Hannah Scharf of New Ulm started “screen school” with four of her five children (the fifth is not in school). The children came up with the name because they get to look at screens for part of the day, said Scharf. “They miss being at school so much I tried to make things special by rearranging our dining room and giving them their own area to work in,” said Sharf. “I also taped up some of their art projects that were sent home from school to make it look more ‘schooly.’ The teachers gave them very detailed work to do on worksheets and Google classroom so I just have to facilitate and keep them on task. It really makes me appreciate our teachers all the more... One of the extra “centers” the children can do if they have free time is read the Journal.” Teddy is in 6th grade, George is in 4th, Hattie is in 1st and Gus is in Kindergarten at St. Paul’s Lutheran School. Clockwise from right, Gus, George, Teddy and Hattie.

NEW ULM — Hannah Scharf of New Ulm began “screen school” with her four school children Monday.

Teddy Scharf is in 6th grade, George is in 4th, Hattie is in 1st and Gus is in kindergarten at St. Paul’s Lutheran School.

It seems to be working but it’s not the same as real school.

“They (the children) came up with the name because they get to look at screens part of the day,” Hannah said. “They miss being at school so much, so I tried to make things special by rearranging our dining room, giving them their own area to work in.”

Scharf said she taped up some of her children’s art projects that were sent home from school.

“The teachers gave them very detailed work to do on worksheets and Google classroom so I just have to facilitate and keep them on task,” Hannah said.

The Scharf kids compared “screen school” to the real thing.

“This is way harder than real school and not as much fun either,” said Gus.

Hannah said George keeps asking her if he can work ahead. She added that her children’s teachers asked for parental feedback on whether they should assign more school work, less work, or if it was just right.

Hattie Scharf said she likes “screen school” because she can give her mother hugs any time of the day.

“I keep saying God bless our teachers because getting through the assignments and keeping my kids on task is a work out,” Hannah said.

“I have learned a ton and the teachers have provided a lot of wonderful online resources that really help reinforce the lesson,” Hannah added.

On April Fools’ Day, the Scharf kids made treats including Brussels sprout blow pop suckers and Oreos with toothpaste in them.

The Scharfs have stayed physically active daily and participated in the Chalk Your Walk and Community Scavenger Hunt on Windows.

For art, they drew pictures of flowers and put them in the windows last week. They searched neighborhood windows to see if anyone else did so.

“We have written lots of good, old fashioned letters, letting people know we are praying for God to keep them safe and missing them very much,” Hannah said.

“Three of my children had March birthdays this year,” she added. “We couldn’t do things we usually do for birthdays like go to Carl’s Corner in Essig, but some of his classmates sent Gus some virtual greetings that really cheered him up.”

Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.