Pat Taub
GUEST POST by LISA SAVAGE
As the mother of three grown children, I’ve had occasion to reflect on what I taught them that might be especially useful for weathering an ongoing public health crisis and the recession it caused.
I became a public school teacher halfway through their childhood but even before that I was an “education mama” who felt it was my (delightful) duty to provide the kind of experiences that lead to real learning.
A younger version of the author teaching 3rd grade writing
Since I had no way of predicting what skills or knowledge would be most useful to them in a rapidly changing world, my focus was on raising flexible problem solvers. I wanted my kids to be good at learning, confident that they’d be able to encounter novel situations or information with open minds.
I retired a year early during a campaign for elected office last year. How fortunate for me that I did not have to risk my health in schools that reopened far too soon in my home state of Maine!
My heart goes out to young, working parents who have been juggling childcare, overseeing instruction for their kids struggling with learning on Zoom — while working to earn a living if they are lucky enough to still have jobs. Their generation has been especially hard hit by covid.
A young mother desperately trying to work under lockdown (The New York Times)
One of my sons and his wife live in the San Francisco Bay area and were sent to work from home in February, 2020. Their nanny share fell apart under the strain of the pandemic, but they stayed teamed up with another couple who also had a 2 year old. The four parents spent months rotating childcare shifts while working from the next room, trying to ignore the inevitable meltdowns.
After many family conferences, my husband and I decided to be flexible problem solvers and relocate (safely, with testing and quarantining) to help out. I offered to teach preschool for the now 3 year olds, as they had been unable to start school in the fall as planned.
The author’s granddaughter arranging books in her Special Treat Preschool.
Currently we’re living upstairs from my son’s family, and a large portion of our living room has become the Special Treat Preschool (can you tell we let my granddaughter name it?). A class size of two where both children are well-sponsored is a dream teaching gig! Grandpa helps us bake bread; we subscribe to a monthly Montessori kit for preschool, and make extensive use of the curbside service offered by our local library.
The racial and economic disparities of the impact of this pandemic are always on my mind.
My white privilege and middle class education are the foundation of this particular project. Our family has been able to just stay home while continuing to earn a living, and my husband and I have now received our first vaccinations.
A low income single mother overwhelmed with Covid home schooling (The New York Times)
Sample coloring page from Special Treat Preschool. It has been my joy to teach the kids during Black History Month as both have witnessed and participated in many Black Lives Matter marches with their parents.
I’ll continue to advocate for policies that would allow all families in the U.S. to enjoy the right to universal health care, safe housing, and a guaranteed income to keep fed and warm.
I’ll continue to point out that the military budget is what gobbles up the tax dollars we could be spending to care for each other. Cutting the Pentagon budget would also be a huge leap forward for addressing climate crisis.
And that would be flexible problem solving, indeed.
Lisa Savage is a semi-retired teacher and longtime organizer around climate and militarism. She blogs at https://wordpress.com/view/went2thebridge.wordpress.com.
