The living room door is open, I wave from a distance and as I enter I see Amanda. She is sitting, with her back straight, at her new desk (a small improvised table) and on the TV screen, a teacher is teaching a subject. I think he is talking about literature and Amanda follows him as if he were in person. Everything seems normal, but in reality, it is not.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- Her brother Kenny is at the dining room table going over the history book. They, like about half of humanity, are in isolation, have been home for two months and surely there are times when sadness and anxiety are noticeable, but that's not what they talked about.
They preferred to tell me about the tremendous experiments they do in Natural Science classes that didn't go so well in the kitchen, about the competition with the little friend who lives in front of their house to see who applauds first, and about the Virtual Reviewer, a new experience for them, which has gotten them out of trouble several times.
Staying and studying at home is not easy for our children and teenagers, however, this new generation seems to be better prepared than ours to face the confinement. Without knowing it, they were already trained in social distancing, since they communicate with each other with devices that did not exist 20 years ago when balls and jacks were our best resource against boredom.
FAMILY, THE BEST PLACE TO LEARN
In the face of a virus, Amanda and Kenny have rearranged their world, their games, their friends and even their classroom. They will not be returning to school for now, but their parents, Jorge Mallet Pico and YaÍma Machado Baldoquín, are taking deep breaths and juggling to give them more time while fulfilling their responsibilities at home and abroad.
As a family, maintaining limits and schedules has been important. As always, the use of technology should not postpone the need for sleep, physical activity, or reading. Yaíma has not lost contact with her children's teachers for information or clarification. Jorge, for his part, manages all kinds of useful materials based on good quality learning.
The father knows that when they return to the classrooms, the preparation of each one will show who followed the orientations with responsibility. For him, it is unforgivable that the country's efforts to defend the intellectual development of all its students in such complex conditions are not taken into account, and that, he tells me emphatically, is the duty of parents.
For both of them, this is a great opportunity to know more closely what they study and although the matter is not easy, they see the TV lessons next to them, they record them and then they review them more carefully and read the textbooks again and again in search of knowledge. The truth is that they had to be very creative to educate them during the coronavirus.
THE BEST OPTION
The family has always been a vital space and at times like these, it becomes more than ever support and inspiration. The family integrated by Jorge and Yaíma attests to this by educating with experience, more than by books, and by showing their offspring that knowledge is a bridge to the future. The pandemic will pass, but their home will be strengthened, and indeed it already is.
For their part, Amanda and Kenny's generation has taught us a lot during this time. When the isolation began, many thought that the biggest problem would be the children confined to their homes, but they have taught us a lesson in patience. They adapted quickly to new circumstances; they are far more resilient and flexible than most adults and continue to give us their best smiles every day.
