Category: Homeschooling

The headline says it all. We’re looking for stories from parents, students and teachers about what they are doing to keep our kids on track during the Coronavirus shutdown.

I have two kids, ages 7 (1st grade) and 10 (4th grade). Even though they go to the same school, their teachers are employing different strategies to educate the kids. I’ll be writing about those experiences sometime next week.

If you’re interested in sharing your story, please drop a line to me (damien@la-edex.org) or Sara (sara@la-edex.org). If you’re interested in writing down your story, that would be great. If not, but you still have something to add that would benefit the community, we’ll figure out a way to get your story out there.

Thanks everyone, and stay safe.

Please be wary of what you read on the internet, folks. I came across so much that is so suspect. From “public health professionals” no less, too. Following below is a list of reliable sources of information.

The last section at the bottom contains some crowd-sourced parent-lists of activities and Education-y suggestions. Other’s lists haven’t been vetted for accuracy. But they’re also less risky as they are, at least, not directives. Please take your information from public health agencies directly, not from random social media postings of folks self-titled as “pediatricians” or “epidemiologists” or “healthcare professionals”. Remember, on the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.

LA EdEx’s updated resource links:

Continue reading “An Updated Stack Of Links On COVID-19, LAUSD And Resources For Families”

… a great mantra, as important for quotidian matters as during this time of pandemic. It was invoked as the guiding light of the State’s Covid-19 task force according to Carmela Coil, head of the CA Hospital Association (@1:04:04). Our public officials have been scrabbling all day to forward practical advice and transparency amidst directives hewed from excruciating tradeoffs – earnings, childcare, learning, economic impact, public health, safety, protection.

As Mayor Garcetti says, the choices we each make to further social distancing, do matter. See an example of our actions “flatten the curve” here (@ 5:25). And an exploration of geometric growth (@ 2:34) that demonstrates its potential convincingly and explains the course of a pandemic. Empirically simulate these phenomena for yourself to comprehend more intuitively how quickly these numbers grow, and may be contained. Figure 1 below shows the progress to date of diagnosed cases in Los Angeles County.

Growing likewise geometrically is a vast array of resources compiled by fellow parents and District staff to aid the forced homeschooling of so many. The “Science Mom” (assisted by Math Dad) who explained Covid-19 above has initiated a daily “QuaranTime” livestream (8am PST) that will make all of us (aged 7-12+++; I am learning a lot) smarter and happier.

Continue reading “Stick To The Science, Stick To The Facts, And Stick Together”