What can you do with the kids if everyone is quarantined?

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The coronavirus has hit US shores, and this has resulted in a heightened concern for people, particularly those in vulnerable categories, meeting in large groups. With quarantines imposed all over the country, and entire school districts on hiatus, there are many parents (and teachers!) staying home for days and even weeks. What will the kids do with their time? Here are some suggestions for how to make quarantine time productive:

Be sure to include some movement in the plan for the day. Put on some music and encourage the kids to dance. Do calisthenics in the living room or in the garage. If weather permits, jump rope or run around the back yard.  If you can safely do so, take a walk around the block.

Turn the back yard into a science project. Start a bird-watching project. Encourage the children to identify the birds they see, draw pictures of the birds they observe, record the birds’ behaviors that they have observed, and use the internet to look up more information about the birds. To incorporate more activity, the kids can do some gardening, such as trimming bushes, pulling weeds, or planting seeds, if you already have them on hand.

Incorporate music in your activities. Find a telephone show or a website that allows for a sing-along. Or you can organize an impromptu family chorus with you and your kids. If you have instruments in the house, you or your kids could arrange your own concert. You could even record the event and post it on social media for others to enjoy.

Read aloud to your kids. Even older kids enjoy a skilled reader sharing an age-appropriate book with them. Take turns, and have the kids read some of the book aloud to you. Or ask them to read to the dog. Struggling readers often find reading to their pets a low-risk activity.

Involve your kids when you prepare a meal. This is a good time to share your knowledge of healthy meal planning and food choices. Use an online calorie counter to rehab high calorie recipes into lower calorie choices (hint: I often do this by cutting down the use of starches such as pasta, potatoes, or rice, and adding additional fresh vegetables, such as leeks, cauliflower, or tomatoes). You can also incorporate math lessons in the meal prep. Ask them to cut a recipe in half, or double it. Convert standard measurements to the metric system.

Do some journal writing. This works best if you supply a topic for the kids to write about. Search the internet for suggestions for stimulating topics, or suggest an idea for them to use to create a poem or short story.

Incorporate an art project in your daily activities Try to get beyond the crayons and coloring books. Ask the kids to design greeting cards for relatives. Do some scrapbooking together as a family. Look at objects you might ordinarily throw away, such as bottle caps or empty toilet paper rolls, and find ways to use construction paper, ribbon, markers, and glue to create decorative items. Build objects with tooth picks.

If all else fails, you can ask them to help you do some house-cleaning. They can sanitize their toys with anti-bacterial wipes, organize their closets, or sort through canned goods in the pantry for expired products. Teens can help with dusting the mini-blinds or nic-nacs, or cleaning out the garage, if you can persuade them!

If you have other ideas, share them in the comments section. Let’s all get creative, and help each other keep the kids occupied. Happy quarantining!

Lalla M. Odom: Texas teacher and founding member of DKG

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Elementary school mathematics teacher Lalla M. Odom. She co-founded DKG, an organization to help women educators improve their professional skills.

Many talented classroom teachers are also devoted to assisting their colleagues in their efforts to become better educators. One of these was Lalla M. Odom, an elementary school  teacher from Texas. She worked to provide professional training and support to fellow women teachers through the organization Delta Kappa Gamma (DKG).

Lalla was born on April 8, 1874, the second oldest in a family of seven children. She was raised in Fayette County, Texas. As a child, Lalla was intelligent and ambitious. After her high school graduation, she attended first Waco Female College and then Baylor University. She earned her Bachelor’s degree when she was only 17 years old. Not content to end her studies there, Lalla enrolled in the Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio. After she earned her diploma there, she accepted a position as a music and math teacher at Willie Halsell College in Vineta, Oklahoma. There she met and married Edgar Odom. The couple returned to Texas, where they settled in Austin in 1917.

In Austin, Lalla accepted a position at Metz Elementary School, where it was apparently unknown that she was married. At the end of the school year the School Board threatened to lay her off because of her marital status, but her cause was championed by an open-minded superintendent. After a few weeks, the Board reversed its decision. Lalla became the first married woman to earn a permanent contract in Austin.

When school officials decided to establish the first junior high school in their district, Allen Junior High, Lalla was selected to head the Math Department there. To hone her professional skills, she went back to college, earning both a Bachelor’s and her Master’s degrees at the University of Texas. She took additional graduate courses in education, government, and English.

In 1929, Lalla was one of 12 educators who founded the Delta Kappa Gamma International Society (DKG). Because of a long-standing custom in those days,  women were prohibited from meeting together professionally. Nevertheless, they believed there was a pressing need for an organization in which women educators could assist each other in their efforts to become better teachers. The 12 co-founders extended membership in their newly-formed organization to rural and urban teachers; preschool, elementary, high school, college, and university teachers; librarians; and school administrators. DKG members still work together today to improve professional preparation, to recognize women’s work in the teaching profession, and to fund scholarships to those who need support to improve their professional skills.

In addition to her work in the classroom and with DKG, Lalla was actively  involved in city, state, and national political affairs. She also was active in professional organizations such as the Classroom Teachers Association, the Texas State Teachers Association, and the National Education Association.

This amazing Chalkboard Champion passed away on April 14, 1964. She was interred in Oakwood Cemetery in Austin.

To learn more about the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, click on this link: DKG.

Retired kindergarten teacher Erma Paloma was active even in retirement

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Retired kindergarten teacher Erma Paloma from Corona, California, was active, even in retirement.

Many excellent educators continue their many hours of dedicated service to the community, even after they retire. One of these was Erma Mieko Paloma, a former elementary school teacher from Corona, California, who maintained a very active lifestyle of volunteerism, even in retirement.

Erma was born in Hawaii on August 11, 1942. She worked for many years as a kindergarten teacher at Washington Elementary School in the Corona Norco Unified School District. Her career spanned nearly 34 years.

After Erma’s retirement in 1999, she became very active in her community’s Woman’s Improvement Club. And for more than 20 years she expertly handled the responsibilities of Treasurer for her local division of the California Retired Teachers Association (CalRTA). She also served on that organization’s Scholarship Committee, and attended the annual conventions and workshops to hone her volunteerism skills. For her dedication and many years of service to CalRTA, Erma garnered the coveted Martin Mathieson Award. In addition to her work with CalRTA and the Woman’s Improvement Club, Erma worked with the Girls Scouts for many years. In fact, she served as the president for the San Gorgonio chapter. In her leisure time, she traveled frequently to Hawaii and Japan to visit family.

This amazing Chalkboard Champion passed away on March 7, 2020, in Riverside, California. She was 77 years old.