April 14 was like any other day since COVID-19 forced most of us to stay in - except it was Whitehall-Coplay School District’s first formal day of mandatory virtual learning since schools were closed by Gov. Tom Wolf March 16.

My daughter, Brianna, is a freshman at Whitehall High School. She woke up before 11 a.m. for the first time in weeks (I haven’t been much better) and logged on to see what was in store for her.

She looked at the assignments for the week and wrote them down, breaking them up by day to make things more manageable.

All assignments are due the following Monday, so she has to pace herself and not wait until the last minute. Her father and I are procrastinators, and while she is very school oriented, she is continuing the family tradition.

She logged into her geometry class and had to watch a video on the Pythagorean Theorem on Khan Academy. I can remember struggling with those theorems more than 20 years ago and have no wish to relive it. I’m hoping she doesn’t need any help with that class. Geometry may as well be written in hieroglyphics.

She will be learning about the Reconstruction era in American studies and has a research paper due that was assigned well before the pandemic. For Earth science, she had to read the annual water quality report from Whitehall Township Authority and determine if the water is safe. (It is.)

Thursday, April 16, she was scheduled to participate in two Zoom meetings to touch base with her geometry and English teachers. Instead of reading the traditional “Romeo and Juliet,” which her teacher says is important to learn in person, the class will be reading works by Edgar Allen Poe.

After all, it was Poe who wrote, “It is by no means an irrational fancy that, in a future existence, we shall look upon what we think our present existence, as a dream.”

Brianna said she believes the time she and her classmates are given to complete assignments seems reasonable, but it will be harder to learn online without the face-to-face instruction. Finding the motivation to open her Chromebook and start working is her biggest struggle right now.

“I was in a classroom environment, which pushed me,” she said. “Now they give us a whole week, so it’s easier to push everything off until Friday night. But I will make sure that I don’t because I care about my education.”

It took Brianna about 1-1/2 to 2 hours to complete her work. The biggest complaint she heard from classmates is that they find videochatting awkward and that each teacher uses a different platform, mainly Zoom or Google Meet.

“It’s definitely a change of pace, and it can be frustrating at times, but they’re doing what they can, and I understand that,” she said.

I asked co-workers and friends with children in WCSD to let me know about the first day of online classes in their homes.

Rebecca Selden has two sons who attend Gockley Elementary School - one in kindergarten, the other in first grade.

Selden said she didn’t encounter any issues. Her sons will be having a Zoom meeting with their teacher once a week, but she will be getting daily messages from the boys’ teachers through the Seesaw app.

“We have the option to print and do the work by hand. We post pictures of scans of the assignment. We have been doing the same thing the last two weeks when it wasn’t mandatory,” Selden said.

The boys’ first-day assignments included math, reading, writing, science, social studies, music and physical education. Physical education and music classes give the children a specific activity they are supposed to do.

The first day went well for the boys, and they had their assignments finished by noon.

Maria Rodriguez has a son, Josiah Rodriguez-Hernandez, in second grade at Steckel Elementary School. She said there is no set time to log in, but Josiah has to check in on a daily basis to discuss how he is feeling and ask questions about any classwork struggles.

“Navigating throughout the website was a bit frustrating,” Rodriguez said. “Toggling back and forth was confusing for myself and JoJo. He definitely couldn’t be left alone to get anything done.”

His assignments included reading a passage and reviewing sight words, watching a math video, answering questions and taking a short math quiz.

“His teacher has been very helpful and patient with me setting things up,” Rodriguez said.

Patricia Kearney, mother of WHS freshman Aoife Kearney, said the day went off without a hitch.

“The first day of online school went well. Since they’ve been out of school for a month, the motivation to get up and get going will take a few more days,” Kearney said.

One of the biggest obstacles parents face with online schooling is how to help their children while also having to work.

Bonnie Kies, mother to a senior, twin freshmen and a sixth-grader, is currently working from home.

“Full-time employment from home, coupled with supervising distance learning for the kids, has been the steepest learning curve,” she said. “The communication from the school has been great. Trying to check the work of all four of my kids has not been so great. There aren’t enough hours in the day. All things considered, I think it’s going well.”

Kies is not alone in feeling this way; these past weeks have been tough for all of us. Everyone is stuck inside and going stir-crazy while worrying about paying bills and staying healthy. Online schooling, while necessary, has added new challenges for parents.

One positive aspect of virtual learning is that, for the most part, kids already know how to use computers and a variety of applications and platforms, so that is one less thing to be worried about.

“I think the kids are much more technologically capable than some parents,” Kies said. “I am really trying to let them ‘drive their own bus,’ and I will check their work for the first week or so. But beyond that, I think it is important for the kids to take ownership and be able to pivot using many different learning techniques.”

As parents, we are all in this together, and we will have to find a way to cope with another “new norm.” Stay healthy, stay safe and, most of all, stay sane!