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Students step up

Bulldogs fill in at home to help younger siblings with eLearning

Sophomore Bella Hume works on her own classwork while helping her sister who is in kindergarten.

Jona Carper, Reporter
May 18, 2020

Governor Holcomb announced April 2 Indiana schools would be closed for the rest of the 2020 school year, leaving students to work at home for the next two months.

When it comes to high school students with siblings, some have stepped in as “teacher” to their younger siblings while also juggling their own schoolwork.

10 tips and tricks to make teaching your younger sibling easier

Tips and tricks according to Homeschool Giveaways

– Read aloud to your younger siblings if they’re at that age. It makes the younger sibling be more interested and interactive in the reading assignment, rather than getting bored by reading by themselves.

– Have the little ones read to you. To help them learn how to read, have them read to you, and if they get stuck, help them out. If an older sibling is there with them, it’ll make them more intrigued to show off their reading skills.

– Give them a spelling list. Think of it as an at home spelling bee. Give them a small list of words to look over before you quiz them, and then give them a word and have them spell it out loud.

– Do a flashcard review. Don’t just do it for educational purposes, make a game out of it. Add pictures to make it more interesting and more intriguing, and just give them something to be interested in other than just the education part of it.

– Let them play educational games. Find games on websites like CoolMath Games or ABC Mouse that go with what they’re learning just to give them a different perspective of learning and something more fun.

– Have them do coloring books and pages with directions. If they’re pretty young, this will engage them into learning how to follow directions with any assignment and will make time for both the older and younger sibling to do something that they both enjoy.

– Have them take breaks to do something in the kitchen. Let the younger sibling take turns at making lunch during the week. This gives them a break away from their school work and makes them feel useful for something other than just their school work.

– Let them help the older kids with chores. When a younger sibling sees you doing something, they’re going to want to do it as well and feel helpful. This could also make them want to do their school work if they see you doing yours at home every day.

– If your family is religious, have them remember a bible verse every day. Have the older sibling come up with a creative way to help the younger sibling remember the verse. This technique could also be used to help them remember stuff for school as well.

– Take the learning outside. As long as you keep six feet apart from anyone that’s outside the people that live in the house with you, take the learning outside. Sit on the porch with them while they do their work. Let them get their hands in the dirt and feel nature and just get out of the house. Hands on experiences will make the younger sibling more engaged to learn about whatever is outdoors, and also gives them some fresh air.

Sophomore Shelby Rodriguez has one sister who is in seventh grade at Hazelwood Middle School. Rodriguez says the classes that consume her time the most are zoology and journalism. Her dad is a roofer and gets home at different times each day, while her mom is currently at home with her and her sister.

“I don’t really mind [helping my younger sister with her schoolwork],” said Rodriguez. “It gets aggravating at times because she gets aggravated at what she’s doing, which makes me mad at her for no reason.”

As eLearning was just beginning, students and teachers tried to get the hang of a new system. Rodriguez says it’s easy for her to email her teachers if she has questions she can’t answer about her sister’s work since it’s easier to get a hold of her teachers rather than her sister’s.

Balancing their schoolwork while taking time out of their schedules to help their siblings can be an adjustment.

“[Balancing the work is easy],” said Rodriguez. “She’ll catch on with this whole electronic thing eventually, as long as she does what she’s told to do, she won’t need much help.”

While Rodriguez doesn’t mind, other students don’t necessarily like the idea of having to help their younger siblings.

Sophomore Bella Hume has one younger sister who is in kindergarten. Her mom is home with her and her sister, but it’s her responsibility to help her sister with her school work.

“I feel like [teaching my sister] shouldn’t be my responsibility,” Hume said. “I don’t like the responsibility because I feel like it shouldn’t be mine to begin with.”

Hume says that helping her sister with her school work has negatively affected her life because it puts her on edge with annoyance because her sister is in kindergarten.

Both teachers and students are adapting at the last quarter wraps up. While it can be stressful for students and teachers to get used to online learning for the rest of the 2020 school year, it can sometimes be more stressful for students that have to help their siblings as well.

Sophomore Abby Sekula has two sisters. They’re twins and are in the eighth grade at Holy Family, a private Catholic school. Sekula says she struggles with chemistry and it takes up most of her time. Her parents are both at home working, but her mom stays busy as a vice president of communications and her dad works in the marketing field.

Sophomore Abby Sekula works on her online classes while helping her two sisters who are both in eighth grade.

“[Helping my sisters] pushes me to work later at night,” said sophomore Abby Sekula. “I don’t mind just because they’re older, and it’s not as bad as when they were younger. But if they were younger it would definitely be harder.”

Sekula says that helping both of her sisters has negatively impacted her life because it adds more stress to the workload she already has. With both her parents working full time and both her sisters being in eighth grade, it’s hard for her parents to find time to help them with their school work.

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