BELTON, Mo. — Many school districts in the Kansas City area are embracing virtual learning this week as winter storm cleanup challenges continue.
With students getting online at home, parents are reaching for phones, tablets, notebooks and pencils.
But it's a balancing act to be pulled in different directions while managing life at home.
Belton students weren't in school Tuesday. Rather, the district opted for a school-from-home Alternative Methods of Instruction (AMI) Day.
As a result, parents rolled with the punches.
From the hills of Belton’s Wallace Park, Falcon Fullmer and her two children — Laney and Corbin — took full advantage of some sledding.
“Well, it’s trying to get an equal balance of both — doing some fun stuff and making sure we get the school work turned in at the end of the day so we don’t get counted as absent,” Fullmer said.
KSHB 41's Megan Abundis asked Corbin and Laney how it felt to have a bit of both.
“Feels pretty good. The only thing I don’t like is the learning,” they joked. “More fun is better!”
Fulmer said the schoolwork didn't take long to plow through.
"Four assignments and that’s it," she said.
However, Fullmer had to get creative to figure out how to print some assignments as her children did not bring home their school-issued iPads for winter break.
“So normally they would just do their assignment through that," she said. "Since we didn’t have those during winter break, it was trying to figure out how to get the assignments done — like old school pen and paper and send pictures to the teachers."
Belton will go virtual again Wednesday, so the balancing act of work and school for parents continues.
“Sometimes it is juggling both; trying to figure out a way to get all the things done at the same time," Fullmer said. "Get outside and enjoy the snow with your kids. I think they kind of know that kiddos are wanting to get outside and do stuff and enjoy the snow day.”
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KSHB 41 reporter Megan Abundis covers Kansas City, Missouri, including neighborhoods in the southern part of the city. Share your story idea with Megan.
