Written by: Mrs. Shipley
The Family's Corner
Devo
Hello!
Wow!
What is going on!?
We are in this period of uncertainty and time changes from day to day. It feels unreal and surreal! Coronavirus has certainly touched our home and our lives.
We are doing okay here in the Shipley home. David has worked hard to keep the spiritual lives of teens at the forefront of his mind. I have continued to educate our children at home. If there is anything we hear from some of the teens we know, it's that they miss having something to do, they miss seeing people, and some feel like they have lost motivation and challenge to do anything.
Well, this writing could be for teens, this article could be for families with small children or any adult, but I won't pretend to know everything. I can only offer some thoughts from the Shipley house in how we have established learning at home.
There is a lot of uncertainty about the future right now. It is easy to get caught up worrying about who should be doing what to fix all of this on a large scale (my prayer now is for our medical research to be blessed and ample), but as individuals we have an opportunity to continue our lifelong learning. Maybe you are in a position to help on the front lines, or maybe you are an entrepreneur who knows how to adjust your business to help rise up to the challenge our country is facing. Or maybe you are working hard at home to preserve some resemblance of normal.
My overall thought here is that - maybe this is a time to grow. Grow in service. Find things that intrigue you and work to understand it.
Here are our 10 Online Tools for Learning at Home:
1). Rainbow Resources. This is a place that I buy curriculum from. Of course, you likely don't want to spend a lot of money on curriculum right now, and I don't think you should - this is a very brief moment in time for your child's educational growth. However, now could be a time to allow your student to find something that he or she is interested in and develop foster that - let them explore their interest.
2). Khan Academy. Khan Academy is completely free education online! It's really awesome! They have curriculum for many ages, grades, and subjects.
3). Duolingo. Duolingo is a free app for your smart phone or iPad device. It is an online language learning tool. They offer education for several languages at different ages. If you have a kiddo in elementary school who's interested - there is a Duolinguo Kids app.
4). Audible. We love Audible! For one, it saves this homeschooling mama's voice for a period of time! But, it is also just enjoyable to sit and read a long with some great books.
5). Master Class Online. For a cost, you can join this online educational resource. It's pretty amazing. You can watch classes in all sorts of subjects taught by professionals and folks that are at the top of their industry.
6). Ask Away. This podcast is a work of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. The hosts focus on "listener-submitted questions on meaning, morality, origin, and destiny.” It's a great example of the truth that faith doesn't fear questions.
7). The Bible Project. If you want to nerd out on the Bible, this YouTube Channel (there's a podcast too) offers great overviews of Biblical concepts with helpful visuals. Their overviews of books, in particular, help me recognize the big concepts within each Bible book.
7). Art of Manliness Podcast. Brett McKay does two things in this podcast I appreciate. First, he reads all sorts of books & summarizes them by interviewing the authors. Second, he uses what he reads to engage in good conversations. Great skills for lifelong reading & learning.
9). Choiceology. Wharton professor Katy Milkman explores how we make choices and investigates some great human interest stories along the way. This is an original podcast from Charles Schwab.
10). Dennis Prager's Fireside Chat. So PragerU is not a "real" university, but Dennis Prager offers some real learning as he takes listener-submitted questions on life, morality, politicwhile sitting by a fire next to his sleeping dog, Otto. He's a radio personality, so very easy to listen to and understand.
We hope you can find this a time to take up the challenge to be strong, encourage, and to press forward.