5 Things Black Parents Can Do with Their Children While On Social Distancing

As we're all adjusting to the changes with the suspension of school, here are 5 things Black parent can do with their children while on social distancing.

#1. Talk to them

Kids have a lot of questions about life and our society. Parents can take this opportunity to talk to their kids about important life lessons, skills and things they need to know to survive. Then have them write about what they want for their lives and practice setting goals and researching what it takes to achieve them. This will help reinforces skills they're learning at school.

#2. Get to know your children as intellectuals 

See what your kids can teach you about what they have learned in school this year versus how you may have learned it. This can be competitive which always leads to fun. Music, history, grammar rules, multiplication facts, etc. are good things to compare ways the concepts were taught. Parents a tip to remember is that learning is fun!

#3. READ READ READ

Our children need to see us reading and I don't mean like on the Real Housewives of Atlanta. If you have the opportunity to get to the library, if open, or pull out some of those books in the closet, basement or storage room and read do it. There are free online resources and educational subscriptions for books. Reading is fundamental and the more intentional reading will help improve and increase Lexile scores. After reading, have them use the elements of the story to answer the 5w's and 1h of the what they read.

#4. Let them play outside games 

Exercise, bikes in the yard, building mud castles, planting flowers, let them play outside while you monitor their activities. Use this as brain breaks. It's important to monitor and maintain set screen usage i.e. videogames and other electronics.

#5. Stay connected to the school 

Several schools are using Google classrooms to continue assignments. Non traditional schools like 7 Pillars Career Academy where I teach are still in session. We have an online curriculum so our school schedule is still in place. Stay connected with your school to see what educational resources and assignments that are available.

We must collectively think of this social distancing as a time on, not simply a time off! This is a great time to do the things that we need to get done. Most importantly, like I have told my scholars, it's a good time for students to practice the things they've been taught.