Solutions For Parenting In Staten Island
Fifteen cases compatible with this syndrome have been identified in children in New York City hospitals. If you suspect your child has symptoms of this illness, her doctor should immediately refer you to a pediatric infectious disease specialist.
Read Next | This Is What the the New Normal Will Be like for Your Kids
For some families, being stuck at home right now is a time to experiment with new recipes. For others, quarantine life more about sticking to tried-and-true flavors. Either way, quick dinners the whole family will love are key, especially when social distancing means the kids are constantly circling the kitchen with nowhere else to go. Here are 11 quick and easy recipes that use some family-favorite ingredients like tomatoes, potatoes, cheese, chicken, and pasta. These meals are sure to please picky eaters and exhausted parents alike.
Salad that tastes like pizza? It’s a thing! And worth a try since you’re making loads of dinners for the foreseeable future. Enlist your kids to add other favorite ingredients like olives, pepperoni, mushrooms, whatever you have on your pizza.
This Cheesy White Bean Tomato Bake can be on the table in well under 20 minutes. Leave it in the oven a bit longer if your family loves crispy and burnt edges. Give kids big chunks of bread and some salad to round it out and you’re done. And if you have any leftover fresh herbs (dare to dream!) throw those on top as well for a fancy presentation.
A healthy take on chicken fingers, these sesame encrusted tenders can be served with almost any veggie or crunchy salad. Up the fun factor and pull every condiment out of your fridge, letting the kids squirt mounds of ketchup, mustard, mayo, and barbecue sauce for dipping.
Add your family’s grain of choice to this classic chicken piccata dish and there will likely be no leftovers. Dust off any frozen veggies from the back of your freezer and roast with lots of olive oil and garlic. And don’t be shy with the garlic. Social distancing after all!
Kids can choose how to fill their plates when you dish out all the delicious ingredients of these turkey taco bowls. The best part? Kids will be jazzed to see tortilla chips on their dinner plates.
Bright, spring-inspired basil pesto makes these loaded caprese grilled cheese sandwiches just the pick-me-up your family needs come dinnertime. You can make these using almost any kind of bread too.
A colorful stir fry helps pack the table with veggies and simply add whichever protein your family enjoys. This meal also does really well as leftovers.
A cozy shepherd’s pie might look like you spent all afternoon in the kitchen, when really it was only 20 minutes. It’s a great pantry meal filled with foods you already have around the house.
Sneak some cod or halibut onto the dinner table by upping the fun factor with kid-approved pomegranate seeds.
Fill your bellies with warm pasta and chickpeas by cooking this Italian stew. Leave a bowl of pecorino or parmesan on the dinner table for kids to sprinkle on top.
Toss some steak and veggies onto a sheet pan for a simple, Italian-inspired meal in under 30 minutes.
RELATED: Takeout Restaurants in Staten Island During Covid-19
As you well know, your children’s education has radically changed in the last few months with e-learning becoming the new norm. And considerable uncertainty exists about when traditional learning will return. You are probably concerned about what you should be doing this summer to enhance their education.
First of all, you need to cut yourselves a little slack! While your children have been deprived of the normal educational setting, their time with you has been very valuable to their educational growth. All the educational experts agree that spending quality family time leads to greater success in school.
Because of lost school time, you may need to focus more than usual on educational activities this summer. However, you do not need to be your children’s teachers. Instead, the Internet largely can do the job for you. Not only does every state offer free online education for every grade, there is not a subject that is not supported by some website. Take the time to go online and investigate the many choices that exist.
You are probably aware of the areas where your children may need help and what will appeal to them. Once you have established this, set a daily time for educational work. But don’t go overboard with too much time devoted to schoolwork. An hour is fine for younger children and two for older ones. The computers used for academic work need to be used in a spot that can be viewed by adults. And younger children who are not as accustomed to online work will need a parent or caregiver to help them some of the time as will some older children.
While work on school skills may or may not be necessary for your children, one thing that you should do is to focus on helping them develop a keen sense of intellectual curiosity. It will serve them well in the future. How do you do this? Your opportunities are limitless. And your best friend in accomplishing this endeavor is again the Internet. Use search engines to find topics from the life cycle of frogs to the American Revolution to capture their interest. Here a few interesting websites that you might include in your search:
• This Day in History
• Fun and Free Educational Websites for Kids
• 33 Education Companies Offering Free Subscriptions to Parents While Schools Are Closed
• The Best Nature Webcams for Science Learning at a Distance
Here are some things you should consider aside from how much education your children received after their schools closed. Every summer children lose some of what they have learned during the school year. This is more true of math than any other subject. It is wise for parents to find out what math skills their children need to have acquired at their grade level. This information is available on state education websites as well as the Common Core website. Unfortunately, not all of these skills may have been taught this year so it would be wise to have your children study them. We have found that videos on the Internet are especially helpful in learning new math concepts. You will also find the Kahn Academy offers helpful math materials at all grade levels.
There is no skill in the first three grades that is more important than learning how to read. And after that being a good reader is the key to success in every subject. Go on our dearteacher website, and you can determine your children’s reading level. If they are reading below their grade level, check out how to improve their reading skills under Reading Skills. The techniques described here really work. And look at the section on Reading Activities to keep your good readers’ skills sharp. One activity that we particularly endorse is the family reading half hour in which everyone sits in the same room and reads.
Helping your children work on their academic skills as well as develop intellectual curiosity includes finding some fun activities for them to do. On our website we have loads of science projects, art activities, social studies and other activities which can be fun and educational at the same time. Games should be considered so everyone in the family can have fun together.
Parents should send questions and comments to dearteacher@dearteacher. com or to the Dear Teacher website.
Although all New Yorkers are required to wear a mask or face covering when out in public and in situations where a 6-foot distance from others cannot be maintained, masks can be hard to come by and sometimes expensive as well. So the city decided to do something about it.
Over 100,000 face coverings will be distributing in parks across NYC free of charge until Tuesday, May 12th. Below you will find the Staten Island distribution locations and times.
More information can be found here.
South Beach Boardwalk (South Fin Grill)
Saturday, May 9, from 10 a.m. to noon
Midland Beach (S Plaza)
Sunday, May 10, from 10 a.m. to noon
The Big Park (Grandview Avenue and Continental Place)
Monday, May 11, from 10 a.m. to noon
Willowbrook Park (Entrance off Eton Place)
Monday, May 11, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Corporal Thompson Park (Field House of Broadway between Markham Lane and Wayne Street)
Thursday, May 7, from 10a.m.. to noon
High Rock/Nature Center (Parking lot at the end of Nevada Ave)
Saturday, May 9 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Wolfe’s Pond Park (Parking Lot off Cornelia Ave)
Tuesday, May 12, from 10 a.m. to noon
Bloomingdale Park (Field House off Lenevar Avenue between Lamont Avenue and Ramona Avenue)
Thursday, May 7, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Conference House Park (Visitor Center)
Tuesday, May 12, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Clove Lakes Park (Outside Stonehenge)
Sunday, May 10 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Below you will find helpful info from the Borough President’s office about Covid-19 testing.
It was the day after Thanksgiving when I found out I was pregnant. After the initial surprise wore off, it was time to start doing some serious calendar math. I’d be due to give birth around the first week of August. Tricky timing with my older daughter starting kindergarten in the fall and my younger daughter beginning preschool, neither with camp plans for August, but it could always be worse. I crossed my fingers that my husband could take a decent late-summer paternity leave and we’d have a month to find our rhythm as a family of five before the controlled chaos of new school routines.
Fast forward five months and here we are on Day 3,967 of coronavirus quarantine (feels like it, right?) with no end in sight. Women who are pregnant with their first baby are likely feeling a mix of worry and anticipation. How safe is the hospital? What will giving birth be like? What about caring for a newborn during a lockdown? And pregnancy already comes with a long laundry list of worries and concerns. Too much caffeine? Not enough exercise? Listeria! Pre-eclampsia! Toxic cat litter! Plus, every other potential pregnancy complication, both known and unknown.
My first pregnancy was smooth sailing and I had no complications whatsoever. But I was blindsided by placenta previa in my second pregnancy, which made for a high-risk situation and a mandatory C-section three weeks ahead of my due date. This time around, I have no known problems, but now I’m 35 and therefore at higher risk for a host of issues, like premature birth and birth defects.
Woven around all the usual uncertainties are now the ever-changing COVID-19 complications. It feels like I’m refreshing my news feed every 5 minutes some days. Other times, I want to stick my head in the sand and pretend everything isn’t happening. All the while I’m hearing this ticking clock that’s counting down the days until I no longer have to carry around the added weight of pregnancy, but will then have to navigate an unknown world with a new baby.
Read Next | The Trouble with Homeschool
Each prenatal appointment feels like a small risk unto itself. The doctor’s office calls me 48 hours beforehand, asks me if I’ve traveled outside the U.S. or have been in contact with anyone who has coronavirus and then instructs me to come alone to the appointment and not bring my husband or children. When I arrive I’m given a face mask, my temperature is taken, and I’m pointed in the direction of the hand sanitizer. I take each of these precautions with gratitude, but also with a distinct increase in pressure around my chest. I use my elbow to open and close the bathroom door when I have to give a urine sample, and wash my hands for what feels like the 40th time that morning. I choose my seat in the waiting room carefully, picking the one with the worst view of the television and is therefore the least popular.
When I return home to my family, I take off all my clothing and put it directly in the washing machine, before vigorously washing my hands yet again. I pull out my phone and update the news apps for the latest facts and figures. How likely is it that I contract the virus before giving birth? How likely is it that I already had COVID-19 this winter during one of the countless illnesses that brought me to my knees during the first trimester? What stories can I find of other pregnant women who have given birth during this pandemic? How did they do it? How are they now? What can I learn from them?
I’ve always been a diligent planner but now I’m finding I need to track and micromanage everything from germs to groceries. I keep careful count of yogurt pouches and toilet paper rolls. And I don’t wait until Monday morning to figure out meals and needs for the week. Still, each day is full of immediate and sometimes pressing matters (Looming deadlines! Bathroom leak! The dog broke through the fence again!), so any swirling pregnancy thoughts are put on the backburner.
Read Next | Where to Get the Covid Vaccine on Staten Island & Who is Eligible
Every couple of nights though, after the kids are in bed and all urgent emails are answered, I allow myself some space to have all the scary, catastrophic thoughts of what could happen: getting the virus this spring or summer, going into labor too early, giving birth alone, losing a close family member or friend.
It’s hard to tell if the constant heartburn I’m feeling is pregnancy-related or a symptom of the low-level anxiety that I’ve been batting around for months. I would probably be planning for a home birth right now if I didn’t have a C-section with my second daughter. But having a full medical team at-the-ready seems essential given the cumulative risk.
If I’m feeling optimistic and assuming all goes well, after giving birth I’ll ask to be released from the hospital as soon as possible. I want to be home. Home is the only place that truly feels safe.
Whitney C. Harris is a freelance writer and NYMetroParents’ Manhattan and Westchester calendar editor. She lives in Sleepy Hollow, NY, with her husband, a toddler, and a dog.
This article originally appeared on our sister site, NYMetroParents.com.
Read Next | This Is Everything You Need to Find an Amazing Summer Camp Program in Staten Island
Do you have an idea for any of the below prompts?
Note: These ideas can be original ideas written specifically for this or links to existing videos or how-to posts on your site,
Complete this form and it will be submitted to Staten Island Parent’s editor for approval. Once posted your message will be distributed across siparent-com.go-vip.net, social media, and email.
Read Next | What You Need to Know about Skiing during the Pandemic
