YULEE, Fla. — Distance learning can difficult enough, but things can get incredibly frustrating when the technology fails.
This is what some families are dealing with this week, but school districts and other resources are here to help.
During First Coast News' Zoom interview with Gabriela Zelaya in Heron Isles, the video kept freezing. Zelaya's family chose online learning after her friend died from COVID-19.
Online learning went well for their family in the spring, but now it's the second day of school and her sons haven't been able to access their classes since the first few hours on day one.
"Remember how I was so excited about 'yay, first day of school'?" Zelaya said. "Twenty minutes into starting first period I was ready to quit."
Nassau County School District Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Mark Durham says students all over Yulee got disconnected the first day. However, Zelaya believes her problem is separate and the internet never came back for her the way Durham says it did for Yulee students.
"I tried logging in through my hot spot," Zelaya said. "Nope, cannot even run one laptop."
A hot spot that will work can come from your school district. In Nassau County, Durham says they'll work with you to get you a free one. The same goes for Duval County Public Schools where they say if you're suddenly having internet problems you should reach out to your school.
"Even here at our own center we've had to increase modems, we've had to add a ton of internet capability because too many people and everything crashes, " said Dana Edmonds, the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville director.
The Tutoring Club of Jacksonville has seen internet connection become a problem for families. But once that problem's fixed, there's still the issue of students being far behind in school.
"The summer slide on steroids because of COVID," Edmonds called it.
She says you shouldn't be afraid to reach out for help, either as a parent having trouble understanding how to work virtual school or for help with school work for your kids.
"When they find out that their student's that far behind they need to bring in someone to help and that's where they call a tutoring club or someone that can help them," Edmonds said. "They are having a difficult time, but a lot of it because it's new and they have younger students. The older students don't seem to have nearly the problem as the younger students."
In a normal summer kids are said to lose two months in reading and math skills over the summer. Educators expect that gap to be bigger this year. The library is always a free resource to help.
Learn more about the Tutoring Club of Jacksonville here.