Author: Adora

An Idea Revised: Music Pods

/ Adora

As I did more research on the Homeschooling Pods and more information about my jobs became available, I realized I would not have enough time to offer “regular school hours” to parents, and that there are a lot of restrictions to teaching that I was previously unaware of:

  • Pods are limited to 4 kids of school-age, if operating between the hours of 9am-4pm Mondays to Fridays
  • If an additional child is found on the premises, even with their parent present (think for example, a mother trying to help by comforting their child on the first day with a toddler in hand), there are steep fines for being unlicensed
  • Liability insurance is non-existent for these new schooling models

Being a music teacher, I am much more familiar with music studios and tutoring services, which fall under the folowing “exemptions” to the Ontario Child Care Act:

  • Camps that only care for children aged 4 and over
  • Programs with a primary purpose of academic or skill-based recreation
  • 4.7 (Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014) The care or supervision is provided as part of a program, the primary purpose of which is not to provide temporary care for or supervision of children but rather to promote recreational, artistic, musical or athletic skills or to provide religious, cultural or linguistic instruction.

Thus, I came up with the idea of Music Pods to fill in another gap in our community: affordable, quality music lessons, especially those currently in homeschooling situations.

How would this differ from regular lessons?

  • All instruments and music are provided for kids and included in the cost
  • Kids will start on cardboard instruments for the first few weeks as they learn basic technique and note-reading
  • Students will learn in “pods” of 4-5, and when they are ready and government/safety regulations allow, they will form a string orchestra
  • All of the practicing and training will be done “in session” – there will be no “homework” or extra practicing unless the teacher deems the student is responsible, ready, and shows an interest in taking the instrument home
  • Because of the group nature of the sessions, the cost will be significantly lower than private lessons

If you are interested, please fill out the pre-registration form here.

Intro to Covid-19 “Homeschooling” Services

/ Adora / Leave a comment

This idea emerged from seeing a need in our community for a safe and practical schooling model for September 2020. In Ontario, we are currently unsure about the safety status of schools reopening, especially for younger kids in large groups not being required to socially distance or wear a mask.

As a childless adult with an affinity for working with kids, I would like to help. Having lost my jobs to Covid-19 (primarily as a contracted performer), I am also looking for creative ways to reimagine how our community can step in to help one another. Having spoken with many parents and community leaders, I have decided to offer “homeschooling” to other families to allow parents the option to work.

I will offer more details as my planning and job situations allow, but here are the basic ideas:

  • Take in up to 5 kids from Grades K-3 – in a community location TBA
  • Offer a flexible 10am-3pm “school day” five days a week, allowing buffer time on both ends for parents to work
  • Charge slightly more than local daycare fees (for the materials and prep needed to provide a full-time learning experience!) – brainstorming ways to keep it accessible for families
  • Follow the Ontario curriculum guidelines to ease transition back to schools when the families choose to do so
  • Tap into traditional homeschooling resources and offer enrichment activities in all subjects, including French for all students
  • Use the extra time (as teaching a smaller group results in less “lost time”) to teach life skills, such as cooking, sewing, tying shoelaces, etc.
  • Offer an “after-school” music program as funding allows

I am excited to start this new journey and fusing my previous experiences to create this new “pandemic-times-inspired” model of schooling for families in Thunder Bay!