Virtual School at Nana's

I asked Nana how Shane's virtual school was going and got a predictable response.

"Well, he's not like your sisters as a student," she said. "He's just like you."

I found the ominous drop in tone overdramatic.

"....and your brothers."

Yeah. Sitting, listening, and focusing aren't Shane's strong points.

Talking, twirling, and humming? Check!

The first day, Nana sat near Shane while he was in school. She said it looked like he was doing something. He was at least sitting at the table as he hummed with a pen in hand. 

Only he hadn't done "diddly squat," and when she asked what he was supposed to be doing he had no idea.

"Have you asked your teacher?" Nana asked.

"No."

So Nana tried to ask the teacher.

"She can't hear you. We're on mute."

"Buddy, you better unmute it then!"

I wish I could remember the exact phraseology!

Nana learned a lot after that first day. Mostly that She'd have to sit on Shane to keep him on task. "And if he comes back talking about how tough I was, you'll know why!"

I was all for it. Shane thrives on attention, so Nana keeping on top of him would be more motivational than it would've been for me, Matt, or Patrick (If anything, we'd probably have somehow joked or run her out of the room and been 'upgraded' to dealing with Pop.....which was much less pleasant growing up!).

We also learned that we were missing materials. I'd trusted Shane to pack his own bags. I knew there could be some natural consequences with it, so I did a quick glance and didn't see any obvious tech missing. 

I didn't realize the class was going to start working on some handouts together that turned out to be a 15 page packet! I had to take pictures for Pop to print them out!

It wasn't the smoothest start, but Shane's quick on the uptake and no one doubted he'd catch up. Nana and Pop were able (and willing) to directly supervise during class and they had a huge carrot: Shane could play with cousins once his work was done!

Virtual School with Nana and Pop was one of the best choices we made to start the year. It went so well (and some barn crap hit so quickly) we extended Shane's stay for another week.

By the time Shane came home, he'd spent a third of his virtual school year in SC (2 out of 6 weeks!).