Heather Kline
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (April 13, 2020) — Military children serve, too. They are resilient and brave, and that’s the very reason they have a whole month dedicated to recognizing them. April has been designated as the Month of the Military Child. It is designed to honor the sacrifices made by military families worldwide. We asked 10 of our own Fort Leonard Wood military children how they have been handling their new situations at home.
Landon Parrish, age 8
Q: Do you have any advice for other kids out there on how to enjoy staying at home?
A: My advice is to go outside a lot, play your favorite sports, and be busy and active. Don’t feel afraid or sad because this will end soon and we will get through it.
Q: What are you looking forward most to doing when the stay-at-home is over?
A: When this is over I’m looking forward to going to the pool, being on my sports teams and playing with my friends again.
Q: How are you finding virtual education? What are the good and not-so-good aspects?
A: I enjoy it because I can really concentrate on my work. I get to interact with my teacher and class virtually, but I do miss them a lot.
Q: How are you spending your time at home?
A: I don’t like being bored, so, on schooldays I start my assignments right after breakfast. In the afternoon, I like to play games with my family. We’ve been going on lots of walks and bike rides, and I also try to kick the ball across the street to my friend who lives there.
Karsen Krammer, age 14
Q: How are you spending your time at home?
A: I’m doing schoolwork and art projects.
Q: How are you finding virtual education? What are the good and not-so-good aspects?
A: I don’t mind virtual learning, but I’d rather be in an actual classroom. A good aspect would be that I get to stay home, but a not so good aspect would be I don’t have my friends to talk to.
Q: What are you looking forward most to doing when the stay-at-home is over?
A: After this is over, I’ll probably go to my friends’ house.
Q: Do you have any advice for other kids out there on how to enjoy staying at home?
A: Play sports or just do things I enjoy. It’s a good time to practice things you want to get better at, too.
Rexford Lockwood, age 12
Q: How are you spending your time at home?
A: We do a lot of arts and crafts with our mom. My birthday is May 2 and I will be turning 13, so my parents bought me a trampoline in advance to entertain me and my brothers. This is where I have been spending most of my time lately.
Q: How are you finding virtual education? What are the good and not-so-good aspects?
A: Virtual education has been ok. There are many ups and downs, for example sometimes it can be challenging to understand exactly what our teachers want us to do. However, I have been getting all my work done.
Q: What are you looking forward most to doing when the stay-at-home is over?
A: Things I look forward to after the stay-at-home policy is over are hanging out with my friends and also visiting with my family in Pennsylvania this summer.
Q: Do you have any advice for other kids out there on how to enjoy staying at home?
A: My advice to other kids would be, try to be patient and be creative.
Jasmine Woodson, age 7
Q: How are you spending your time at home?
A: I am enjoying my time with my family and jumping on my trampoline.
Q: How are you finding virtual education? What are the good and not-so-good aspects?
A: The good is, I am getting better at my math and reading. The bad is it’s hard to stay focused and pay attention sometimes.
Q: What are you looking forward most to doing when the stay-at-home is over?
A: I can’t wait to go to the beach in Florida.
Q: Do you have any advice for other kids out there on how to enjoy staying at home?
A: I would say, play with water balloons when it’s hot outside, and snuggle with your family inside.
Aaron Watson, age 12
Q: How are you spending your time at home?
A: I’m doing homework and then playing video games. I’m enjoying it because I don’t have to carry all my things around at school for a while.
Q: How are you finding virtual education? What are the good and not-so-good aspects?
A: It’s fun. You can go at your own pace instead of trying to keep up with everyone else. I don’t feel rushed. The not so good aspect is that I sometimes forget to submit my completed work. Also, sometimes the instructional videos don’t load.
Q: What are you looking forward most to doing when the stay-at-home is over?
A: Physical Education – I miss everything about it. I’m feeling lazy at home.
Q: Do you have any advice for other kids out there on how to enjoy staying at home?
A: Play some board games. I like being competitive with my family.
Phebe Anderson, age 14
Q: How are you spending your time at home?
A: I’m spending a lot of time doing homework, drawing, doing my nails, watching some shows and hanging out with my sister.
Q: How are you finding virtual education? What are the good and not-so-good aspects?
A: The good thing about virtual learning is that I can get my work done at my own pace. The not-so-good part is that some of the material is hard to understand without a teacher to teach it to me.
Q: What are you looking forward most to doing when the stay-at-home is over?
A: I am most looking forward to going shopping at the Asian market, eating out and going to school to see my friends in person.
Q: Do you have any advice for other kids out there on how to enjoy staying at home?
A: My advice is to try to find a new hobby, play board games and enjoy time with your family.
Daniel Watson, age 12
Q: How are you spending your time at home?
A: I’m playing board games with my family. Throwing the football around with my dad and brother. I’m just trying to enjoy this time.
Q: How are you finding virtual education? What are the good and not-so-good aspects?
A: I think the virtual education is great. It’s good because you have the whole day to complete your assignments and you’re not rushed. The not-so-good aspect is that you can’t log into some things until the teacher allows it. So you have to wait on the teacher.
Q: What are you looking forward most to doing when the stay-at-home is over?
A: I’m looking forward to seeing my friends. It’s fun talking to them online, but I miss hanging out with them.
Q: Do you have any advice for other kids out there on how to enjoy staying at home?
A: I would suggest doing things with your family and appreciating time together. It would be good to do things you have never done and challenge yourself.
Theia Anderson, age 10
Q: How are you spending your time at home?
A: I’m spending my time doing a lot of homework. When I’m done with homework, I have fun playing games online with my cousins in Florida and catching up on some other shows.
Q: How are you finding virtual education? What are the good and not-so-good aspects?
A: The good aspect of virtual education is writing journals. I love writing; it’s my favorite subject in school. I also love seeing all my friends and my teacher in our class calls. What is not so good is that math is hard on your own.
Q: What are you looking forward most to doing when the stay-at-home is over?
A: I can’t wait to see my friends, go swimming, go to sleep-away camp and travel a little.
Q: Do you have any advice for other kids out there on how to enjoy staying at home?
A: My advice is to dress comfortable while you are staying home, enjoy that when you finish school you don’t have to walk or drive home. I think it’s great to take breaks when you need to so you don’t burn out.
Gavin Anderson, age 12
Q: How are you spending your time at home?
A: I’ve been doing schoolwork and playing games.
Q: How are you finding virtual education? What are the good and not-so-good aspects?
A: Virtual education is kind of a pain. Some days I have less homework than other days. The not-so-good part is that it can take a long time to do and some of the online sessions can feel very long.
Q: What are you looking forward most to doing when the stay-at-home is over?
A: I can’t wait to celebrate my birthday at an escape room.
Q: Do you have any advice for other kids out there on how to enjoy staying at home?
A: My advice would be to try to do things that you like doing most of the time and when you get bored try to find something new. Talk to your family to find things that you can do together.
Camille Watson, age 9
Q: How are you spending your time at home?
A: I’m mostly drawing, playing games and watching TV. I’m enjoying doing school from home.
Q: How are you finding virtual education? What are the good and not-so-good aspects?
A: I’m enjoying it because instead of doing nothing, you’re actually still doing school work. A bad aspect is the teachers don’t always explain the work for me to understand. It can be frustrating, but I’m trying.
Q: What are you looking forward most to doing when the stay-at-home is over?
A: I’m looking forward to seeing my friends again. That will be a great moment.
Q: Do you have any advice for other kids out there on how to enjoy staying at home?
A: Try doing something you have never done before, like drawing or writing a story. Also, maybe you can watch a new movie you haven’t seen or play a game you’ve never played. Just enjoy it!
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About Fort Leonard Wood
Fort Leonard Wood is a thriving and prosperous installation that has evolved from a small basic training post more than 75 years ago to a premier Army Center of Excellence that trains more than 80,000 military and civilians each year.
Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and three U.S. Army schools: the U.S. Army Engineer School; U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School; and the U.S. Army Military Police School. In addition to training engineer, CBRN and military police specialties for the Army, Fort Leonard Wood also provides gender-integrated in-processing and Basic Combat Training for new Soldiers.
Fort Leonard Wood also hosts and trains with the largest Marine Corps Detachment and Air Force Squadron on any Army installation as well as a large Navy construction detachment.
More information about Fort Leonard Wood is at: https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/about/mission