4 The Hampton Roads Messenger Editorial


Back-to-school should not mean back to normal during a pandemic


Volume 14 Number 12


September 2020


Photo taken after one of the many power lunches my daughter and I shared while homeschooling BY ANGELA JONES


pandemic


Quarantining during this is almost like business


as usual for me. I usually work from home and I homeschooled my daughter from first grade through grade 12. I do recognize the difficulty other people are having trying to juggle homeschool and work. I believe the homeschool laws in North Carolina are less intrusive on the lives of citizens than Virginia homeschool laws. For that reason, I think that Virginia should adopt laws similar to N.C. that have more of a laissez-faire (letting things take their own course, without interfering) approach.


In N.C. all that is required of people who want to homeschool their children is proof of that the parent has a high school diploma, administering


a standardized test every year and keeping a record of attendance everyday that the homeschool is in session. In Virginia, I hear that it is a little more complicated. My daughter and I loved our


relaxed homeschool experience and I believe that freedom made her a better than average student. Although she spent a lot of time doing her favorite things, such as crafts, drawing and reading, it made her that much more attentive when it was time to study math, science, history and language arts.


I rarely even used textbooks; most of my daughter’s lessons in elementary school were printed from the internet. There were also amazing websites that offered fun lessons for learning


everything from calculus


to chemistry and they were all free of charge.


I believe the most important thing


that I taught my daughter was to love learning. I remember in second grade when she told me that she did not like to read. I was disappointed to hear that but I would not be deterred. I simply told her that any information she would ever want or need in life, could be discovered through reading. That was enough to get her hooked.


Eventually, if I ever needed to


punish her, which rarely happened, the thing that would hurt her the most was to say that she could not read for a day. I believe she was so well behaved because we spent all of our time together and she had a lot of freedom to study in a way that best suited her.


Although I never pressured my Kaine Zoom FROM PAGE 1


her father to receive mail sent by her. Now, it takes “double or triple” that amount of time, Piepkorn remarked. Another person on the call said she ships packages for her business by USPS. Her customers are not receiving their orders and it reflects poorly on her business.


Established 2006 Angela Jones, Publisher Chris Parks, Editor


Sarah Parks, Graphic Designer Chance Meeting, Contributing Writer Sales and Information: info@hamptonroadsmessenger.com Copyright pertaining to contents of this edition. All rights reserved.


Jerome Johnson was in the United States Marine Corps and had surgery that required him to take medicine. His prescriptions previously arrived in 2-3 days from the time he ordered them. Now, it takes 3 weeks for his medicines to arrive from Richmond. When asked about accountability, Kaine stated, “We are not going to just accept this and say it is the new normal.” He went on to say that legislation should be introduced to make the postmaster


DNC Unites FROM PAGE 1


mate, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez showed dissent when she seconded the nomination of Bernie Sanders during her time on stage. Another


memorable portion of the convention included a video tribute to


the late Congressman John Lewis, directed by documentary filmmaker Dawn Porter. The Lewis video, as well as the four days of the convention, can be accessed through the Hampton Roads Messenger’s website, www. hamptonroadsmessenger.com.


general position senate confirmable. In light of all of the accounts from his constituents about mail delays, Kaine recommends that people


vote


problem with a ballot, there will be enough time to correct it. Voters can also deliver their ballots by hand to the registrar's office or vote in person on election day, Tuesday, November 3.


Department


According to the of Elections


Virginia website,


the deadline to register to vote is Tuesday, October 13. A request for an absentee ballot to be mailed to a voter must be received by Friday, October 23, by 5:00 p.m. An absentee ballot can be requested in person by 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 31, 2020.


early. If there is a


daughter academically, I knew she was bright and motivated and would therefore be successful; she went on to get a 4.0 on a 4.0 scale in college. She did just as well in one of the most


rigorous graduate programs


in the world. She is now a Software Engineer and AI researcher at one of the most sought after companies in the world. Who would have ever thought that all of that time spent goofing off around the house while homeschooling would lead to such an amazing career. If you need help or direction while homeschooling your child feel free to email me at info@ hamptonroadsmessenger.com. I have long believed


that homeschooling


is the safest and smartest way to educate our children.


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