BOSTON (WHDH) - As schools make changes during the pandemic, some families are searching for consistency.
“They can’t be on this up and down roller coaster…We’re opening schools, we’re closing schools, someone is sick. For me it was about having a consistent plan,” Diana Viens said.
She turned to learning pods, allowing her children to get together with a small group of other kids virtually and outdoors.
All the parents split the cost of a private instructor who guides the children through their lessons.
“My fourth grader is getting a lot of individual attention, her math homework consists of word problems with her name in them,” Viens said.
She has set up a Facebook group that is all about learning pods after discovering that hundreds of other families were looking for the same set-up.
The Facebook group has more than 7,400 members.
Professionals are also out there to help students succeed, including the group Selected for Families.
“So what our platform does is let teachers and families connect through shared preferences,” Selected for Families CEO Waine Tam explained.
He said the first step is for parents or guardians to outline their safety rules and decide if they want their kids to meet other students online, outdoors, or at someone’s home.
They then must decide how much they want to spend for a professional to help their kids with school work.
“What can you actually afford and start kind of understanding the economic cost of this,” Tam said.
He added that a graduate student or a tutor will be less expensive than a certified teacher.
“If it’s just about support, personalized support, you can do that without having to pay for a certified professional classroom teacher,” Tam continued.
The final step is hiring the person that’s going to help their kids learn.
While the learning pod might be temporary, Veins hopes some of the benefits carry over into the classroom when schools fully reopen.
“Small groups of kids for more engagement, getting outside more, breaking up the day, and being creative about the way that we teach things,” she said.
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