•July 22, 2020•
August is approaching, which is typically when parents and children begin venturing out to purchase school supplies and prepare for returning to the classroom. Because of COVID-19, this upcoming 2020-2021 school year will look vastly different.
In March schools across the country, including those in Illinois and Michigan, were ordered to close for the remainder of the school year. Now as they prepare for the 2020-2021 school year, in some cases there is much that is still unknown. Will learning be in-person? What about remote learning? A hybrid model? Will children be safe?
It’s a whole new world that goes well beyond the first-day-of-school stress for many parents and kids.
Kyle Boerke, a licensed clinical psychologist at OSF HealthCare, says there are conversations families should be having now to get ready.
“Whether it’s the peer interactions, or it’s masking, or it’s addressing any concerns that kids have because while there is going to be excitement from the happy side, there is also going to be some excitement from the nervous side as well and I think that’s important to understand. We need to have those conversations now as well,” said Boerke.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.