Think Out Loud

Online school prompts some parents to create pods for childcare, social interaction

By Allison Frost (OPB)
Sept. 24, 2020 4:57 p.m.

Broadcast: Thursday, Sept. 24

The Element Academy in Hillsboro provides an in-person, socially distanced learning environment for up to 20 students.

The Element Academy in Hillsboro provides an in-person, socially distanced learning environment for up to 20 students.

Julie Fong

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Online learning presents challenges for both students and parents, who may be working from home, looking for work or need childcare. Some are forming in-person pods to deal with some of those challenges. We talk with moms from two families who formed a pod for their fourth graders, Maru Ceara-Cortiña and Sara Hobbs. And Julie Fong shares her experience putting her third grader in a more formal pod structure called the Element Academy. All three parents talk about their reservations, why they moved forward despite them, the precautions they’re taking and the conversations they’re having.

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