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THINK OUTSIDE OF THE WORKSHEET – Learning At Home

10 year old Jules cooks with companion, Miller who supervises the process.

Last Thursday, Governor Eric Holcomb declared that school would be out of session until at least May 1st and you could hear the audible gasp across the state. The gasp of teachers who are thinking,” I wasn’t finished with what I had started,” and the gasp of parents thinking, “How am I going to do this? I’m not a teacher.” It’s going to be okay. We are all in this together. I’ve been a teacher for 14 years and there’s one thing I know for sure, that there is success when people trust each other and work together. We are a team, a community, and your child’s success is what we all have in mind. For those of us who are teachers or work in school buildings under other titles, we come to work every day for your children. If you need help, reach out to us! I have received emails from parents asking me questions because they know they can trust me to help.

That being said, not all teaching comes from the classroom. As a society, our focus has started to turn to screens more and more and we have lost touch with the people and the environment around us. I am a Montessori teacher in a FWCS building and a big portion of our training focuses on teaching the WHOLE child. Math and reading are the cornerstones of our educational system, but there’s so much more! Our world provides a wealth of curiosities that we now have time to explore. As little kids, we are filled with so many questions, “What’s this? What’s that? And the all-encompassing “Why?” This is OUR time to reconnect with our kids! Be honest, tell them that you don’t know. Ask THEM questions to provoke their thoughts and inspire their wonderings. One of Maria Montessori’s most famous quotes is, “Follow the child.” If you follow your child’s interests, the teaching will happen organically. They may be passionate about animals, go with that! There are virtual books you can check out through the Libby App, take a virtual tour of a zoo, or go hiking for an in-person experience. Maybe they love Science. There are so many experiments on-line that they can research and test at home. Is it time for college visits? Take virtual tours of the campuses that your student is interested in knowing more about.

Aside from this, practical life skills have fallen to the wayside in our fast-paced lives. Do they know how to cook? They are never too young to help. Can they sew on buttons or run their own laundry? For those with green thumbs, get your budding gardeners out there and put them to work. Someone like me, needs people like you. Is your child older and needs to learn how to build a budget? The options are endless.

Life is its own classroom. It doesn’t have to be hard. Have fun and watch them have fun because that’s when the real learning takes place!

The Waynedale News Staff

Erin Hansen

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