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The Story Behind This

Bill and Melinda Gates said that since schools are shut down during the COVID-19 lockdown, our young people need mentors to continue their education. I would add: so do many of our older people.

Over the last two years, I had created a schoolwork log for Viola, a student of mine who was dedicated, wise to the value of education, and wonderful to have in the classroom. She suddenly passed away last Thanksgiving, leaving us all heartbroken. In my grief over her death, I filed away all this material and largely retreated from teaching.

Then the coronavirus happened, I saw Bill Gates' TED interview on it, and I decided to make this blog a learning depot in Viola's honor, a place where people, regardless of age, can further their progress toward an education by brushing up on their reading, writing, math, and computer skills in a fun and free way. It matches a basic education standard with a link to a site where you can practice and learn a skill. These learning sites are not mine; I only provide the link to them in order to create a sort of learning hub. The standards used here are NCCCS (The North Carolina Community College System College and Career Readiness Adult Education Standards). They are largely identical to the standards used in K-12 public schools.

I plan to keep posting daily until I run out of material.

Who is it for?

Everybody. While some of these activities, like finding info on a bill, are designed for adults, others are geared toward kids. I've met teachers and tutors who worry they might insult or embarrass an adult learner. But I've never met an adult learner who doesn't welcome this fun way to learn. And I haven't met any teacher or tutor willing to stand so staunchly by their convictions that they're willing to uninstall their Candy Crush game. If students are having fun playing a game, then there are fewer barriers to comprehension and engagement no matter how old they are. While the kids' games can be immensely fun, the adults' activities can introduce kids to things like checkbooks and job applications. Nowhere on this site will you find a place where information beyond a first name or user name may be obtained by another player, and there's nothing any player can do with that info.

Maybe some would use this as a daily curriculum or a place where students can extend their learning from a more formal learning site. However you navigate through this material, feel free to take what you need and leave the rest.

A Word On Flash

Many of these games use Flash, which is perhaps rightfully shunned by the tech community and supposed to be getting phased out. As much as I've visited these sites, tried out the games, and followed links, I've never experienced security problems with my computer. I downloaded the free security package, Avast, and it has now and again captured a cookie or prevented a suspicious site from loading malware onto my computer. So, if you're worried about security, I'd suggest you load an antivirus app like Avast onto your computer and that you download the latest version of Flash.

If you're trying to play a game and it's not loading, do the following:

1. Click the padlock or info icon to the left of the URL address.

2. To the right of the Flash puzzle piece, select Allow.

3. Then click the blue Reload button, and the game should appear.

Another way to enable Flash is as follows:

1. Click the icon beside the URL. 
2. Choose Settings, then Privacy and security. 
3. Scroll down to Flash. Select Allow.

Thanks! 

Thank you for checking out this blog. Questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome.

Stay safe and be well.