A Note From A Teacher

This is a note from a teacher to both parents and grandparents during this time of schools being closed.

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With all of the schools closing due to illness and containing the spread of illness, many parents and especially grandparents are finding themselves at home with children.

Many parents and grandparents are asking… “How do I keep the kids occupied and not let them get behind in school?”

A note from a teacher answered these questions perfectly.

Dear Parents,
As an educator, and a parent of 5, I understand the concern that must be filling you right now, at the thought of schools closing. I know my first thoughts were- but my kiddos will be so behind!! How will they be ready for the next grade?! And then I sat back and thought about it. And so, dear parents, I have made a list of things that we teachers WISH we had more time to do with your kids, and some we wish YOU would do, to begin with.

You’re going to:

Make Memories- they’re worth more anyways:

Go in the backyard and dig up worms, catch lightning bugs, and observe buggies going about their buggy lives. Take pictures/draw pictures/make a video/ write a journal.

Take them to an uncrowded lake- go fishing, watch clouds, talk about the weather, find birds and animals, teach them how to build a campfire safely, and how to put it out.

Pitch a tent, stay up late and go star gazing, discover constellations, talk about the moon, trees, sky, anything they see, hear, taste or touch.

Read books, books, books– as often as you can and talk about their favorite parts, characters, settings- or how they would change the ending if they could.

Plant a garden, taste what you grew, cook things together.

Color, paint, play with playdough, make things out of clay.

Do puzzles, table top, crossword, number, connect the dots.

Play board games– show them how to take turns, play with integrity and lose with grace.

Talk to them. Ask them questions- what do they think/feel about xyz subject. Share your own thoughts.

You have teenagers who can’t be removed from devices?
Unplug the internet.

Practice Cursive, show them how to change a tire, sew a button back on, check the oil in a car, fold a fitted sheet, do the laundry, cook a meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, balance a check book, write a check, answer a phone appropriately when they don’t know who is on the other end of the line, fill out a resume/job application, tie a tie, braid some hair.

Find a you tube to learn a new craft/ hobby/ experiment, and try it out.

Listen to music, and talk about what it means, read a novel together, and talk about point of view, or how it made you feel, changed your mind, expanded your thoughts.

Find something that sparks their interest and research it- then show them how to organize that research into something they can teach someone else.

Hug them. Kiss them. Play with them. Be silly. Have fun. Look into their eyes, and know, in a world that may seem to have gone crazy, you are their calm.

Teach them to have empathy for others, and show them the best part of being a parent: having the time to spend with your child.

**This was written by an educator here in North Carolina

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