Dear Families,
We know COVID19 is putting all of us through unprecedented times. And uncharted territory can be scary and unnerving. As we tell our children, there is always something to gain from challenges in life. Similarly, we hope this time can strengthen our resolve around the things that matter like God, faith and family. To help families, we called on our families pull together our ideas, experiences and resources to provide this “We’ve Got This, COVID19 Toolkit”. We look forward to your addition, and hope that this helps make these trying times also a great growing moment.
Sending it out with lots of love,
Kenshu and Karilee, Co-Presidents, FPA-USA
“Can You Cut My Hair?”
By Maruko Breland During the quarantine, everybody’s hair was getting long. Barbershops and salons were all closed. I was talking with my husband, whose thick curly hair was growing in all sorts of directions and starting to get into his eyes. We were picturing the...
Pink Donuts and Finding All the Ways We Can Be Grateful to God
We hadn’t gone to 7-Eleven in a while because of the quarantine. But on the way home that day, we decided to stop by to get my little girl a treat. Excited, my daughter picks out her favorite: a donut with pink frosting. And that day the pink donuts even had...
Slowing Down and Taking Time to Enjoy Our World
There is a part in The Sound of Music when the Reverend Mother is the Sister’s Convent tells Maria, “When the door closes, God opens a window.” In a way, this pandemic felt just like that. The COVID-19 quarantine has shut down our schools, community centers, swimming...
Start With Making Your Bed: Taking Time to Build Good Habits
“If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.” These words from Admiral William H. McRaven at a commencement ceremony made such an impact that it eventually became the title of a #1 New York Times bestselling book. During this quarantine, I made it a...
5 Ways Your Family Can Carry on the Spirit of the Memorial Day Holiday
We have always celebrated heroes throughout human history. In stories and in real life, those we consider ‘heroes’ have always been the brave men and women who have worked for the benefit of others and the greater good. Since 1868, when it was celebrated as Decoration...
The Happiness Fairy
“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” -William Arthur Ward Ginny loves to throw tantrums. Her tantrums are a marvelous, artistic display: she opens with a small whine...
Change Your Context
Our family recently moved to another country late last year. It was a move from one of the most developed nations in the world to perhaps one of the least developed in the world. This has made for some interesting discoveries, lessons, and challenges, particularly for...
Grab Bag of Strategies: Clean ups
It’s not easy to keep a clean house even when the kids are out for a big chunk of the day. This becomes exponentially harder in quarantine. This meme captures it both accurately and beautifully: “Cleaning the house with kids is like brushing your teeth while eating...
A Balm for the Squabbles
My son announced with a dramatic bellow that he never wanted to play with Emmy ever again. I sighed. Recently the squabbles have gotten worse. When Nina began to play with Theo’s dinosaurs, he carted them away and placed them on top of the cabinet, far from Nina’s...
WorkPoint System: An Idea for Screen Time
A common request I hear from parents a lot lately is ideas to offer as alternatives for all the screen time that kids will inevitably ask for. And, to be honest -- it's nice to give kids screen time because it gives them something to do and distracts us from the...
Dear Parents, We’ve Got This!
With Children Now at Home All Day, It Helps to Be Reminded that We've Been Training for This Moment from Day One. Around the world, most schools have shut down through summer. For those of us in the United States, that means for the remainder of the school year. In...
Easter, Passover, Ramadan: Faith Traditions and God
April is a special month for many faiths. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday into Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, ending on Easter Sunday. The Jewish people will remember their journey out of slavery and God’s promise to their people during Passover. And the holy month...
Nurturing the Heart of Service
10 Service Project Ideas to do with your family during COVID-19 to help your community Service projects can be such a beautiful learning tool. Your family can substantially help another person and the experience can be heart-warming. It can also teach empathy and...
Daily Checklist for Learning and Growing @ Home
I never thought I would be home-schooling but it looks like that’s how things will be for the time being. The other day while I was talking with my husband, we recognized there are 4 major areas that are critical for our kids in terms of their everyday overall well-being. (These can be quite helpful for us parents too!)
10 Family Game Night Ideas
Making time to get together as a family or an extended family is important. What you do together is not as important as the fact that you do, but sometimes we like to have a little help to know what to do once we’re all together. Here is a list of some family games...
Tips for Homeschool: From 20 Years of Experience
As we now face the reality of homeschool moving from a few weeks to possibly months, parents are scrambling for curriculums, resources and, above all – advice! Here, Kate Tsubata, a mother of three and now grandmother, shares on her twenty years of experience with...
Family-Friendly Movies with Good Life Lessons
Movie nights are a great way to spend some time together as a family. Not only is it fun if you prepare a bit beforehand and choose a movie with care, but it can also be a time to discuss important topics and values together as a family. Depending on the movie, you...
What About Socialization?: True Education Begins at Home
Kate raised and homeschooled her three children and, over the years, a myriad of neighborhood and community kids throughout multiple local programs, projects and initiatives. A journalist and now filmmaker of the newly released Dancing Joy (now available for rental on...
A Tribute to Our Healthcare Workers
Some of us have been helped during this pandemic by our medical workers, first responders, and nurses. Others have family members or know of someone close working on the front line every day, putting their own lives and families at risk, to serve the human family. I...
A Schedule Driven by Goals, Not Time
"Do I have to write a daily diary?” My son looks up from his blank notebook. "No,” I answer. “I started making you write daily entries because I wanted you to practice writing in Japanese. Can you think of other ways you can do that that you would enjoy more?” He...
Try, Try Again
Parents, Be Ready to Fail a Few Times and Get Back Up Be Ready to Fail a Few Times and Get Back Up It’s easy to give advice, harder to take your own. Case in point, my perfectionist son hates practicing new piano pieces because they sound terrible. I am usually...
The Greatest Job: Motherhood
A tribute to moms. This is a video called: The World's Toughest Job. Please watch, enjoy and cry in gratitude for our mothers. The video was originally made for Mother's Day, but the role of "mom" is full-time, 24/7, 365 days of the year. So the message applies all...
Creative Ideas for Teaching Core Subjects at Home
Here is Kate Tsubata with more useful information. Here is a list of homeschool lessons for multiple subjects. Kate is a mother of three and now grandmother. As many of us now find ourselves homeschooling, she has opened up her archives to share her twenty years of...
Grade-Sorted Recommended Reading List
With lots more time at home, a life-long hobby and skill to nurture in your family would be reading. Many parents have asked for a recommended reading list by age. We made a starter one, organized by author and only some examples of books. We welcome new suggestions to make this list grow! Look into each author for more!