Giving Compass' Take:

• Katherine Martinko at TreeHugger discusses how from the isolation caused by this global pandemic, children have proven to be tough and resilient and quick to learn.

• How can teachers use this information to help education and learning skills once schools open back up? 

• Here's an article on teaching children philanthropy like any other activity. 


Just because schools are not open right now doesn't mean kids aren't learning. In fact, they're probably learning a ton – except it's more of the softer, creative, practical life skills that are often overlooked in the classroom environment. With parents caught up in work and the calendar wiped free of extracurriculars, many kids suddenly have the time to do things for themselves, and they're proving to be remarkably adept at it.

Let Grow, the organization founded by "Free Range Kids" author Lenore Skenazy, held an Independence Challenge this spring that asked kids to submit examples of things they've accomplished on their own. The results are marvelous, with kids checking the oil on cars, building furniture, cooking for themselves, operating a sewing machine, cutting hair, gardening, and mowing the lawn. It's living proof that "when adults step back, kids step up." (See video posted below.)

Out of curiosity, I put a question to my parent friends on Facebook: "In what ways have your children developed independence skills during isolation?" And they responded with numerous examples of how their kids have grown and matured over the course of the past couple months. These answers represent children at various ages and stages, but all are still in elementary school.

Read the full article about resilient children by Katherine Martinko at TreeHugger.