I have been working from home due to the work schedule change with the pandemic. I have a friend who is a single mom, with 3 small children. Mom has not been able to get her wifi service connected and her 3 elementary school children were unable to participate in the virtual classroom setting or get their school work done on time. Mom also had the opportunity to work during those 2 days. I offered to help her for 2 days while she fixed her issue with comcast. In those 2 days I learned so much from them. I learned about the struggles young families have in getting the children on the District website, looking for the assignments that need to be worked on, and the old keeping them on task regiment. I had to put all 3 in separate rooms with makes shift desks. The three year old had some fine motor skills to work on, he did great!I am divorced and my son is 24. I forgot what is was like to have kids in the house. I only had one child so three was quite a challenge. I am proud to say I still managed to get my work done daily. Hats off to all moms and dad struggling to be a teacher. I had some funny moments with them and realized how resilient these children are. I was on a conference call at one point, and I sensed someone slithering on the floor (I had told them I would be on a conference call and could not be disturbed). The 3 year old was trying not to disturb me so he slithered all the way from the doorway to my desk to ask if he was allowed to have a cookie, seems like an appropriate time to get a YES response. One they all finished their schoolwork we went outside to do an Art project. On the second day I was asked when the fine arts class was going to take place. Yes, I did read a book to them about Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and we did work on a Jackson Pollack action painting project, the first day. On the second day of our fine arts class we made fabric masks from a t’shirt. The children painted a design on the fabric and then we cut them to size. The 3 year put his mask on and instead of seeing himself as a fictional hero character, he said he was a Doctor. The real heroes of there time. The entire healthcare community who are working hard during this crisis.
Kid-anecdotes
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