We are at the finish line of a herculean effort. We will have closed out a very difficult fundraise in the midst of the greatest economic collapse in generations. This will be an amazing feat. What's better is that we have an awesome new product to launch on the heels of the raise. We will continue to bank stem cells. We will continue to allow people to consent to donate those cells to FL so we can sell them to research institutions (we are very transparent about this and ~80% of people consent) but our new offering is born out of a patent that mk and the lab team developed. It's going to help a lot of people and by all accounts it's going to be very lucrative for the company. I'm extremely excited about it. I think we will get the company to "default alive" by Q3 2021. The family was just in DC for the weekend. We visited all of the outdoor monuments in the Mall... well not all, but many. It felt like a good, safe environment. We visited our dear friends in VA, one of which is cW. It was such an awesome time. The kids love it and we did too. Much needed. But back the grind and to mk's post here, back to homeschooling. It's been rough. We have been at it for 3 weeks now. My 9 year old is thriving, but my 6 year old is not. He's a super high energy kid. He had a hard time focusing in PERSON let alone being tethered to a chair for hours when only minutes are really about learning. So much of their time is spent helping kids log in etc. It's almost cruel of us to expect him to sit through that. I know I couldn't. I think I'm going to start waking up a bit earlier with him and going for a morning run. It will be good for both of us. But homeschooling online sucks. I think he'd be better served if we just homeschooled him ourselves. To cgod's point, our kids have all the resources, books etc. They're smart. We could devise a hands on experiential curriculum that far exceeds what he is doing now. Watching him hate this is breaking my heart. I'm gonna give it a few more weeks before making a decision, but it's not looking good.
thenewgreen the difference between kids can be amazing and super frustrating. My son (at any age) would happily sit in front of the computer and pretend to pay attention while day dreaming about god knows what. My middle daughter would be constantly finding excuses to be anywhere but in front of the computer. No amount of kind reminders, bribes, punishments, or other cajoling would keep her on task. She is still that way. My youngest would struggle, but would put every effort into the task. I can't imagine what it would be like to have all my children be able to sit and learn like this and not spend most of my day monitoring them. So glad the older two are already out of school. mk's daughter sounds like she is adapting well. I wish all kids could, not just mine, but really all kids. I feel for those parents with children that have various issues that keep them from being able to do it. My kids weren't even particularly bad, but just frustrating enough to make me question my own sanity.
I don’t think there is anything a teacher could do in this situation. But, it’s clear to me that some are better than others. My sons music teacher is a wizard. The guy uses puppets, different voices and is constantly engaging the kids. I think a big part of engaging the kids is to occasionally call on them unprompted, keeping them on their toes. This morning I tested having my kids go for a morning run. So far, he does seem more dialed in and relaxed. Granted, we are only 10 minutes in. We are lucky that our Au Pair is a trained elementary school teacher and she does a great job. I can’t imagine not having help and having a full time job. Or having several kids in the k-4th grade age. People are carrying heavy burdens these days. Aside: Last night I was on a call with a woman in NorCal and she has all of these concerns and a raging fire headed her way. It’s amazing to me that evangelicals aren’t seeing Trump as the first horseman of the apocalypse.