On Friday, April 17 Governor Greg Abbott announced that the public and private school classrooms will remain closed for the remainder of the school year to avoid the spread of COVID-19. This change not only affects the students who are dealing with this change, but also the parents of these students.

For some families, who have kids in the younger grade levels, it’s easier to teach the little kids than the older grades. Anne Vazquez, a working mom of three, believes that her youngest has it a little better than her high schooler.

“The assignments for my high schooler, Helena, are more challenging and time consuming than my fourth grader’s, Kian. Helena’s assignments are due throughout the week while Kian’s are all due on Friday,” Vazquez said.

Vazquez doesn’t just see this as a plan to keep students safe, but also as a chance to be more involved with her family and help her kids balance their school work.

“I help them manage their work schedule with frequent breaks, so they don’t get overwhelmed and stressed,” Vazquez said.“This pandemic has allowed the five of us to be under with the same roof which we don’t get a lot. Being at home gives us more family time where we play games, watch movies, and read devotionals.”

Other parents see online learning as somewhat of a problem for their kids staying on task. Wendy Aguillard has a Junior and an Eighth Grader. Aguillard believes that students can get distracted more easily being at home.

“I don’t think online learning is for everyone because it is easy for the kids to get off task and have no motivation to do their work because they are at home,” Aguillard said. “However I do like knowing more about what they are doing and making sure they are on task by reminding them to do their work.”

For some parents with multiple kids it’s hard to make sure each of their children are taking care of their own school work. Latwan Ross, father of four, believes that online school is harder with multiple children.

“Online learning is hard because each kid is asking for help at the same time and it feels like a tug of war for attention. However, the older kids make it easy because they are more independent and can grasp concepts easier. The younger kids need more explanation,” Ross said.

However, Ross also sees online learning as a chance to spend more time with his family and enjoying each others company while being stuck at home.

“It’s nice to spend more quality time with the kids and be more in touch with the kids and what they are learning,” Ross said. “It is hard to split attention and time between the family and one on one time needed for school, but on the other side, I am able to spend more time with the kids which is good.”

Parents didn’t plan on being their kid’s teachers, yet this global pandemic has them, albeit temporarily, changing their career plans.