Kids VT, April 2020
Working at a Grocery Store During a Pandemic; Advice for Navigating At-Home Education; Camp Thorpe Offers Summer Fun to Those With Special Needs; Fostering Connections and Spreading Joy While Physically Distancing
Introducing Vermont’s 215 Newest ‘Good Citizens’
On March 6, Kids VT and Seven Days wrapped up our second Good Citizen Challenge, produced with support from the Vermont Community Foundation. Nearly 850 young Vermonters from 78 towns signed up to participate in this interactive civics project! They passed quizzes and completed activities in five subject areas: History, Government, News Literacy, Advocacy and…
Pro Tips From Homeschooling Parents
The end of the school year as we’ve always known it arrived abruptly on March 26: That’s when Gov. Phil Scott closed all Vermont schools to slow the spread of COVID-19. Suddenly parents and caregivers faced the prospect of keeping kids engaged in learning while also working from home, caring for relatives, managing a household,…
Tips for Growing Your Own Garden, Supporting Local Farmers
During World Wars I and II, people planted victory gardens in backyards and public parks. Originally organized as an effort to feed hungry people in World War I-devastated Europe, the National War Garden Commission — spearheaded by wealthy philanthropist Charles Lathrop Pack — encouraged Americans to sow idle land. Sprouting up in school grounds and…
Editor’s Note: Life as We Knew It
As parents, we’re accustomed to celebrating our kids’ firsts — first laugh, first step, first day of school, first lost tooth. But it’s rare, as adults, to experience our own “firsts.” In the past few weeks, though, my life has been filled with firsts. I’m sure yours has, too. A few of them: First time…
First Person: Working at a Grocery Store During a Pandemic
Seven years ago, I left a nearly 15-year career as a lab technician in biochemistry for a new adventure. I like to tell people that I get paid to smile and talk about food. I work at a specialty grocery store. My usual day includes serving delicious food samples, chatting with customers about what they’re…
How a Burlington Grandmother Manages Essential Roles at Work and Home
Many Vermont families struggled to make ends meet before the coronavirus hit. Now, their lives feel dangerously precarious. This is especially true of the low- to middle-income Vermonters who utilize state and federal social support programs. Some families lean heavily on this network for food and fuel assistance. Now they must be even more resourceful…
Wallowing in Mud Season
Even in a normal year, by the time April rolls around there’s an urge to emerge from winter hibernation and be in the sun and feel some warmth on your skin. Now, at this strange moment in history when we’re all trapped in our homes, this urge appears even stronger. If my Facebook feed is…
Six Low-Waste Kids’ Crafting Activities
We are parenting at a time when magazines, blogs, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube are filled with crafty ideas for keeping our kids entertained and educationally enriched. It can be inspiring — and overwhelming. I enjoy doing projects and crafts with my kids, but I find pulling back and keeping it simple can yield lovely results.…
Teaching a 2-Year-Old It’s Still Okay to Say ‘Hello’
On the seventeenth day of our isolation due to the global pandemic, we went for a long walk to a field near our home. At the field, a woman and a man passed us, staying distant, like we have learned to do nowadays. Our 2-year-old daughter held my husband’s hand and started growling her “dinosaur…
Shelburne Sixth-Grader Charlie Schramm Pens and Performs Original Tunes
When musician Charlie Schramm was 2 years old, he attended a Grateful Dead festival at Lake Dunmore with his parents, Erika and Mike. Erika recalled watching young Charlie, perched on Mike’s shoulders and “mesmerized by the music.” Much to his parents’ surprise, he stayed awake for the third set, which didn’t end until the middle…
Fostering Connections and Spreading Joy While Physically Distancing
“I want some fruit!” my 3-year-old daughter, Coraline, shouted as she sat at the dining room table, awaiting her lunch. “I need you to be patient right now, Coraline. I’m putting lunch together for you and your sister, and I’m going as fast as I can,” I snapped back, barely audible over the cries coming…
Yoga Pose of the Month: April Showers
Benefits: Tapping your body awakens your senses and increases awareness Can relieve stress and anxiety Steps: Rub your hands together while taking deep, slow breaths. It’s beginning to feel like it’s going to rain! Gently tap the crown of your head. It begins to sprinkle on you! Lightly pound your fists on your chest. It’s…
Illustrated Stories Highlight Women Who Persisted
In the early 1920s, flight schools in the United States wouldn’t admit African American women. But Bessie Coleman, born in 1892 to a Texas sharecropper, didn’t let that fact stop her from becoming a pilot. She learned French and moved to France, where, in 1922, she earned her pilot’s license in seven months. Returning to…
Popular Authors Take Story Time Online
Beloved authors and illustrators are doing their part to entertain housebound kids, offering online story times and drawing tutorials. Here’s a selection: Jarrett J. Krosoczka — author and illustrator of the Lunch Lady series and the graphic novel Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt With Family Addiction, a National…
Photo Essay: Burlington Photographer Offers Glimpse Into Family Life in the Time of COVID-19
Sam and Erinn Simon, frequent Kids VT contributors, live in Burlington with their three children, ages 9, 12 and 16. Sam is a professional photographer and also works for UPS — and is now classified as an essential worker under Gov. Phil Scott’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order. Erinn owns a cake-baking business, That Cake…
Delivering Meals to Students in Barre
Cafeterias may be closed, but schools are still serving meals to students. In the Barre City Elementary and Middle School kitchen, a small crew prepares meals for kids in Barre City and the surrounding Barre Town. Food service supervisor Ashley Young says almost 600 students are signed up to receive breakfast and lunch — about…
Advice for Navigating At-Home Education
Families who unschool or homeschool — at least 2 million kids in the U.S. — usually reach this decision after much deliberation and after weighing innumerable factors: available time and energy, capacity, desire, and finances. Now, overnight, we have hundreds of thousands of young people with no school to go to — compulsory unschooling. While…
Camp Thorpe Offers Summer Fun to Those With Special Needs
Almost a century ago, Rev. Walter Thorpe and his wife, Vena, purchased a 100-acre farm in Goshen, on a ridge of the Green Mountains. After using the property as a family summer home for several years, Thorpe decided the site would be the ideal place for an overnight camp. Thorpe ministered at summer camps in…
Local Toy Store Delivers Treasure Box to Your Door
In the absence of in-person shoppers, some local retailers are finding resourceful ways to stay afloat. Kidstructive Fun, a toy store with branches at the University Mall in South Burlington and in Plattsburgh, N.Y., is offering customized treasure boxes for kids. Parents can select a theme, age range and size for the box online. Then,…
Curbside Art Gallery Encourages Creativity at Home
When school buildings closed for the year, Shelburne Community School art teacher Pete Boardman wanted to find a way to bring the community together — without actually coming together. So Boardman, who recently moved to the Davis Park neighborhood behind the school, created a curbside art gallery in his front yard. Boardman says he hopes…
