PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The coronavirus pandemic has interrupted the in-class school year and disrupted normal routine for local kids, leaving families searching for options to continue their children's instruction.
“The parents are home, the children are home... they're used to being out and they're struggling with trying to make it comfortable for their children,” said Portsmouth resident Gina White.
She’s been writing, reading, and posting children’s stories every week on social media since December. White calls the readings, "My Story Time with Nana."
"I have five grandchildren, and so I had written these stories for them," she said. “And from there everybody [was], 'Oh, can you do a story with so-and-so? Can you do a story with this child?' So, that actually made me even more excited about writing these stories because I incorporated friends and families.”
COVID-19 is the subject of one of White’s original stories. It’s called "Something is Different" and she wrote it to help children better understand the pandemic.
“A friend of mine on Facebook [had] been home a couple of weeks. And she was just like, 'I don't know what I'm doing here,'” said White “So, I decided, 'You know what? I'm just gonna write a cutesy little story just to help her along just that so she doesn't feel so alone.'”
White said she hopes the stories, paired with a comforting voice, will provide kids with reassurance as they adjust to staying at home.
“[I’m] just trying to say to them, 'It's okay that things are different. And we're gonna do these things different right now. But, everything's gonna be okay.'”
To check out ‘My Story Time with Nana’, visit the following links: