Parent Perspectives: How COVID-19 changed a San Jose mom's life

We are sharing first-hand accounts from our parents during COVID-19, who, like all of us, have each had their own experience of life. 

This week, we spoke to Leticia Guizar, a parent in San Jose who lives with her husband and her two children. Her youngest, Ivan, will be entering the third grade at The Primary School in the fall. Before COVID-19, Leticia tended to a familiar routine: she worked at The Four Seasons hotel, maintained her goal of saving money, and her children went to school every day. 

The pandemic has not only disrupted this routine, but it has also introduced new hurdles for her and her family. Now, she spends most of her time at home with her family, closely following shelter-in-place guidelines since two of her sons have asthma. She’s also had to spend more time working with Ivan on remote learning, which is primarily delivered in English; this has been  challenging since Leticia is a Spanish speaker. 

Despite the challenges, Leticia has been grateful for the support she’s received from The Primary School. Every week, her parent coach, Susana Morales Lodis, would call to check in with her and share information on resources aimed at helping her and her family get through the pandemic. She is also appreciative of Ivan’s teachers for quickly answering his questions and responding to his concerns. 

Read more about Leticia’s experience during COVID-19 in the interview below. 

How are you and your family taking care of yourselves during COVID 19?

Pues trabajar no estamos trabajando y estábamos siempre aquí en casa y a hacer compras salía solamente mi esposo a hacer las compras y nosotros no salíamos para nada. Ahorita sí ya hemos visitado a mi mamá unas dos tres veces nada más, pero seguimos aquí en casa sin salir a ningún lado. Ahorita solamente a comprar comida y a visitar a mi mamá cada dos semanas, pero sí nos hemos estado cuidando bastante- Si salimos a hacer compras, llegar y desinfectar todo, lavarnos las manos. Sí nos hemos estado cuidando porque aquí en la casa donde yo vivo somos tres personas de alto riesgo se puede decir, mis dos niños tienen asma, yo tengo las defensas bajas, entonces hemos tomado más precauciones por eso, porque somos personas de alto riesgo se puede decir.

Well, we aren’t working. We were always here at home, and only my husband was going out to buy things; we weren’t going out for anything. Right now, we only go out to buy food and to visit my mother every two weeks. If we go out to make purchases, we come back and disinfect everything, and wash our hands. We’ve been taking care of ourselves because here in this house where I live there are three of us who are high risk: my two children have asthma, and I have a weak immune system, so because of that we’ve taken more precautions.

How have you had to navigate Ivan’s remote learning?

 La verdad se nos ha hecho muy difícil el aprendizaje remoto porque yo no sé inglés para ayudar a mi hijo, entonces sí se nos ha hecho muy difícil, pero siento que a pesar de que no sé inglés he tratado de buscar las herramientas con mi traductor y todo para apoyarlo a él en lo que yo pueda. Y la verdad hemos estado, la hemos navegado bastante pero hemos podido, salimos el año pues, con él así.

Las maestras han estado disponibles cuando yo no he podido ayudar a Ivan. He mandado mensaje a la maestra, que eran dos, pero yo le marcaba a la que hablaba español, Miss Valencia. 

Como te digo, la Coach me ha estado proporcionando muchísima información donde poder agarrar ayuda, entonces siento que he tenido ambos apoyos para mi hijo, que es el que lo necesitaba. En el aprendizaje con las maestras siempre me respondieron o si tenía algún problema con su iPad, porque ellos me prestaron el iPad de la escuela, si tenía algún problema siempre me ayudaron a resolverlo también. Entonces siento que tuve toda la ayuda que necesitaba con mi hijo y también en mi familia con ayudas y todo, entonces siento que me ayudaron bastante en verdad. Ha estado siempre, hasta ahorita que estábamos de vacaciones, han estado siempre al pendiente de nosotros, de cómo ayudarnos y de lo que nos esté afectando cómo poder ayudarnos.

The truth is that remote learning has been very difficult for us because I don’t know English to be able to help my son. But I feel like in spite of not knowing English I have tried to find tools in order to be able to help him where I can.  

The teachers have been available when I haven’t been able to help Ivan. I would send  a message to the teacher who speaks Spanish, Miss Valencia, and she always responded. 

My coach has been giving me a lot of information about where to get help, so I feel like I have had both sources of support for my son, which is what he needed. As far as learning with the teachers, they have always responded to me. If he had some problem with his iPad, they helped me resolve it. So I feel like I had all the support I needed with my son and family. They have always been there for us, as far as how to help us out and help us with whatever we are going through.

What about your parent coach? What have they told you in spite of the challenges?

La verdad ellos me han apoyado bastante. Cuando empezamos con todo esto la verdad uno se deprime y se preocupa y ellos me apoyaron mucho, me mandaron mucha información de lugares para aplicar para ayudas; incluso en uno de ellos me ayudaron a pagar dos meses de renta. La verdad siempre han estado al pendiente, cada semana me han estado llamando. Me ha ayudado bastante, mi Coach me ha ayudado bastante, ha estado pendiente, o si yo tengo una situación de que me esté estresando o que esté pasando por, ella siempre me saca de esa situación, me ayuda a salir de esa situación. He tenido bastante apoyo en estos momentos de mi Coach.

When we started with all of this, I got discouraged and worried, and they supported me a lot. They sent me a lot of information about places to apply for help; one of which even helped me pay two months of rent. It has helped me a lot; my Coach has helped me a lot. She has always been there for me. If I have a situation that is causing me stress or something that I am going through, she helps me get out of the situation. I have had a lot of support in these moments from my Coach.