Quebec, like the other provinces of Canada, closed its schools to the student population as a measure of social distancing during the outbreak of COVID-19 on March 13, 2020. Initially

presented as a holiday by the Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge,

this break was transformed into an obligation for teachers to deliver courses

and for students to complete school exercises that had previously been

considered optional. There was no longer any question of monitoring

teaching on a voluntary basis. According to ministerial instructions,

teachers must now contact all pupils several times a week. Online

education has become an important vehicle for teaching and teacher-

student interactions, even since the reopening of elementary schools and

daycare services in some regions of Quebec. Indeed, since elementary

school attendance was deemed optional, only about 50% of parents chose to

return their children to school to complete their school year. They were advised

that the training would be given in small groups of 15 students with the possibility

that all rooms in the school (cafeteria, library and gymnasium) could become classrooms

and that the young people would not necessarily have their head teacher. It is strongly recommended that grandparents aged 70 and over remain confined. It is not possible anymore to have them babysit grandchildren and to help with some household chores without putting them at risk of being contaminated with COVID-19.

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Yet social media are sometimes full of alarming headlines such as: "Confusing instructions, contradictory messages". Is there any cause for concern about the impact of the pandemic on student achievement? What is happening to the role of parents/families and school-family relationships in these turbulent times? We have tried to find some answers by looking at one particular case, or even one parent/family we interviewed on May 28th. This is a family that we are acquainted with. In order to analyze the comments made by these parents, which reflect the daily and weekly realities, we have retained the parameters that have been studied so much in our work over the past 25 years: the characteristics associated with the family and children, the role of parents and school-family collaboration.

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                                                                                    Family characteristics

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                                                                                    The family in question is composed of two biological parents, three

                                                                                    boys, one of whom is in Grade 1, the other in Grade 4 and the last

                                                                                    one in Grade 6, and a girl attending kindergarten. One of the boys

                                                                                    has a learning disability (EHDAA). Both parents have a bachelor's

                                                                                    degree and the mother has taught in the past. The mother works

                                                                                    at home, so they have an average family income. They live in a

                                                                                    small semi-rural community in the Eastern township region. The

                                                                                    school the children attend has about 100 elementary school

                                                                                    students. The parents, with the consent of their youngsters, have

                                                                                    chosen not to send their children back to school.

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Role of parents and school-family collaboration

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From the beginning of the pandemic, the mother took care to establish a routine. Work at home begins at 9:00 a.m. and continues until noon. In the afternoon, there is a 20-minute reading period and some of the children have to continue with unfinished work. At the very beginning of the pandemic, teachers sent work and reading to the children. On the last day before the school closed, teachers invited parents to borrow books from the school. In addition, since the whole family is a member of the local library, other books were also borrowed before the school closed. As for the rest of the afternoon, it is spent on play activities, which take place outdoors and in nature. The children all have to complete tasks assigned to them on a daily chalkboard. They are also very involved in the family's various artisanal food production projects (vegetable gardens, orchard,

farmyard, tree planting, firewood, etc.). Recently, they also participated in a

volunteer activity for a non-profit organization, which consisted of planting 150

deciduous trees in the forest.

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Initially, teachers checked to find out if the children at home had any

special needs as well as the necessary computer equipment. After the

schools reopened, the school team agreed to print the teaching materials

for those families who wanted them. At the beginning of each week, the

teachers email a work plan for each child at different school levels. It is

accompanied by relevant exercises and capsules that explain how the work

is to be done. Video-conference meetings (MS Team) are organized during the

week with the head teacher or the teacher in charge of monitoring the students at

home. These meetings may involve face-to-face (in-class) and/or homework sessions. For example, the teacher may ask the student at home to start a talk. Although some families may have large numbers of children, it is difficult for teachers to judge the workload that these meetings represent for parents at home. In the early days of the pandemic, the teacher of the students with learning difficulties did some follow-up on a weekly basis. Since the reopening of the schools, three teachers who cannot be present at the school for health reasons are sharing the follow-up of the 40 students who work at home.

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The mother compares her workload to that of a substitute teacher's position, in addition to having to manage time and computer equipment for her four children at different levels. Her primary task is to divide up the weekly academic work according to each child's grade level. She sees herself as the transmission belt between the teachers and her own children. Once in a while, she has to deal with a few behavioral problems that sometimes require the kids to work in different places or to be assigned consequences if the work is not finished, according to the

                                                                                    schedule determined by the mother. This can mean, for example,

                                                                                    that the child has to complete everything in the afternoon before

                                                                                    being able to do play activities. As positive reinforcement, she also

                                                                                    plans rewarding activities. Although she is not required to teach, she

                                                                                    admits that she often endorses this role even though her mother's

                                                                                    hat predominates. She agrees that there is a lot of material

                                                                                    available, including resources on the Internet, the Ministry of

                                                                                    Education's Teacher's Kit, workbooks from teachers and even youth

                                                                                    albums on the Télé-Québec station, which she adapts for younger

                                                                                    and older children. She uses her imagination to create activities that

                                                                                    require children to interact with their grandparents over the Internet

                                                                                    or with other members of the extended family outside the country.

                                                                                    Several activities also integrate the family's daily life and easily link learning to their actual application. The teacher in charge asked to receive photos of the work done by each of the young people because they have to keep track of them.

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To the question, what are the requirements for a mother in the context of a pandemic? She answers that it takes a lot of resourcefulness and patience. At the same time, she has to take care of the daily routine, which is not without its challenges. In addition, we must not overlook the role of the father who, in spite of his telework and his many trips, sometimes to remote areas, never hesitates to put his shoulder to the wheel when he can make himself available. Obviously, this double task brings its share of fatigue. Since the mother already had an established bond of trust with the teachers, she can always communicate with them and ask for an adjustment. She acknowledges a great openness and flexibility on the part of the teachers, facilitating collaboration between the school and the family.

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Not everything is done like a romance novel. Of course, the family is not rolling on gold, and a wide range of concerns are part of daily life. Nevertheless, the mother finds a way to motivate herself because she can see her children in action: “to see them blossom and develop their autonomy”. The parents' choice to keep them at home is also based on this unique situation, which may never happen again: "It's better to take advantage of this opportunity to strengthen ties with our children than to have regrets!” She is full of praise for her children's teachers, whose hard work she greatly appreciates. This pandemic period has allowed her to exponentially increase her respect and appreciation for them. Everyone is learning as they go. Not everything is perfect, but the flexibility and resilience will have allowed both the school team and the family to remember it as a positive experience.

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