SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio — Classrooms are more like ghost towns and all the teaching that’s going on is happening at home.
"Parents, let’s just try to remain as calm as we can,” said Quintetta Stubblefield.
Stubblefield is a mother of two and a fraud business analyst for Key Bank.
"I have a lot of conference calls, I’m on a huge project right now,” she said.
The South Euclid mom has been teaching her teenager and toddler while juggling her job from home since state mandates have them all staying put.
“The good news is I can have the 13-year-old read to the 3-year-old, so like that’s reading time,” said Stubblefield.
She says there’s been lots of trial and error especially when it comes to her older son’s school work.
"If he had to do calculus, I might have been able to help him but like the basics of long division are different then the way we learned it so I had to utilize my resources,” she said.
So Stubblefield has been getting creative.
"I literally have given them 30 minutes to just do arts and crafts Play-Doh, coloring or just drawing,” she said.
Even though Stubblefield mostly has things under control at her home, there are still lots of parents out there struggling. That’s why educators are volunteering to step in to help those folks keep their little ones on track.
"There are so many of us that the kids are our first priority and we want them to not only be safe and healthy, but we want to try to not interrupt that learning as much as possible,” said life long educator Crystal Maclin.
Maclin has been teaching for more than 20 years. She’s offering to help parents and students who need a little extra push during this strange time.
"I have little mini white boards, I envision me chugging out problems on a white board and holding them up,” she said.
Maclin says if folks don’t want to reach out to her, there are lots of alternatives.
"The upside of it though, unlike when I was coming up, there are a lot of online resources and tools that families can use and kids can use that don’t require mom or dad to be the expert,” she said.
Although Stubblefield admits she’s not an expert, she and Maclin both agree, kids and parents can’t over do it.
"We as well have to make sure that we’re scheduling those breaks, putting it on your calendar so you’re also not burned out just to give yourself that down time,” said Stubblefield.
Maclin says Khan Academy and Math Antics are great free resources. If you want to contact her directly for help, email helpwithalgebra216@gmail.com.
