Parenting

Mom Boldly Tells Teacher Her Boy Is Officially Done With School for the Year & Has No Regrets

ParentingPublished Apr 10, 2020
By Genny Glassman
Sarah Parcakindyfromspace/Twitter

Now more than ever, parents are being pulled in a million directions. Some parents are privileged to be able to work from home -- while also trying to homeschool their kids. Archeologist and mom Sarah Parcak has decided that enough is enough. Parcak started a debate on Twitter when she announced that she wrote her son's teacher an email, telling her that "he was done with the first grade."

Parcak admitted that it was a "hard" email to write.

No one wants to believe that they're doing something against the interests of their children. And right now, so many teachers are working hard to make sure that parents have as many resources as possible.

Parcak even wrote that her son's teacher is "lovely, kind, caring." This wasn't her fault.

But the mom had just reached the end of her bandwidth.

"No, we will not be participating in her 'virtual classroom,'” she wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. "We cannot cope with this insanity."

So, they made the hardest decision possible -- they decided to take her son out of first grade early.

"Survival and protecting his well-being comes first," she added.

The mom made it clear: She's not looking for "resources" to help her homeschool better. Thank you very much.

In a follow-up tweet, Parcak explained there was 0% chance that homeschooling was going to happen. Both she and her husband are still working full time, she helps run a nonprofit, "and [I] manage a complex project in Egypt and am running a COVID-19 tracking platform," she wrote. "So, his happiness trumps crappy math worksheet management."

She didn't even get to the fact that parents still need to do household chores.

We all know that those clothes aren't going to put themselves away. Even with Parcak sharing household responsibilities 50/50 with her husband, managing her son's education "is a bridge too far right now," she continued in the thread

Quite frankly, "the thought of homeschooling" makes her "want to barf."

She doesn't want anyone to worry, however. Her son is happy and still learning, albeit in a less formal way.

Her boy will still read, will still play, and will still get plenty of attention from his parents. 

"He gets history lessons," she wrote in another tweet. "There is an app where he can choose books to be read to him."

Every night, the family watches a movie together, and he spends tons of time playing with his dad.

Because all this mom really wants is for her son to stay happy.

Is it so wrong that Parcak's only goal is for her son to "not be long-term emotionally scarred"?

In another tweet, she added that other parents should do "what’s right for your family and mental health."

But as far as she's concerned, her kid will be fine by not being homeschooled. 

"I give you permission to Let It All Go," she wrote. "It doesn’t [expletive] matter. School doesn’t [expletive] matter right now. All your kids will remember is how they were loved. Promise."

Other parents were HERE for the mom's announcement.

"I keep screaming it out that no one needs to deal with this," one person wrote in the comments. "Everyone can file a notice that they will be homeschooling and then do what they want. Reading aloud, playing, cooking together, online math games -- it all counts. If it isn’t working STOP!"

"Our school (we have a kindergartener and a second grader) have been very good about making clear all the learning was a suggestion and voluntary," someone else commented. "We have a half-hour video call, and that's it. We're reading them 'Who Was' biographies, I'm teaching a little addition and factorization, and that's it."

"Absolutely agree on this," a third commenter chimed in. "Every child/family different. I'm currently inundated with emails/robocalls from school. Art and music teacher with recommended work? For fourth grade? C'mon. No."

But some people thought that Parcak has missed a few key points.

"I applaud your decision," one person commented, but her family has had a different experience. "For us, it turns out the two hours we spend on Google Classroom every morning is our happiest, calmest, most optimistic time of day. If it hadn't played out that way, I would have prioritized my work/my daughter's mental health, and opted out too."

"While I fully respect your decision, please don’t assume that what was assigned was solely based on teacher decision," a second person wrote. "Many are being given directives as far as the number of minutes, activities, etc. from those above them. Others are trying to figure it out themselves."

"This," a third commenter added. "Additionally, it's often not coming from the teacher, or even the district, but the state. State Ed's are mandating that teachers are proving their worth (pay), and that means connections, providing learning opportunities, and often even grading and attendance."

We don't know what the repercussions of this global health crises will be just yet, especially for kids. But we do know that keeping both them (and you) safe and stable should be a priority -- no matter what that means.

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