Educating Your Child in a Global Pandemic

On Wednesday, July 29th, Zealous Schools Founder & Executive Director, Geoff Grimmer hosted a community discussion focused on creative ways to educate our children in a global pandemic.  The gathering of concerned parents reviewed various models from homeschooling and microschools to full and partial online platforms.  The discussion lasted 60 minutes and was recorded here.  (Password:  FtHZ6+$x)  It started with 16 slides that Grimmer presented seeking to explore the question, “Where from here?”  

Parents with kids in grades 2nd-12th were encouraged to focus on their children’s passions and strengths.  Politics during covid was ridiculed as a go-nowhere discussion that parents needn’t become engulfed in.  Numerous realities of yesteryear are either ending or over during a global pandemic and harnessing digital tools that can inspire the virtual pivot should be embraced and implemented whenever healthy for kids.

Meanwhile, Zealous Coaches have been meeting weekly throughout the summer to update and refresh their vision for how kids can best learn in August and all staff have been exploring new strategies to deliver meaningful and challenging experiences.  The brainstorm focused on outdoor covid-safe classrooms, wilderness explorations and (where effective) a shift to fully virtual curriculum delivery.  

With two years of blended research and practice, the staff explored ways that assessments, activities and engagement would evolve within our remote reality.  We agreed that “hoping” for a vaccine was not enough detail for a good plan.  Instead, we assumed the best and worst virus scenarios and developed high-leverage tactics to optimize performance across a broad yet realistic continuum of societal norms.

The result of our discussion was a weekly schedule that seeks first to gather kids outdoors and socially distant.  Then it looks to develop meaningful relationships between kids and coaches. Finally, it harnesses the strengths of our small school community to push kids to their potential as people and students.  

Here is a look at the weekly schedule which is scheduled to launch on Monday, August 17th.  For more information on how we set our priorities, please email office@zealousschools.org.