How it Began for Julie, Grandmother and Guardian of Four Grade School Kids
Julie J.’s life got turned “upside down, inside out and backwards” when Covid-19 hit her community of Clovis, CA, in March. Julie, grandmother of four, (a kindergartener, a 3rd grader, a 5th grader and an 8th grader) was faced with a tough situation. School had gone remote and online learning was in full swing. Working nights and supporting 4 kids was hard enough. Julie said she has “become a teacher” since the start of Covid-19.
At the start of the fall semester, Julie purchased a 12 pack of small double sided dry erase boards and array of other whiteboards like the alphabet manuscript white board and the lined whiteboard for her kindergartner to practice words and sentences.
“The whiteboards have been a life-saver.” -Julie J. of Clovis, CA
When Julie’s youngest granddaughter has homework, she’ll practice on the manuscript white board first. For example, the kindergarteners fill out a sentence like: “On winter break we…” and then draw the picture in the blank space.
The entire kindergarten class uses page protectors as make-shift whiteboards, but these easily tore up after using them day-in and day-out. With 4 kids running around since August, only one of the 15 durable whiteboards she purchased, actually has a nick. And the micro-fiber cloths make the clean-up easy, says Julie.
As expected, sometimes students can’t always erase in time for the teacher’s next question. Julie helped her youngest granddaughter by setting up multiple clean white boards to use so that she can easily keep up with the class, if the teacher says, “Ok! Time to erase!” Julie hopes that by sharing this tactic, she can help just one other parent or guardian in the efforts to guide their children in virtual learning.
Lap Boards Can Support Unique Learning Styles
Julie’s grandkids are witty and understand the virus down to the molecular level. Even the youngest of students understand the need for social distancing and attention to personal hygiene. Additionally, Julie understands that each of her grandchildren perceive and learn things differently. She explained how she tries to engage with each of the 4 learning styles, Visual, Auditory, Linguistic (reading/writing) and Kinesthetic, as she guides her kids in online learning. She reads them stories, uses educational TV and creates activities for them, like building a leprechaun trap for St. Patrick’s day. This is why she believes whiteboards have come in handy when exercising Visual, Kinesthetic and Linguistic abilities.
There are a plethora of additional tools to use at home like dry erase to-do or “chore” magnets, XY grid whiteboards for high or junior high school math, and magnetic dry erase calendars that make changing plans just a little easier. Studies show that writing things down is an “effective memory and learning aid because it prompts students to think about their learning.” You can browse all of our learning tools here at: https://mywhiteboards.com/