The American Academy of Pediatrics has stated, “The goal of having children attend school in person--which is how they learn best--will only be safe when a community has the spread of the virus under control.”
Families have faced difficult choices as they decided how to approach the new school year: homeschool? Remote learning? Back in the classroom with precautions? They ultimately had to come up with a plan that was best for them, after weighing each family member’s needs and risks. For the next two weeks, "To Your Health" will focus on getting back to school as safely as we can in the time of COVID-19. Today, we will focus on students who are back in the classroom.
Schools are following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health department guidelines as they establish the practices of wearing cloth face coverings, physical distancing, hand washing, disinfecting frequently, and doing temperature checks. According to the CDC, other things families can do to reduce the spread and transmission of COVID-19 include:
• Checking daily for signs of illness
• Knowing what to do and who to contact if you or your child develop symptoms.
• Packing a water bottle and hand sanitizer for your child each morning.
• Developing a daily after-school routine that includes hand-washing and laundering cloth face coverings.
• Making sure your emergency contact information is up to date at school.
• Planning for how your family could transition to remote learning.
• Checking if your school will incorporate social-emotional learning to support a child’s ability to cope with stress and anxiety.
• Modeling healthy behaviors yourself.
Resources:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/decision-tool.html
Recorded at home with Eli Hildebrand Clubbs engineering; edited at KRCU Studios by Dan Woods.
