Teacher AKA Grandma, that’s me!

teacher

With Covid restrictions and precautions gripping our world for several months now, with no end in sight, online learning or e-school has become popular. It was a tough call, but my son and his partner (both essential service providers) decided to keep their eldest child home from school to reduce her (and the rest of our bubble’s) chances of contacting the dreaded virus.

Me a Teacher?

In high school, (waaaaay back when) one of my career goals was to be a teacher. That goal was stymied by lack of money in the family to support a university education. As I was fifth of sixth children applying for government assistance, the pickings were slim. I worked several jobs each summer and through the school years to scrape barely enough money together to attend college. Community college and medical laboratory technology was my reality.

That might explain why this always-wanted-to-be-a-teacher Grandma is embracing my new role as online supervisor to my seven year old granddaughter on the days her mom works or has an appointment. The teacher is online with the kids too, so I am just backup in case assistance or guidance is required, close enough for me.

Offline Lessons

In addition to the online learning I am helping my granddaughter with, I am creating lessons of my own to teach her during her breaks from the online stuff. Fun (to me) things like botany, geography and piano. She has shown an interest in my gardening business, so for her recent birthday, I gifted her with a mini greenhouse kit and some tulip bulbs.

The greenhouse kit came with all necessary components as well as instructions on how to grow plants from seeds. The seeds however were not included, so we collected some from my gardens…

When the seeds were all planted and peat pots were labelled, we decided to keep the greenhouse on top of our fridge as warmth and distance from little brothers is recommended for the success of this lesson.

Seeds planted and labelled

Much to my delight, she has also shown an interest in learning how to play the piano. My eldest son (not her father) attended piano lessons at Music For Young Children years ago when he was just a toddler. I was the adult attending with him, so learned basic piano too. Fast forward almost thirty years to where I am sharing what I learned with all of my grandchildren, but as the oldest this particular granddaughter is able to grasp the concepts and has already mastered Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Music is indeed the universal language!

Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Learning

Back to e-school and the online lessons we are both learning. I must admit I am impressed with the online program (OCDSB) my granddaughter has access to. Her teachers are cheerful and as organized as they can be, considering they are teaching six and seven year olds. At the beginning we encountered a few issues, like login failures, link errors and inability to get our French accents to work. That’s where my learning came in; having never used a Chromebook, I was not familiar with the language options on it. I may be an old dog, but I can learn new tricks.

Three weeks in things are going much smoother, in fact more and more children are joining the classes every day as the number of Covid cases continues to rise. Of course there are disadvantages to online learning, the main one being lack of physical contact with their friends. Although during the breaks they can be amusingly chatty, some kids more than others.

The main advantage is the computer familiarity for the kids. They have learned to log in, navigate between tabs, create their own favourites list, copy and paste links, alter the size of fonts, as well as the keyboard layout and the function of different keys, etc.

Their “jamboards” are cool, an interactive screen created by Google, where they can play around with ideas, much like a white board in a meeting, except it’s online.

They do get breaks often so their eyes and brains don’t get too fatigued, including 5 minute dancing sessions. A favourite dance tune is The Gummy Bear Song, although I bet their teacher is sorry she introduced them to that one…

The Gummy Bear Song

Next Lessons

Tulips will be next for my offline lessons, planted outside with banana peels to deter the squirrels from digging up the bulbs. We have both been saving banana peels in our freezer in anticipation of planting. I usually wait until just before the ground freezes to plant to reduce the temptation for the squirrels. As my dad used to say “squirrels have to eat too”, just not my bulbs!

I also want to teach my granddaughter basic geography with the help of an atlas and a large wall map my son used to be fascinated with, if I can find it. We used to have a globe around here, but think it is long gone. This idea came to me yesterday when she thought Florida was in Canada.

Any other ideas for offline, supplemental learning would be greatly appreciated!

Lessons to be Learned

There are many lessons to be learned these days, some are learning the hard way, but (hopefully) learning none the less. Covid-19 and the systemic racism that has reared its ugly head is making 2020 a year to remember, and it’s only half over!

These are just a few examples of lessons we (should) have learned….

Social Media Comments can Come Back to Bite you in the Butt!

Just ask the two guys fired from Vanderpump Rules. Racist comments made many years ago have cost them their jobs, at least on the popular TV show. It has not yet been determined if their jobs at the bar owned by Lisa Vanderpump are at jeopardy as well. Maybe they didn’t deserve to be fired from the show for comments made so long ago, (especially when they are only in their mid twenties now and comments were made ten years ago) but perhaps TV stations are making an example of them.

Racist Jokes or Pranks are not Funny!

Another Vanderpump Rules pair (two of the original females) were fired for
phoning the cops on a light skinned, black co-worker because her tattoos and dark skin fit the description of someone the police were looking for. This was a recent (and immaturely stupid) discretion.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Admedia/Sipa/Shutterstock (1713227af) Lisa Vanderpump-Todd and Andy Cohen Andy Cohen’s ‘Most Talkative: Stories From The Front Lines Of Pop Culture’ Book Release Party, Los Angeles, America – 14 May 2012

Just Because you are not a Racist does not Mean you are Anti-Racist

It’s not enough today to be non-racist. The Black Lives Matter movement is demanding we become anti-racist. If you have a platform, it is essential to speak up and put your money where your mouth is. Watch Arnold Schwarzenegger tell it like it is (or should be)

White Privilege is Rampant

White privilege is a fact that many of us are not (at least we were not) aware of. An example of it in the news (at least one of them) featured Jessica Mulroney, the host of CTV’s I Do, Redo. For some reason she believed her projects were more important and pressing than someone else’s. Perhaps because she is a Canadian socialite, married to the son of a former prime minister, and/or BFFs with Megan Markle. I don’t believe that her comments, although aimed at a black woman, were racist. Just insensitive and egotistical, coming from a lifestyle of white privilege.

photo credit to Us Magazine

Who knows if firing these TV personalities was the right thing to do, but perhaps it’s the only way to get the right message out there. Hopefully the standard will be raised.

Positive Changes

Along with the tough lessons learned from the issues in the news, some people have taken learning to a whole new level. Activities they never had time for before COVID forced them to stay home are now hobbies that may just last a lifetime.

Gardening

I had to laugh with a garden center employee when she told me someone informed her they wanted to grow tomatoes, then quickly asked “what does a tomato look like?” All of a sudden gardening is everyone’s new hobby. This was evident as all plants at the nurseries were quickly picked over the very weekend they were permitted to open. Grrrrrr.

I can understand the discovery that gardening is relaxing and very rewarding, no new revelation for me. I started a gardening business eight years ago now, and still love every minute of it. This new found hobby many have taken on has affected my business though as many of my clients are now able and willing to look after their own gardens.

Online Shopping and Banking

Several of my elderly clients have now learned how to etransfer funds. This may sound trivial to many of you younger folk, but the older generation is more prone to mistrusting using computers and cell phones, especially for anything financial related. To them this is huge!

Of course online shopping has been around for years, but during this COVID pandemic it is more popular than ever. Delivery services are saying they are busier now than during the Christmas holiday season. Amazon released a statement recently saying they are prioritizing their orders, so if you ordered something they deem non-essential, you wont be receiving it anytime soon.

I learned this the hard way when I ordered Mother’s Day gifts for my daughter in laws. Even though I placed the orders in late March in anticipation of the holiday mid May, the gifts did not arrive until mid June.

Quality Time with Family

My two eldest sons have both learned they are enjoying the COVID restrictions as it is allowing them to spend more quality time with their children. It is a well known fact that children thrive from spending quality time with their parents. Unfortunately, our pre-COVID lives were so complicated and busy that quality time was slipping through the cracks. Simple things (after all, that’s all we are allowed to do) like going for a walk, movie nights, homeschooling, crafts and more are becoming the new normal. Your children are probably loving all the attention.

We may just have a baby boom next winter as couples spend more quality time together too. On the flip side though, the divorce rate may already be increasing as some couples are struggling being cooped up with their significant others.

Supporting Local Businesses

As small businesses struggle with the tanking economy caused by the pandemic, it is more important than ever to support them. Without money coming in from customers, business owners are struggling to pay their rent. Many have also been forced to lay off employees due to the huge loss in revenue.

The big chain stores/businesses will probably survive, but the mom and pop restaurants, bars, gift shops, novelty stores etc. may not. Research local small businesses offering curbside pickups and take out food or purchase their gift cards to use when these stores reopen. Many have switched to an online process, ensuring touchless payment. Some even offer free delivery through Skip the Dishes, Uber Eats or their own delivery service.

Losing the Judgement

We must all learn to be less judgmental of others, especially when living in such trying times. Everyone’s situation is different, so people should concentrate on their own, without worrying and complaining about the actions of others.

photo credit to John Hain, Pixabay


What have you learned?

Feature picture credit to pixapopz