Educators Offering to Help Exasperated Parents During School Shut

In recent days, many schools have announced that students will be continuing their education for the next few weeks at home. My daughter is in first grade and I'm happy to report that yesterday, when she started her at-home assignments, I had to call my husband over to help her figure out a math equation because I was stuck.

I know what you are thinking... I am a complete idiot. I won't argue with you there. But, in MY defense, what would have been a simple addition question turned into a convoluted word problem that dealt with ten pods and one pods and brackets and moving things into designated arenas. We got through it okay, but I had to post a joke to Facebook to ease other parents who are actually dealing with the nightmare of helping their older kids with homework.

I already said the words, “I’m sorry, I can’t help you with this first grade math.” 😐😐😑

I was shocked when people came out of the woodwork to not only sit alongside me on the struggle bus but several educators offered encouragement and help. Even MY former Math teacher chimed in with, "Sure you can help her!" She thinks awfully highly of my math skills... I went into this line of work for a reason. Another former teacher told me to send her the problem and she'd help. Can I just say how much I love it that I'm friends with my former teachers and school administrators on Facebook?

Then, I noticed teachers from all over started offering assistance to all the exasperated parents out there because let's face it... WE DON'T DO IT LIKE THEIR TEACHERS DO IT!

Here are a few posts from my friends who work in education:

Jason Jennings

While we are remotely/digitally educating our kids, if you need assistance with understanding something that has been assigned for your child or need more resources, please reach out to me (EVEN IF I DON'T TEACH IN YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICT). I teach children with moderate to severe disabilities, but can help with many subjects. If I can’t answer your question, I will reach out to someone in my network that can!
We will get through this! #bettertogether

❤️❤️❤️

Ashley Lynne Nanninga

FREE tutoring!

If you have a child that could benefit from one on one instruction during this time I would love to offer some one on one FREE tutoring through Zoom (an online meeting app). The sessions are 25 min long. I am a licensed IDOE teacher with endorsements in mathematics and science. I also have experience teaching ESL. If interested please email me at ashleynanninga28@gmail.com pr PM me here. Please share!

Meredith Berry Travis

While we are homeschooling/remotely/digitally educating our kids, if you need assistance with understanding something that has been assigned for your child, or if you need more resources, just give me a shout. I am a high school social studies teacher certified in grades 5-12, having taught a majority of the high school core courses over the years (with an emphasis on World History and AP World) I’ll be happy to answer questions. We WILL get through this! #bettertogether ❤️

Then, I thought - let's take this a step further. If you are having an issue in a particular subject, search it on Facebook. Turns out, there IS a Facebook group or page for just about everything.

And if you are really hard up, I'd say your child's teachers won't be too upset if you contact them directly on Facebook or via email.

Let's all work together and we WILL get through this - even if we have to put on our big kid britches and go back to school alongside our kids. <3