruined those plans. I'm just so sad about all the 'extra' stuff that we haven't been able to do that made homeschooling much more fun.

I am also feeling that ever-present conflict between 'we're doing too much, we should relax' and 'we're not doing enough, how do I add in what's missing?'

Anyway, i refuse to think about it until Monday. DH goes back to his high school classroom on Monday and I'm worried about him catching covid from his students. DS26 still has not been able to get a booster, so that adds to my constant worry for his health. I just so tired, y'all.

[prairiewindmomma]

Hugs to all! Omicron is a huge worry here too with the two headed back to public school. Remote learning was easier on the anxiety management front.

[Loowit]

I had planned to start back on Monday but youngest and I decided to take an extra week. DD doesn't go back to college until after MLK day and this is our last week with middle before he ships off for boot camp.

[alysee]

We sure will! We need the structure. 🤷‍♀️

The cold days, no structure and no outside activities basically means they are awfully close to rogue wild animals 🤣. 

[Porridge]

Love these ideas. I may copy the idea of making time for lots of board games in January

[alisoncooks]

On 12/30/2021 at 8:23 PM, alisoncooks said:

We will probably start back on Monday.  We took most of December off (terrible stomach virus, followed by some travels, followed by the holidays). It feels like it’s been ages since we were productive. 

Well scratch all that. We now have plans and random appointments for Monday through Weds or Thursday, so maybe we’ll NOT do school this week. *sigh*

[plaidpants]

My college classes don't start back until the 24th, but I'll need to find my vaccine info and keep an eye on whether things are still in person. I was hoping to start a transition back to the classroom this semester because I have to take hard, in-person, with lab classes either over the summer or next fall, I can't push them off any longer. I'm really a terrible student but I want to develop classroom/study skills.

I got a gift card from work for Christmas that I promptly turned around and bought a Spanish textbook with, so I'm starting working on that today. Then I need to start brushing up on my chemistry and math. I get bogged down trying to schedule myself and then I don't do anything so this time I'm just going to mostly wing it and see. 😜

[DawnM]

I start back tomorrow for a teacher workday.   I have to do a presentation.   I have meetings most of the day......fun times.

[Elizabeth86]

We are getting hit with snow right now (first time this year), so I’d imagine most of our first day back will be spent playing in the snow. 🤣

[Spryte]

3 hours ago, Elizabeth86 said:

We are getting hit with snow right now (first time this year), so I’d imagine most of our first day back will be spent playing in the snow. 🤣

Same here!

[mommyoffive]

Lots of districts in WI went virtual.  100% the right choice.

[ByGrace3]

We are starting back today but family from out of town left this morning and we were up late saying goodbye...so the kids slept in and we are getting a late start. Thankful for flexibility. It is going to be a weird week because my youngest it back to a full load for school but ds doesn't start back live online classes until next week, and older dd starts DE classes this week -- first time taking them at the local CC so everyone is a little nervous. 

I am feeling a little sad about our current homeschool routine . . . I very much feel like it is missing the fun. As my older kids transitioned to high school it became all about credits and NCAA compliance . . . the joy feels like it was ripped from us. My youngest is not as bad but we still have a lot more traditional curriculum than in the past and it feels more rigid. I think I needed that for a awhile since I was pretty burned out, but I am getting out of the funk and ready to rethink some things for next year! 

I would like to infuse some fun this year though... need to think about some ideas! 

[mom2scouts]

1 hour ago, ByGrace3 said:

 

I am feeling a little sad about our current homeschool routine . . . I very much feel like it is missing the fun. As my older kids transitioned to high school it became all about credits and NCAA compliance . . . the joy feels like it was ripped from us. My youngest is not as bad but we still have a lot more traditional curriculum than in the past and it feels more rigid. I think I needed that for a awhile since I was pretty burned out, but I am getting out of the funk and ready to rethink some things for next year! 

I would like to infuse some fun this year though... need to think about some ideas! 

I am homeschooling my last child. She's a high school freshman this year and I'd hoped we could add fun classes and museum trips and activities, but Covid has made it so hard to do anything fun. We're struggling this year and we're both so bored. I feel bad for those with younger children too who can't do the fun stuff that makes homeschooling great.

[alisoncooks]

1 hour ago, ByGrace3 said:

I am feeling a little sad about our current homeschool routine . . . I very much feel like it is missing the fun. As my older kids transitioned to high school it became all about credits and NCAA compliance . . . the joy feels like it was ripped from us.

I feel this (8th and 10th grade here). 

[prairiewindmomma]

Fwiw, I felt that way about high schooling my oldest pre-covid. 
 

Now that my next in line is in public school, I see a lot more room for flexibility that I didn’t see before. Try to find the fun (outside dance or art class, or an engaging class at home) and call it an elective. 

[prairiewindmomma]

We are getting a slower start today also. I needed to kick off laundry and dishes and do a bit of paperwork before we got going. It’s ok to ease into things.

[Dianthus]

Ds10 got out our rolling school shelf and got to work so I guess it's a school day. I wanted to take another week off for some fun, but the weather is awful so can't do anything I planned. I need to ease back into it.

[kiwik]

Ds14 doesn't start back until February but he will have to do Japanese while I do school with ds12.  English starts back this week and Latin next.  We will wait until Feb to add the rest.