We Have No Idea What This Year Has Been Like for Our Kids

One year ago, my now-kindergartener left his bustling and diverse transitional kindergarten classroom with sensory learning areas designed for academic and social skills development to set up shop in our basement laundry room for “zoom school.” Sitting to his left and right are no longer other curious children, but an equally noisy but unsociable washer-dryer pair. For each school day since last March, my young child has dutifully donned his headphones to “attend” school via a district-issued Chromebook.

You might think this is going to be a piece about the challenges of online education for early learners. There is certainly much to say. But instead, I’d like to tell you about the humbling reality that we adults have no idea what this is like for our kids.