Pandemic update

Getting ready to homeschool, and then homeschooling, has had me constantly busy. Here are some things to catch up.

1. Big L's school. Last time I updated, big L's school was not offering an online option and we were looking elsewhere. After I requested to end her enrollment, as did many other families (about 60), they finally put together an online program. We mulled it over and then signed up. I'm glad we did - it has taken a lot of work off me. It was a very difficult transition at the beginning, but by around late September we had gotten the hang of it and were very grateful for it after that. There is a lot to keep track of and Big L has gotten pretty good at being responsible for most of it. She is learning some great lessons. She is also enjoying the flexibility in her schedule, which she fills up with art projects - often with her brother.

2. Little L's school. For Little L, I chose a homeschool program called Busy Toddler. He just turned 4 this fall, so I'm not so interested in teaching him really but more in keeping him busy so he doesn't drive the rest of us crazy. There are a ton of easy little active learning projects for every day that take minimal effort to put together, like throwing an egg around the yard to learn about gravity. There is also a big fan support group on FaceBook and I'm getting lots more ideas - like holiday related activities - from there. 

3. My school. At the end of the summer, I was convinced that reopening my school would be a complete disaster - 20,000 undergrads that don't social distance = not good. It turned out, it was only a disaster at the very end. The beginning - September and October - went surprisingly smoothly. The students stayed careful. Our lab stayed open, student cases stayed at a pretty low and manageable level. Nobody died (though one of my colleagues in my department was in the ICU with COVID for almost a month). In mid November, cases started getting out of control, the hospital did start to fill up but by then the semester was only over. We all hung in until Thanksgiving, students went home, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

Now we are at the winter break, and I am so thankful. We made it through the fall, my little family is ok, the people in my lab are ok. Even most of my relatives managed not to get it. Now we all just need to hang on another couple of months until each one of us can get a vaccine!