Every day I hear from parents who worry about the safety, health, happiness, and confidence of their children and teens, as well as the quality of their education. I completely understand these feelings not only from the perspective of a parent, but as a grandmother too. I have worked as a University of Nebraska High School academic adviser for eleven years and one important skill I have learned is that it is important to apply wisdom over worry for the most difficult situations and planning for the future.
“Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.”
– Commonly attributed to Winston Churchill
Our life experiences have taught us as parents to use our strengths and common sense to make the best decisions. As we are currently facing unprecedented times, we have had to use common sense to make decisions for the health and safety of our families. We have discovered our talents for making masks, exercising wisely in our neighborhoods, socializing with distance and precautions, all the while rediscovering the gifts of having more time with immediate family members. We, as parents and grandparents, can teach the same principles of lifelong wisdom and rationality to our children and teens. COVID-19 has reminded us to lead with examples in self-care, self-motivation, self-regulation, self-organization, and self-confidence.
Schooling at home is not for everyone, but if it feels right for your family, the opportunity for your children to study independently with a well-written curriculum can help to reinforce their strengths and talents. Advance thinking and planning allows the University of Nebraska High School diploma program to affirm that students are successful now and will continue to be in the future. They will take the life experiences of living through a worldwide pandemic and come out stronger. They will know how to be resilient, how to use their independent-thinking skills to make good decisions, will hang onto the memories of having more time with family, and take this with them to someday be our future leaders.
The Independent Learner 