Enlisting Grandma & Virtual Book Clubs To Counter Social Isolation
Last Friday was “Friday the 13th”, the kick off of social isolation in CO, and my daughters’ first day off of school for at least the next several weeks - a perfect storm!
The day gave me a look at our family’s new normal. Lucky for me, my kids love learning and often opt to play ‘school’ in their free time. So, first thing in the morning they converted our sunroom into a classroom – complete with a reading corner, cubbies for their materials, desks, and ambitious daily schedules.
While I juggled my business work, my older daughter taught my younger daughter by leading a math lesson on fractions and teaching a Scratch coding class. I took a break from work to attend a visual arts lesson led by my younger daughter. She had us all create 2D/3D art based on samples she created before the class. We then kicked off a reader’s workshop lesson by starting the book entitled ‘The Good Thieves’ by Katherine Rundell.
All in all, the day wasn’t too bad. But it wasn’t all ‘sunshine and rainbows’ – the girls had a few disagreements, there was some whining, and I may have used a stern voice once (or twice). And by 2:00pm, I was already exhausted. Mind you this was only day 1 – only day 1, people!
As I contemplated the day, I realized I needed to find ways to make the juggle of home school and work more tolerable. That’s when I thought of my mom. Due to her age (sorry mom) and some recent heart procedures and hospital stays, she is in the high-risk category for the Coronavirus disease. As such, she is staying home and avoiding visitors in order to lower the risk of being exposed to the virus. Such isolation is really hard for her, so I decided to ask her to lead a virtual book club with the girls. She eagerly agreed to take this on.
The virtual book club kicked off on Sunday and was a smashing success. They all prepared by reading the first 6 chapters of ‘The Good Thieves’. My mom used these resources to prep discussion questions and activities:
They used FaceTime to have the book club meeting. While the meeting was going on, I got some work done as I enjoyed eavesdropping on the discussions they were having. They plan to have four more FaceTime sessions. Prior to each session, they have to read another five chapters of the book – which gives me more opportunities for uninterrupted work time. This virtual book club is accomplishing several great things – it’s giving my mom social interaction, it’s expanding the girls’ reading skills, and it‘s freeing some of my time to focus on work.
I’m sharing this personal story via our corporate blog because we are committed to supporting our educators, families, and students during this time of transition and uncertainty. It is my hope that this idea may help those of you who are in similar situations. You may adapt the concept by selecting a different book, or by asking a friend or aunt or uncle to help instead of a grandparent, or by using phone calls for those people who may not have access to a video calling app. Bloomsbury’s website has teacher guides or resource packs for nearly 50 books. Brightly also publishes Book Club Guides for a variety of books categorized for growing readers, kids, and tweens. Let me know if you implement something similar or have other book club resources.
I’ll close this long post by sending all of you well wishes. I hope you stay healthy and find ways to make the best of social isolation and uncertain times.
Scratch Coding Lesson Led By My Older Daughter
2D/3D Art Lesson Led By My Younger Daughter - A Dolphin In A Wave & A Tranquil Tree Scene
Math Fraction Lesson