Quarantine with my Quaran-teen

Good afternoon!

I hope all is well for my readers at this time. Ever since The World Health Organization's declaration of a pandemic, it seems as though the normal world has come to an abrupt halt. Everyone has been affected some way or another, whether that is through a lack of work, no longer seeing friends/family, or even physically being affected by the virus. To put it simply, this sucks.

For the past two weeks I have confined myself to my house with limited contact with the outdoors through walking/running on a trail near my house. Classes are converted to the internet. I am no longer volunteering with Changeist (it's postponed until late May) and observing a middle school classroom. I am, however, working with my two siblings at home to help keep their minds' fresh and occupied. I have my brother (8) and sister (15) who I am assigning lesson plans to each day.

For my brother, I give him reading and math exercises. Sometimes we'll do science experiments. He's allowed to read whatever he wants for at least twenty minutes. We go on walks together. He asks a lot of questions about the pandemic, and I try to answer the best I can without trying to stress him out. He worries a lot about homeless people and people in prisons.

As for my sister, I'm using this as an opportunity to help her explore and develop her skills and interests. She loves creative writing, reading, and painting. I'm encouraging her to still do math every day. I'm also incorporating some of my college texts to help challenge her, which she is actually enjoying and not rolling her eyes to.

I think the best thing that people at home with students can do is use this as an opportunity to embrace and enhance kids' creativity. A lot of public schools barely have any funding for the arts, and teachers can be overwhelmed with Common Core State Standards leaving them without a lot of creative room to teach their students. Let's teach our kids about nature, poetry, kindness, and whatever constitutes becoming a decent human being. After the virus is over, people and their communities will need to do a lot of healing- let's encourage our kids to be ready for that and to help. We should all be working together to improve our society. Until then, please stay inside if you can, and stay safe. I will be posting about Stockton resources and where to volunteer if you are able-bodied!

All my best,

Liz

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