Madison City School parent responds to first week of online learning for students

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) -This week, several school districts across the Tennessee Valley will start a new school year. Some schools have already started learning virtually.

Inside the dining room is where 5 year-old Zoe Bailey is doing her school work this year.

Well, at least for the first nine weeks. Madison City is one of several school districts starting the year with virtual learning.

Stay at home Mom Tara Bailey said so far the transition has been pretty easy.

“For kindergarten for right now it’s 9 to 9:30 classroom time. She gets to sing a song and say hi to all of her friends, they read a story, it takes about 30 minutes and then she has her lessons during the day,” said Bailey.

Every student is provided with Chromebooks and they use Schoology, that teachers use for lesson plans.

After talking to other parents who have children in school, Bailey said‚ they’ve faced challenges with online learning.

“One parent can’t be there for three different students and even though we have our teachers and they’re wonderful and they’re doing the best they can, they cant be there like in person and it would be easy to ask the teacher a question,” said Bailey.

She and three other Madison Moms also created a safer at home schooling support group to provide resources for parents.

Most importantly, Bailey said whether or not a child returns back to school should be left to the parents.

“If they want to keep their child home, they should have the option to do that. We should not be opening the schools and forcing children whose families may not be able to afford childcare of they don’t feel safe. Bailey said once the nine weeks of online learning is up, she plans to keep her daughter home until she feels it’s safe for her to return.

Copyright 2020 WAFF. All rights reserved.