Learning Together

Get Inspired: Flora Diaz

Learning Together. We're celebrating a love for learning. We invite your family to think about all of the moments when you got to explore you passions through education. Check out this Moth Story by Flora Diaz recounting her emotional bonding experience with her middle school science experiment.

School allows us to explore our passions, get excited about learning, and discover new things about ourselves. School also gives us space to make mistakes, learn from them, and, like in Flora's case, laugh about it later. *Content Warning* for language at 5:25.

This video was produced by The Moth, an organization dedicated to promoting the art and craft of storytelling and honoring and celebrating the diversity and commonality of human experience.

Let’s Talk

After listening to Flora's story, use the questions below to kick-start a great conversation with your family today:

• What stood out to you about Flora's story? What made you laugh?

• What project at school sparked passion for you? Have you had a favorite teacher that inspired you?

• How can making mistakes help us learn in the future? Have you ever made a mistake in the past that is now a funny story to tell?

• Bonus! Take some time to research something you are passionate about and share your findings with your family!

Do Something: Book Club

Start up a book club with friends and family. What books have you been excited to read but just haven't found the time? Try organizing a Book Club with a small group of friends to explore your favorite reads together!

Make a game plan together. A book club allows us to learn, laugh, and explore new topics with others. Decide on a book and pick a number of pages or chapters to read each week that feels doable. Set a time to meet and reflect on the contents together. Call up your friends and get reading!

Support a local bookstore when you read. Some of our favorites that offer online shopping and curbside pick-up are 57th Street Books, Semicolon, Unabridged Bookstore, The Underground Bookstore, and Women & Children First!

Community Connections: Open Books

Creating strong readers. Open Books is a used bookstore and organization dedicated to providing literacy programs for thousands of Chicago area kids every year. Their literacy programs transform students’ reading and writing skills through innovative instruction, access to high-quality books, and tailored curricula.

Let’s clean out the old book shelf! Open Books is in need of used book donations. Every one has a job to do. Organize your books by age range, quality check them, and decide which ones you want to keep and which books could use a new home. Turn on some tunes and get organizing as a family!

Open Books has multiple ways to donate, including no contact donation drop-off and pick-up. Check out their donation guidelines through the link below.