Hello. Write your message here. Link text here

Arrow up
Arrow down

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." - Nelson Mandela

How Families Can Deal With The Impact Of Coronavirus

By Carole Hornsby Haynes, Ph.D.  March 17, 2020

Even as the nation shuts down to “flatten” the curve of Coronavirus cases, there can be many positives derived from this pandemic. Our Founders traveled via stagecoaches and horseback to gather to create a new nation, often having to wait for days until all could arrive. What our ancestors accomplished is incredible. Today we live in nanoseconds rushing from meeting to meeting, apologetic if we are 20 seconds late, as we become an illiterate nation looming toward another Dark Ages.

Watching old episodes of Leave It To Beaver is a stark reminder that many family units are fractured. We adults have overarching pressures that our ancestors did not have. Our youth are stressed out with expectations from school, sports, friends, family, the culture, and even social media. With the national shutdown, we have a very rare opportunity for families to re-connect and enjoy a more leisurely life together for a while.  Families have a wonderful opportunity to be engaged directly in their children's learning.

Both public and private schools are gearing up to provide remote instruction by distance learning or tele-learning or through packets of work sent home to them. The teachers and administrators are working hard to provide as much assistance as possible to support parents and children with tips, resources, and comfort of all kinds.

Children are creative and, if given the opportunity, will get involved in projects of their own choosing. It’s important that they be allowed this unstructured learning time. You might must be surprised at what interests your child.

In viewing the lessons sent home or online, parents will actually get to see why Common Core does not work and the indoctrination in the learning materials.

For parents who want or need to provide additional help for their children, there are many resources that can be found by a general online search. A great source for parents can be found at clickschooling.com. It is simple, easy to use, and fun for the kids.

For suggestions on homeschool curriculum, check out the resources from the Christian organization, Exodus Mandate. The website also provides information about how to set up a homeschool. exodusmandate.org/home-schooling/home-school-curriculum

For online courses and homeschool resources, check out this site. homeschool.com/onlinecourses/

For more information on the microschool movement, visit the website of Prenda, an Arizona-based network of micro-schools. prendaschool.com/

Outschool offers out-of-school learning in an array of subjects for families and organizations to access. Founded in 2015 by Amir Nathoo who was trained as an engineer, Outschool offers more than 10,000 live, video-enabled classes for young people aged 3 to 18. outschool.com

National Home Education Legal Defense is an excellent resource for those who want further legal information and support with homeschooling. The organization is a staunch defender of keeping homeschools free from federal government interference and oppose any federal funding to homeschools. nheld.com/fedleg.htm

Avoid, like the plague, Khan Academy online currriculum and anything written by or associated with Howard Zinn. The Kahn math curriculum is aligned with Common Core and its history curriculum has left wing bias. After reading the Khan content about the causes of the Civil War, it’s easy to see why there is a racist, anti-white and anti-Southern attitude among youth. Howard Zinn was a communist professor who wrote American history textbooks that are still widely used in schools and universities. There are other Zinn resources as well as his history books, such as the Zinn Education Project.

Finally, parents need to remember that you were your children's first teachers.  So take a breath, relax, and enjoy this extra time with your children. Lessons can be done much more quickly at home since there is much wasted time and numerous distractions in the public school setting. Children will most likely enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of learning at home and the extra time available for other projects they want to do.

joomla visitor