Turning the Page fundamentally believes in a parent’s power to make real change for their children. So much of parents’ successes are behind closed doors and go unrecognized. In light of everything happening right now, we want to take a moment to celebrate the extraordinary parents that we work with in the Washington D.C. and Chicago communities.
Parent Name: Aaron Strickland
City: Washington, DC
School: Turner Elementary
What is a success that you’ve had since starting at-home learning?
Learning how to get through the day without creating drama unnecessarily. It was hard at first. We used something that TTP created, it was about “If you can avoid an argument, it’s better to step away and do something else later than come back to it and address the problem.”
[My son] is still interested in learning stuff and he still wants to play during work time. Maintaining his enthusiasm for the remainder of the school year.
What does your schedule look like on any given day?
Adjusting to a less rigid time table of things because we are home all day. I kind of let [my son] manage his wake up time. Wake up on his own, eat breakfast, 30 minutes of online activities. Eat lunch and complete a little bit of his packet and that’s pretty much how our day would go.
What has been your biggest challenge with at-home learning?
Getting [my son] to not feel like I’m punishing him by making him do school work. That was difficult in the beginning. He may not have to do schoolwork like he did before but we do have to set aside time to do work during the week.
How did you work through that?
I can read his willingness to do something and how much he is trying and his attitude about doing it and then I had a few talks with him about why we have to do it. Just trying to be open with my kid.
How did you explain COVID-19 to your child?
I wanted him to understand that it wasn’t a problem about him. It’s easier if everyone stays home.
How are you feeling about transitioning back to in-school learning when the time comes?
I just hope that we have the means to make sure everyone is safe. I don’t know how or what that will look like but I guess every parent wants to feel like their child is safe, especially at school. I want to feel like [my son] is in a safe space.
Also, it’s been hard for the teachers. It would be nice to help teachers discern who did [schoolwork] during [quarantine]. It is going to be interesting next year to see who is actually prepared for the coursework.
There is a potential for there to be a larger disparity between the students with higher or lower socioeconomic status in terms of learning levels. Me personally, I don’t feel like I am a teacher and I couldn’t teach most things as well as my son’s teachers would. If he has questions, I can definitely answer them, but not every parent feels comfortable doing that.
What has your family been doing for fun during physical distancing?
Listening to a lot of music and video games and playing board games with family.
What do(es) you and/or your family like to read?
We read a lot of short stories from Google Books.
What is something that you miss and can’t wait to get back to after quarantine?
Trattoria Alberto, it’s a restaurant that my parents have been going to for years. They normally go after church on Sundays and Travis and I started joining them last year.
We’ll be spotlighting parents each week, so keep checking back for more! Looking for ways to support parents like Aaron? There are three ways you can help: order a grab-bag of #CuratedByCarpeLibrum books to be delivered in DC or Chicago; purchase a gift card to use at a future Carpe Librum pop-up or store; make a donation through our website.