Mum rejects ‘virtual classroom’, writes ‘hard email’ to Grade 1 teacher

A mum’s refusal to participate in her son’s Year 1 “virtual classroom” struck a chord with other parents who have had enough.

Overworked parents have been given “permission to let it all go” — including homeschooling their children — as responsibilities and expectations pile up and quarantine stress builds.

Mother and world renowned archaeologist Sarah Parcak struck a chord on social media this week when she shared her decision to pull her son out of Year 1 for good.

“We just wrote a hard email,” she explained to her 45,000 followers on Twitter.

“I told our son’s (lovely, kind, caring) teacher that, no, we will not be participating in her ‘virtual classroom’, and that he was done with the 1st grade.

“We cannot cope with this insanity. Survival and protecting his well being come first.”

She said herself and her husband were already at breaking point with trying to work from home, carry out household chores and keep their child happy.

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We just wrote a hard email. I told our son’s (lovely, kind, caring) teacher that, no, we will not be participating in her “virtual classroom”, and that he was done with the 1st grade. We cannot cope with this insanity. Survival and protecting his well being come first.

— Sarah Parcak (@indyfromspace) April 8, 2020

“Don’t any of you dare offer help or resources,” she wrote.

“We both work full time, I also help run my non profit AND manage a complex project in Egypt AND am running a COVID-19 tracking platform. So, his happiness trumps crappy math worksheet management.

“Managing his education is a bridge too far right now. I also cook, manage cleaning, have a garden etc (husband does 50% of housework BTW, we are a team). The thought of homeschooling makes me want to barf. It’s a f*cking joke.

“He reads a lot. Plays outside a lot. We read to him a lot and talk to him a lot. He gets history lessons.

“Our goal is to have our son come out of this happy and not be long term emotionally scarred (lord knows life will do that anyways). F**k worksheets. F**k shitty math worksheets especially.”

She told her followers to “let it all go” because “it doesn’t f***ing matter”.

“School doesn’t f***ing matter right now. All your kids will remember is how they were loved. Promise.”

Other parents have shared their frustration at trying to homeschool, too. Reuters shared a video from Israel that went viral last month after a mother of four told of her struggle.

“I have four kids, may they be healthy,” she says. “Imagine how many WhatsApp (messages), how many subjects per child. I’ve only got two computers in the house, all morning they’re fighting over the computers.

“One of my daughter’s teachers is living in a dream world thinking she’ll get up at 8am to see him on a screen.

“Enough guys, teachers, dial it down. Lower expectations.”

The controversy around school closures continues in Australia after Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan announced independent schools will be forced to open in term two.

Mr Tehan said independent schools no longer have the option to shut their doors during the coronavirus pandemic.

“They must provide a forum, they must keep their schools open so those students that can’t be cared for at home can attend,” he told Sky News on Thursday. Schools ignoring the government order will risk funding.

“We have made it a condition that they are open to be able to provide that environment for those students, who can’t safely learn at home, to be able to learn,” Mr Tehan said.

The minister said medical experts continued to assure the government it is safe for schools to open.

He said working parents that couldn’t accommodate home learning needed to have the option of sending children to school.

— with AAP