[whafro]

I have a first grader. Our public school system, which is ordinarily great, has a very vague plan that begins with a hybrid system that operates two mornings a week.

In response, we teamed up with five other families of first graders in our area, and have contracted with a tutor to handle the other three-and-two-half days of the week. We may switch to the remote learning option, since it seems like 75% of their class will do that, which would the benefit of in-person social experiences, but simplify logistics. When not in school, the five kids will be in a basement apartment at one of the families' houses with the tutor, working on their distance learning.

We still have a zillion and a half things to iron out, but it's both progress and ridiculous.

[HaloZero]

Whoa. Must be interesting on the pandemic pods. I haven't heard first hand about this in any of the articles I've been reading about it.

Do all 5 families have some kind of agreement about safety and rules about exposing yourself? Or is it some friends that you trust? I'm always curious about the dynamics there.

[whafro]

We all know each other reasonably well, but we will be laying out an agreement that we all have to follow. The initial contract was just "we're in this, for better or worse, through the whole academic year."

We had a number of conversations before deciding to "pod up," and certainly before contracting with a teacher/tutor, so we have a sense of each person's risk tolerance. We agreed we were close enough to take this first step, and we'd iron out the rest later.

[actfrench]

It is so great that you are doing this for your children. The only way we can innovate education is by parents and teachers like you taking the time and having the courage to build something great for their kids. People like you change the world for the better.