Family’s distance learning involves daily schedule for school and chores, on-line learning systems and educational websites for children ages 4-16
By Wil Phinney of the CUJ
PENDLETON – With five children ranging in age from 4 to 16, Talia Tewawina knew she had to establish a schedule for school work, chores and exercise.
And although it hasn’t always been easy, after a month of following the 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. routine the three boys and two younger girls have adapted.
“It’s evolved,” said Talia. “Sometimes I have to reiterate the expectations.”
And although it hasn’t always been easy, after a month of following the 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. routine the three boys and two younger girls have adapted.
“It’s evolved,” said Talia. “Sometimes I have to reiterate the expectations.”
Talia was working mornings at the Yellowhawk Community Garden Program and the kids just weren’t getting things done.
“If I wasn’t there in the morning, by the time I got home at lunch, everyone was doing something else. The chores weren’t done, they were snacking, they hadn’t showered,” she said.
So she switched to afternoons at Yellowhawk and came up with a morning schedule, complete with a rotating chore list, that’s posted on the refrigerator.
Everyone gets up at 7 a.m., showers and eats breakfast by 8.
School work starts at 8 with four laptops simultaneously accessing different educational websites .
The stay-at-home students use a number of online learning systems – Acellus, Google Classroom, Khan Academy, Zoom, and Ignite@home by Hatch as well as video lessons sent via email from their teachers.
School work is usually completed by 10 before daily chores begin – vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom, doing the dishes and laundry, etc. Lunch is an hour starting at 11:30. Talia picks up lunches from the Pendleton School District to “save money on groceries so they don’t eat everything they see.” After lunch the five are expected to exercise for a half hour and then, by 2 p.m., if they are done with school and chores, they have free time. The family lives on Southwest Nye off Tutuilla Road so Sunridge Middle School and Grecian Heights Park are nearby. In their free time they take walks and ride bikes, scooters and skateboards.
When free time starts “depends on their motivation,” Talia said.
Talia leaves for work at 12:15 during the kids’ lunch and returns about 4:30. She calls home about 4:15, which sometimes serves as an alarm clock/warning in case all the chores haven’t been completed.
“Since we started this schedule it’s been going great. I don’t stress because I know they’re getting the school work done and I trust the system on doing the chores.”
If they don’t do what’s expected there are consequences. If a chore isn’t completed, it might mean the loss of a cell phone, or a tablet, or TV time. If one of them doesn’t do a chore at all, the next day he or she has to do their chore and one of their sibling’s chores as well.
Talia’s oldest son, Leo Crawford, 16, is finishing his sophomore year at Pendleton High School. In addition to his friends, Crawford said he is “missing greatly” the audition-required acapella choir.
Crawford said, “I know I’m learning more every day,” but admitted he’s easily distracted working exclusively on the computer instead of in the classroom “where you can actually see what’s going on.” Over the Internet, Crawford can private-message teachers, but there isn’t always an immediate response.
In addition to school work, Crawford said COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders have given him more time to read science fiction and watch Japanese anime on Netflix. But he misses his friends and their regular Dungeons and Dragons pen-and-paper role-play nights.
Crawford said when he’s older he will tell his children or his nieces and nephews, maybe his grandchildren, that during the coronavirus pandemic “all the people did their part by staying at home and not going out in public.” He will tell them that people stayed six feet away from each other and that Walmart wouldn’t allow a lot of people in their store.
He said he thinks there will be a “new normal” and he’s wondering if he’ll be participating this year in the war scene at Happy Canyon or selling sodas in the stands with the acapella choir.
Anthony Crawford, 14, was finishing the eighth grade at Sunridge and will be joining his older brother as a freshman at PHS in the fall. Anthony’s not a big talker.
He’s not so fond of his mom’s schedule because he “loves sleeping.”
He’s not so fond of his mom’s schedule because he “loves sleeping.”
His biggest challenge is “not being able to go outside and staying away from people.” Right before the outbreak he was invited to a sleep-over that didn’t happen.
Anthony is an athlete who plays basketball and football, and was planning to try out for track this spring. He trots from home to school each day and friends suggested he try distance running around the track. At school, Anthony likes band. He plays saxophone at school, but practices the keyboard at home. For schoolwork he does what the teachers send home on Khan Academy, which produces short video lessons as well practice exercises.
For Anthony, COVID-19 has caused no stress. He’s a laid back dude. What’s he going to tell his kids? “I lived through it and had to stay home.”
Ayden Star is an 11-year-old fifth grader at Sherwood. During regular school he gets up at 6, so he’s getting to sleep in now. He gets to see his friends in the classroom each day through Zoom. He likes his teachers – Mrs. Curtis, Mrs. Murphy and Mr. Heriza. At the end of the day, students get 20 minutes to talk to each other, Ayden said.
Then it’s chores and 30-minutes of exercise. Ayden tried to say his exercise was playing the keyboard and video games, but couldn’t get away with that, so switched to riding his scooter on the park paths.
Then it’s chores and 30-minutes of exercise. Ayden tried to say his exercise was playing the keyboard and video games, but couldn’t get away with that, so switched to riding his scooter on the park paths.
He acknowledged brotherly arguments, lots of times over whose turn it was to play video games. Each kid gets 12 hours a week playing video games.
Ayden said there’s “nothing wrong” with staying home during COVID-19.
“All you have to do is stay home and stay away from people. There’s nothing wrong with the orders you have to do,” he said.
However, it does “suck” that he can’t see his friends.
Ayanna Star, 10, is finishing fourth grade at Sherwood. She likes the schedule and said she’s actually doing less now than she was before COVID-19.
Her teachers send her lessons on Google Classroom. Ayanna’s favorite subject is art. Her teacher, Mrs. Summerfield, often texts random students asking them to suggest what to draw. If Mrs. Summerfield ever asks Ayanna she will suggest drawing a dog. Maybe a pug, but probably a husky because that’s her dream dog. Come on Mrs. Summerfield. Ayanna is a reader and especially likes Epic Reader. Her favorites right now are the “Dear Diary” books.
Her teachers send her lessons on Google Classroom. Ayanna’s favorite subject is art. Her teacher, Mrs. Summerfield, often texts random students asking them to suggest what to draw. If Mrs. Summerfield ever asks Ayanna she will suggest drawing a dog. Maybe a pug, but probably a husky because that’s her dream dog. Come on Mrs. Summerfield. Ayanna is a reader and especially likes Epic Reader. Her favorites right now are the “Dear Diary” books.
Does she sometimes feel cooped up with all those boys?
“Sometimes my sister and I grab our bikes and go down the hill,” she said.
And if truth be told, she bosses Ayden around.
Midnight Rose Tewawina is 4. Her mom said she listens to Leo and Anthony, but she gets perturbed with Ayden and Ayanna. Talia said her older siblings baby Midnight Rose and often pick up after her. The youngest child has recently started using Ignite, an interactive touch-screen learning program.
“She thinks it’s a game,” Talia said. “She counts items and touches words in a sentence. The other day I heard her saying ‘I don’t know how to read the word ‘the’. She had on headphones and was yelling at the tablet ‘What is the word the?’ She’s learning. It pulls apart her name and asks her to touch the upper case M or R. If she gets it right she gets to dress her icon person. She earns shoes, sunglasses, different color hair for her little person by touching the correct letters. On the first day she had more than 300 items for her little person. Now she has outfits and 200 pair of shoes.”
After a month, things are rolling along well in the Tewawina, Crawford and Star house. (Talia’s husband Andrew Tewawina works through TERO for Gage It Construction.)
“It feels like everybody is tuned in,” Talia said.
“It feels like everybody is tuned in,” Talia said.
However, the youngest children don’t always understand social distancing.
“I tell them they can’t go to their friends on the weekends and they say ‘What’s the big deal?’ I had to sit them down a couple of times and tell them this is serious, it’s a real thing,” she said.
But the family is following the rules, learning from a distance, and waiting for COVID-19 to run its course.
“We’re just in the groove of things and it’s going well. We’re doing what’s supposed to be done.”
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