The 30-and-2 List #CoronavirusChronicles
#CPRforParents With Kids At Home Due To The Coronavirus Pandemic
If you’re like many parents, you may be secretly wishing you get a mild version of the coronavirus as it seems better than homeschooling your kids! I mean, if you wanted to home school them, you would. AM I RIGHT?! Alas, whether we like it or not, this is happening… the Price Is Right loser horn. No worries! We’re gonna get through this together with a little #CPRforYourLife tips and tricks to make this the EASIEST THING EVER! (OK, a little too “suzy sunshine.” I’m doing what they call “acting as if” people, just stick with me.)
My #30and2Lists are based on the 30 compressions and 2 breaths concept in CPR. Below you will find 30 suggestions for making your coronavirus imposed homeschooling journey a great one. The first 2 tips are the most important.
The 30 Most Important & Top 2 Critical Tips To Make Your Time At Home Amazing!
BLOCK SCHEDULE
Sound The School Bells!
The best thing you can do is implement some form of a schedule at home. Base it off your kids’ existing school schedule if possible. Add school bell sound alarms on all of your phones to signal the end of class and the start of the next “class” of the day.
Download this FREE awesome #blockschedule printable. I got this #CPRforParents idea from Jordan Page of Fun, Cheap or Free. Make sure to click on the link on her name to see the video she made on how to use her block schedule method for herself. I’M SERIOUS. GO WATCH IT. LINK BELOW!
“It’s important kids don’t see this as an indefinite snow day,” said Dr. Michael Rich, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Harvard Medical School. At home, there are no bells ringing to tell students when it’s time for their next class. But apportioning time and sticking to plans are valuable life skills kids can learn while school is canceled. Dr. Rich believes families can take advantage of the change in the schooling environment. “I see this as an opportunity to help kids become more self-regulated,” he said.
By Nir Eyal
March 12, 2020
New York Times
“Home-Schooling Tweens and Teens During Coronavirus Closings”
MOVE IT OR LOSE IT!
Losin’ Your Mind Is What We’re Talkin’ About Here Folks
You guys are all smart. I don’t need to go into why exercising is good, you know all that. What I can tell you is that is will make your days SIGNIFICANTLY better if you do something, anything, daily for 30 minutes or more. Now, chill out, I’m not asking you to train for a marathon! Go outside on a walk, ride bikes, hike, do some sit ups or push ups inside. If you have a Peloton, take advantage of all the classes they offer in addition to biking and running. Stay tuned for a later post on various workouts you and your family can do inside and outside
3. Get a hobby
If you’re looking for more fulfillment in your career, develop interests outside of the job. Personal goals and hobbies will enrich your life, enhance your skills, and give you a sense of purpose, writes John Monarch, CEO of ShipChain Inc., in Entrepreneur.
Flexing your creative muscles, such as photography or playing an instrument, provide perspective and mindfulness. Stressful times at home or work will be easier to handle. If you don’t know where to start when it comes to finding a hobby click here for my post on How To Find A Hobby!
4. Grab a deck of cards
Card games are a foolproof, fun and educational way to entertain a group of kids and adults. Not only is playing card games fun but they also teach strategy, math, frustration tolerance and social skills. We regularly play Gin and Solitaire (yes, I know it’s supposed to be played solo but we do it together K.) I learnt most of these card games from family or friends when I was a child. Check out this awesome post from a blog called We Have Kids. The article not only lists the game options but also gives you the rules and links to YouTube video tutorials!
Great Classic Card Games for Families
Here are rules for the following 15 card games:
- Memory (Concentration)
- Snap
- Old Maid (Donkey)
- Go Fish
- Happy Families
- Slapjack
- Snip Snap Snorem
- Pig
- Crazy Eights
- Switch
- Beggar my Neighbour
- Twenty-One (Blackjack)
- War
- Rummy
- Cheat
5. Watch Webinars
You and your kids can make use of this time to acquire new knowledge in a wide variety of fields through webinars and online classes. Start with TED-Ed and their rich library of videos and talks that can even be found in animated versions for kids.
On the Khan Academy website you can find awesome instructional videos on a wide variety of topics. And their free.
Mystery Science is also offering some really good resources science class resources that you can easily follow at home
6. Stream Documentaries
Films can be truly inspirational and quite educational if properly curated. Contrary to public opinion, documentaries can also be very entertaining. There’s a wide range of age-appropriate docs you can choose from on this list from Commonsense Media, who btw is a great source of entertainment and technology recommendations for families and schools.
Netflix offers quality films and shows that are kid-friendly if you need to get work done during the day and that can be enjoyed by the entire family in the evenings to chill out. And Disney Plus is just awesome. Period.
7. Read, Read, Read
If you’ve got small kids, this is a great time to instill in them the joys of reading a good book. Courtney Ostaff, an online educational instructor with more than two decades worth of experience in the area, recommends either the guide “Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons” for kindergarten and first grade students or “The Ordinary Parent’s Guide To Teaching Reading” for second to fourth grade.
Don’t forget to end the day with you personal choice of bedtime stories that nurture the imagination.
8. Go to the Museum
Always wanted to visit the Louvre but never could manage to go? Now’s your chance! A whole bevvy of world-class museums are offering virtual tours for free. Now you can see the Monalisa without having to stand in land.
Here are some great options:
Louvre: https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne#tabs
The Guggenheim: https://www.guggenheim.org/collection-online
The National Gallery of Art: https://www.nga.gov/
The British Museum: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/the-british-museum
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour
The Met: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/online-features and https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/the-metropolitan-museum-of-art
The Dali Theater/Museum: https://www.salvador-dali.org/en/museums/dali-theatre-museum-in-figueres/visita-virtual/
The Vatican Museums: http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/tour-virtuali-elenco.html
The National Women’s History Museum: https://www.womenshistory.org/womens-history/online-exhibits
A great option for the kids is the Boston Children’s Museum Virtual Tour.
9. …Or To Space
NASA offers free virtual tours of the Langley Research Center in Virginia and of Ohio’s Glenn Research Center, too. You can also download The Space Center Houston’s app which provides virtual tours, augmented reality experiences, and videos and audio stories about space exploration.
You can also explore the surface of Mars via Access Mars which is pretty cool.
10. Learn to Play The Piano
Or any other instrument you’ve always dreamed of playing. Imusic-school for example, offers a vast catalog of free videos with professional musicians teaching amateurs how to play musical instruments.
They have lots of options from the more popular guitars and pianos, passing though drums and harmonicas, and even unique choices such as the Chinese instrument and the cello. The videos explain, in tutorials, several techniques and tips for both beginners and advanced musicians.
11. Organize Your Photos
Scan, upload and organize all your old photos and save all your memories. You can use Google Photos and iCloud to gather all the files registered in your account and relive important moments with the family. Google Photos released a feature not too long ago that shows memories from previous years at the top of your screen, having easier access to them
12. Meditate
Meditation is a great way to cope with anxiety and stress, and might be particularly helpful during these crazy times. There are loads of apps you can download for free such as Headspace, Calm and Stop, Breathe & Think.
Ten Percent recently published The Coronavirus Sanity Guide on its website full of practical, actionable ways of coping with stress, fear, and anxiety during all the chaos. It’s free so be sure to check it out. We all need to keep our sanity right now.
13. More Art
Google partnered with more than 1200 cultural institutions from all over the world to archive and document priceless pieces of art. The result was The Google Art Project which also provides virtual tours of museums using Google Street View technology. It features fine art from the White House, the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar, and even street art in São Paulo, Brazil, all in high resolution and fine detail.
Here’s a complete list of museums you can visit virtually. This is really an extraordinary project and a great experience.
14. Learn Another Language
Duolingo has become the go-to resource to begin learning another language. The app won’t make you fluent but it is a great starting place and allows you to practice vocab and phrases when learning a new language.
You won’t become fluent with Duolingo alone but it is great when wanting to practice or getting a few new words.
15. Enjoy The Opera Or The Ballet
The world’s most iconic operas, orchestras, symphonies and ballets are hosting virtual performances. Here are some fantastic options:
Berlin Philharmonic: https://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/home
The Metropolitan Opera: https://www.metopera.org/ . Productions from the company’s Live in HD collection will be available daily, starting at 7:30pm EST.
Vienna State Opera: https://www.staatsoperlive.com/
Paria Opera Ballet: https://www.broadwayhd.com/
London Symphony Orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/user/Lso/videos
16. Get A Head Start On Your Taxes
Let’s face it. We’ve all got a bunch of time on our hands now with no social functions to attend, games to go to or basically anything that requires leaving the house. This is the perfect time to start wrapping up your taxes.
17. Do Karaoke
Since your only audience can be our family members, feel free to let loose and start belting out your favorite songs. If your feeling particularly brave, have your friends join in on FaceTime or a video call and sing off the hard times.
18. Start A Diary
Write down or record your recent experiences. We are living a very strange time in our collective and personal history that really should be recorded. We will be able to look back one day and remember how people felt and reacted to the situation.
19. Take The 2020 Census
Now’s the perfect time to fill out the 2020 Census. Your answers will help determine how billions of dollars in federal funding flow into states and communities each year and find ways to improve.
20. Visit National Parks
While taking a road trip with the kids probably isn’t in the cards right now, you can still visit some of the nation’s national parks online and get to experience nature’s wonder first hand and in HD using Google Earth.
21. Cook Your Heart Out
Stock up on ingredients and start cooking all those recipes you’ve always wanted to try but never had the time (or energy) to make before.
Need inspiration? Chefs are sharing recipes and tips to cook up during the quarantine.
22. Enjoy A Broadway Show
Watch any of the Broadway show you’ve been longing to see online at https://www.broadwayhd.com/ . The channel is subscription based but you can start with a 7-day free trial and watch on your laptop, phone, tablet, or TV.
23. Watch The Beluga Whales
And other marine life at the Georgia Aquarium. It’s very relaxing and oddly soothing.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium also has a live cam that shows what sea otters are up to from 11am to 11pm EST.
24. Learn CPR At Home
It’s never been more important to learn this life-saving skill and let your community know that you have the ability to save a life if needed.
Due to social distancing CPR Parties aren’t really an option right now but you can still learn and practice with your own CPR Kit which you can easily order online here.
25. Make Hand Soap
An extremely relevant and timely activity that you can do at home with the entire family is make your own hand soap. The kids will love it!
26. Start A Book Club
You can start one online with friends and neighbors, the perfect option to follow social distancing but still interact with other people.
Don’t know where to start? Follow these tips for hosting your own digital book club.
27. Get Fresh Herbs
How? By planting your own at home. Here’s what you need to do.
28. Visit The Zoo
Enjoy a live look at animals via the live web cams of some of the country’s biggest zoos.
29. Podcast It Out
When your find yourself with reddened eyes that are all burned out from staring at your laptop all day or maybe because you’ve been watching the news for too many hours, listening to a podcast can prove a nice change.
Here are some recommended by the NY Times broken down by categories:
30. Breathe, Just Breathe
Breath is life. Our body can only go 3 minutes without air before it begins to shut down and die.
We breathe on average 1700 to 2100 times a day. That’s a lot of air and we need every single bit of it to ensure our body and mind function properly. So when feeling super stressed-out, anxious or tense, take deep breathes to center yourself.
And, breathe. Just breathe.