As I sift through my children’s blue tote bags filled with learning materials, my two sons jump up and down – ready for the new adventure.
Day 1 (Also known as ‘Technology Tuesday’) – All we need to do today is pick up the iPads and laptops assigned to my sons, Matthew, 10 and John, 7, from the School District.
It’s a simple process. We hop in the car, drive over to their school, pull our vehicle into the line, open the passenger-side window, tell the teacher who walks up to the window who we are picking up for, and they put the blue tote bags with my children’s names onto the passenger seat.
For us, there was no line and John’s teacher was one of the few handing out materials. She recognized our car and went to get our materials as we were saying our names to another teacher.
She delivered them to us with a smile and told John how much she missed him. She waved as we drove away.
Looking Through The Materials
As soon as we got home, the boys couldn’t wait to open their bag of ‘goodies.’ We went through all of the materials.
I quickly gathered letters and envelopes addressed to the parents, while the kids looked over their materials.
The blue totes! 
John’s supplies! 
Matthew’s supplies! Photos by Stephanie Thompson
For John, some of the items were crayons, markers, dice, glue stick, pencils, a journal, a folder, scissors, dry erase markers, and a few workbooks.
Some of the items Matthew had included: a laptop, a book he forgot at school, a library book he was reading, songs for him to practice on the recorder, a folder, his math workbook, his journal and pencils.
They both received a list of fun and unique ways to stay active over the next two weeks. They are encouraged to have their parents take a photo of them completing the activity and send it to their physical education teacher.
After looking through the materials, John quickly snatched up the iPad assigned to him and started to play his favorite math games, while Matthew was more concerned about reorganizing the house.
Matthew gave each room in the house a new designation. For example: the dining room is now the classroom, the living room is the play area and library, the kitchen remains the kitchen and Mom’s desk is now the principal’s office. I sure hope they won’t have to visit Mom’s desk/the principal’s office too much!
Of course, both of my boys wanted to make sure I don’t forget the REALLY important things about school – you know, recess and lunch.
I assured them I wouldn’t. John also wants to make sure we say the Pledge of Allegiance every day, which I think is a great idea.
With our plan completed, we are ready to start working with our teachers to make this online experience a success!
Keep an eye out for an update in the life of a mom just trying to do what’s best for her kids.
