Anyway, this advice is directed to only certain types of parents.
My advice is for parents who are vaccinated (unless there is a genuine medical reason for them not to be), who wear masks when going into crowded indoor places, who have vaccinated their teens and plan to vaccinate their children when that becomes a possibility
Also: These parents have children who usually attend school, and they live in an a state ruled by a comic book villain.
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| My state is ruled by this Comic book villain. To compare him in anyway to Neanderthals is incredibly insulting to Neanderthals. (photo by Gage Skidmore) |
My advice?
Strongly consider homeschooling!!
If you are a single parent who works at a job outside the home or you are in a dual career family, homeschooling may not be possible. I am so sorry you are in this position. I don't have any advice for you. But I hope everything will end up turning out okay for your family.
If you work at home doing parenting work and/or other work, but you feel you're not qualified to teach your child. You're probably wrong about that. And if you truly are awful at teaching, there are plenty of resources online to help you. There are plenty of YouTube videos that are probably more valuable than what is taught in many classrooms.
I'm personally more familiar with material for teens and adults, but some of those creators also make stuff for children. I haven't watched them personally but maybe give you could give them a try.
There's Khan academy for kids It's free. That link two sentences before is their website which has a link to their app. And they also have a YouTube channel. It seems to be for VERY young kids. Maybe preschool and kindergarten?
I guess the regular Khan site has curriculum for older kids.
Okay. Yes. Elementary school curriculum is here along with high school, college, etc.
We used Crash Course a lot. Well, and I still use it. I'm currently following their series on Black history.
Crash Course is probably geared more towards teens and adults. But they also have a kid's channel with science lessons.
We used IXL a lot. They have learning activities/assignments for kids and adults of all ages.
Here's an example of one of their preschool language arts activities.
IXL will let you try out lessons for free, but if you want something more substantial...such as more lessons and a progress tracking system, you have to pay, It's $20 a month for four subjects for one child and then four dollars for each extra kiddo. They have lower prices if you are willing to forgo science and social studies and even lower prices if you want only math or only language arts. (you don't actually have to forgo science and social studies...just use a separate resource).
Another not-free thing we used to love is BrainPOP. It's pretty pricey depending on what you want. If you have multiple kids who range widely in age, it's probably going to cost you $430 a year. If your kids are all in grades 3-8, you can get regular brain pop for $350. If your kids are all on the younger end of the age spectrum, you can get the junior version for $295.
I'm pretty sure that Jack was watching the regular BrainPOP when he was much younger than third grade age. If money is tight, I would just do the regular brain pop and maybe skip the kiddo one.
If you have only one child, then you can get regular BrainPOP for $119.
Oh! Good news. I just realized you can pay by month... So with that, the bonanza choice (multiple kids and both age groups), it's $50 a month.
Note: The multiple kid thing is actually four kids. If you have more than that....
Well, if you have more kids than that, I kind of picture you as already being a homeschooling family. You probably have your curriculum set.
Sorry to stereotype.
If you're not sure about BrainPOP, they have free sample lessons.
Here's a free video about MLK from their Black History curriculum.
Seeing that some comic book villains are trying to make it very difficult for kids to learn about Black history and systemic racism, some parents might want to consider continuing with the homeschooling even after Covid. Or at least parents should strongly consider supplementing their children's education.
Other things you can do with your homeschoolers:
Read a book together
Listen to an audio book
Play a board game
Take a walk outside
Play Minecraft or other creative/educational games
Bake something
Watch a movie
Do art stuff (draw, paint, crafty stuff, etc)
Go down a Wikipedia or Google rabbit hole
And when you are are busy doing other things, your kids can do the abiove stuff on their own or with their siblings...OR with the creepy ghost child that you haven't yet realized is living dwelling in your house.
If you are reading this post and having horrific flashbacks to your experiences with remote learning, please understand that remote learning is NOT the same as homeschooling.
I get stressed out just imagining what some families endured with remote-learning.
The beauty of homeschooling is that your family gets to choose what to learn, when to learn, and how to learn it. It's very flexible.
Are you a family of night owls? You can have math at midnight, language arts in the wee hours of the morning and then sleep through the morning.
Do you love family road trips? You can say no to homeschool and yes to car school....or motel school...or RV school.
How about boat school?
Anyway....
Whatever you decide to do, I hope you will stay safe, healthy, and have joy in your life.
Note A: The most important homeschooling tool is curiosity. And my curiosity has me Googling the person who took the photograph I used for this post.
So...Gage Skidmore. He's young. Lord Wiki says he was born in 1993. Okay, that's actually not that young. But the fact that I thought young, as soon as I saw the date, makes me very old.
But anyway....he's 28.
He started his photography career at Comic Con and then got into taking photographs of REAL comic book villains. He's done photography for Donald Trump's official website. From what I'm reading about him, he probably doesn't see these subjects of his photography as comic book villains. Though looking at his site, he has photographs of people from both political parties. He might be apolitical and goes where the work takes him.
Well...according to this interview (and Lord Wiki mentioned it) Skidmore is a fan of Ron Paul.
Dan Kennedy, the interviewer asks, A lot of bloggers, including me, are probably at odds with you politically. Does it bother you that people may be using your work for free in order to criticize political figures you admire?
Skidmore replies: I don’t agree politically with hardly anyone that I photograph. My only allegiance is to Congressman Ron Paul and a few other liberty-minded politicians, whom I admire greatly. I don’t mind that my photos are used by some not-so-nice publications. The only thing I really care about is whether or not I was attributed.
By the way, I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this, but I had some moments of liking Ron Paul. Years ago, I wrote a post about him. Though I don't like Ron Paul's Covid-behavior or other current behavior, I did like stuff that he said in the past about Julian Assange. But....I'm not sure how much of that post I'd agree with today.
Note B: Tim has been the Cassandra in terms of Covid hitting children. He's been the voice of doom for the last several months.
I was less concerned than him about the whole children thing...just like I was less concerned than him about Trump being president.
Sometimes Tim turns out to be very right about things.
Tim has talked about how some people won't care about Covid until it starts killing more kids. I added that it had to be the "right" kids meaning (WHITE kids). Oh and also....apparently the lives of children don't matter if they have asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, Cystic Fibrosis, etc. How many fucking times are we going to hear things like, But it's only killing kids with pre-existing conditions?
So in order for some people to care about Covid, they will need to see lots of white children without medical conditions dying from Covid.
Even then, though.....
My parents like to quote Golda Meir when we have conversations about the Palestinian and Israeli conflict.
She said maybe said, Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.
In a similar way, I'd say....the Covid pandemic will come to an end when Trump supporters love their children more than they love Trump and/or hate Democrats.
Note C: Note B does not apply at all to Trump supporters who have taken Covid seriously; are vaccinated; and have worn masks when the situation called for it.
Note D: My Vax-anger is directed at only people who refuse to get a vaccine. I know there are a lot of people for whom getting a vaccine is a huge uphill battle. I hope they will do what they can to climb that hill, but I really wish it wasn't so hard for them.
For us? We got in our car and drove for about five minutes on a Saturday to get the vaccine. We waited for about an hour. Then we came home and had a restful/fun weekend. For the second dose, we did the same. Then on Sunday, we felt like shit and spent the day resting. It was EASY for us. It is not like that for everyone.
I think it's important to distinguish between people who have extra stupidity and selfishness vs people who have extra struggles.
What would our world be like if we
knew for sure there
was life after death, and
we could easily talk to our
dearly-departed on the Internet?
The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts
Yeah, its gotta be rough, that may be the only way.
ReplyDeleteOur governor can be kind of a doofus at times, but he's not actively trying to kill the population, schools will be masked this fall, and our vacc rate is pretty good.
I worry a lot about friends and family in your state, and some others. Good luck.
And I'm still trying to figure out how to get to Disney World without passing through the state its in.
We're very unlucky Covid-wise here in Texas but Disney-wise, we are fortunate. We're pretty much right in-between California and Florida. So we can do DL instead....if Florida ends up being a lost cause for many years. Well, of course you guys could do the same, but I think it's a much longer trip.
DeleteLast night we got an email from Jack's college that was beautifully strict and forceful. Mandatory testing unless you have proof of vaccination. Masks for indoors. The last Covid thing we had seen from them was in May or June, and it was like we're not going to ask you for vaccine proof, you don't have to wear masks, no more social distancing..... I had wondered if they were going to change the story since the situation itself had changed. I had strong doubts that they would and am glad I ended up being wrong.
It's a longer trip, but we have been talking about exploring the stuff that's only in CA.
DeleteThat's great news for Jack! glad the college changed their tactics.
We were very happy to hear Anabelle's school announce the Vaccine mandate earlier in the summer. On top of that the few (less than 10%) without the vaxx due to health or religious reasons have to have regular testing. Masks for any visitors to campus indoors. one thing to worry about a little less.
That's good about Annabelle's school. I wish it wasn't like that. I mean I'm glad they have the rules, but I wish they didn't have to. I really expected Jack to have a semi-normal college year. But hopefully it will at least be better than last year!
DeleteI forgot if you've ever been to Disneyland. ???
I love it there. We've been twice— in 2014 and 2017. We haven't been back since they changed the Paradise Pier to the Pixar stuff. If it weren't for the lack of Epcot, I might like it better than Disney World.
Well...I also liked it less, because there's no Magical Express. It's a pain getting to the airport to Disneyland. But now that they're getting rid of Magical Express....
One thing I love about Disneyland is everything is close together, so there's less depending on transportation. The first year we stayed at a motel that was close enough to walk and then the next time we were able to stay on property with DVC.
And most importantly...there's Mr Toad's Wild Ride.
Oh! And the Space Mountain seats are so much more comfortable.
I'm sure you already know all this (and probably even more than I know) but still...I like blabbing on about it.
I encourage others to blab about Disney as much as possible. It makes me feel less intrusive when I do it.
ReplyDeleteI've been twice, both times before California Adventure opened, and Anabelle and Rosa never have. Back then it had a "significantly bigger than the Magic Kindgom, but significantly smaller than Disney World" vibe. With the second park and the stuff that isn't in Florida (Mr Toad, Alice Snow white and Pinocchio rides in Fantasyland alone, and the awesome looking Cars and Marvel sections) we may give more serious thought to a longer trip.
Any information, blabbing or otherwise, is appreciated.
Thanks (for being welcoming about my blabbing)
DeleteOne of my favorite things is that storybook boat ride. I road it alone at night, and I could see all these sleeping ducks. It had that perfect mix of eerie and magical.
We were thinking of going in January....I put us on a waiting list for DVC. I doubt we're going to get that. But we might stay at one of the nearby motels or hotels. Who knows, though....with everything going on.
I also have us on a waiting list for December at Disney World. I was strongly doubting we'd get it. But what will probably happen is we'll get it, and Florida will be too scary.
Then again...since we're vaccinated, so maybe it would be safe enough for us.
Oh...wanted to clarify...I put us on the waiting list a few months ago...back when I imagined the pandemic would be pretty much over by December/January.
DeleteGood luck! Based on past crowd trends I'd expect the January to be more likely, but Disney crowds have shifted all over the place, even before the pandemic. So who knows? I've read minor things that surprised me about crowding in Disney, but then again, we're not seeing reports of bunched of people being infected after trips there. You'd think the news would jump on that if it was happening.
DeleteMy sister did a couple trips to Disneyland as well. The Storybook boats are her favorites. I never tried them at night, I'll have to ask if she did.