Kids

Ready for Face-To-Face Classes? Here’s How To Prepare Our Kids

by Kevyn Gohu
July 15, 2022

As face-to-face classes are slotted to come back on November 2, here’s how we can prepare our kids.

Returning to face-to-face classes may seem like a dream or a nightmare waiting to happen for many parents and kids. When the DepEd secretary Vice President Sara Duterte issued the Department of Education (DepEd) Order 34, s. 2022, a lot of parents found themselves on the fence about what to do. Some have discovered that the traditional setup doesn’t work for their kids. Others saw how online or homeschooling took away the usual horrors of school such as bullying.

But for those returning to face-to-face classes, here are some things we can do to prepare ourselves and our kids.

1. Get ourselves and our kids vaccinated.

While it’s a bonus for us, some schools will not allow kids to attend face-to-face classes unless they’ve been vaccinated. Depending on the school, some may be okay with the kids receiving just the two jabs. Others may prefer kids to be fully updated with a second booster. Either way, making sure our kids receive the COVID-19 vaccine assures them an easier time returning to school.

2. Locate a clinic nearby to get a short check-up.

Besides vaccination records, some schools will request parents to get the most recent X-Ray results for their kids. In a way, it’s to see if they are harboring any sort of virus or bacterial infection. Usually, the main culprit here is pneumococcus or commonly known as Pneumonia. X-Rays usually present a foggy appearance but the medical technician would be the one to write the report.

3. Ask the kids if they have any questions about going back to school.

Face-to-face classes were our norm but it’s not our kids’ norm. They’ll probably have a lot of questions, especially about classmates and how they’ll actually see them in person. They’re used to having to go to the bathroom anytime but this time, they’ll have to ask. There are a lot of social conventions that we’ll need to talk about with them.

4. Make sure to address whatever fears they have before they go.

Kids usually just agree with whatever we say we want for them. But sometimes, it may actually be that they’re not comfortable about going back to school. Whether it’s because of bullying or a culture mismatch, kids may sometimes find themselves not learning because something occurred in school. It’s usually here that some parents also discover there were some physiological and psychological factors that made it difficult for their kids to learn.

5. Make sure there’s food.

Every kid’s favorite time of the day at school is either recess or lunch. Not just because they get to play but because of the food. Some studies have shown that there are kids who don’t go to school due to the lack of baon. However, this doesn’t mean cooking their lunches every day. It can even be in the form of lunch money. All that matters is making sure they’re well-fed throughout the day.

6. Remember that face-to-face classes may not be for everybody.

Considering that most schools still use the 30-40 to 1 ratio in classrooms, it’s good to reconsider whether or not your kids thrive in that kind of environment. The 2-year pandemic gave us time to evaluate how our kids learn and see how they are, revealing some pros and cons of the traditional education system. Before sending them back, it’s good to check how their grades were prior and compare them to now. It’s also good to study how their behavior was back then and now.

Our job is to make sure learning stays purposeful.

While learning isn’t always fun, it’s good to keep it purposeful and on-topic. One of the biggest flaws we’ve probably realized is how we seem to know things—but to demonstrate them is another. Homeschool allowed many parents to investigate the idea which is why they might find some resistance —from both themselves and their kids—when it comes to returning to face-to-face classes.