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Fresno State students with children make up nearly a quarter of the college’s student body. At a time when students and parents are working harder than ever, adjusting to the new abnormal of online education for themselves or their children, student parents endure both pressures at the same time.

Larissa M. Mercado-López, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Women’s Studies at Fresno State. She teaches courses on women of color and Latina health and advocates for student parents and advises students in multiple capacities. She also serves as Director of the CSU Student Success Network Conference.

Mercado-López joined the Ed Lab’s Ashleigh Panoo, who recently published this article focusing on the needs of student parents, and Isabel Sophia Dieppa, to offer some helpful tips on balancing classwork and parenthood. Watch a recording of the live discussion below:

This week in the Ed Lab

Making a difference

Doctors and nurses in desperate need of more personal protective equipment on the frontlines of the pandemic are getting help from a Fresno area high school.

Career Technical Education Charter High School uses its 3D printers to make face shields, and teachers and students are churning out thousands of masks just when they’re most needed.

»» Full story by the Ed Lab’s Monica Velez.

Online tutors in demand

With campuses closed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, many students are turning to private tutors to help keep their education on track. Online tutoring services are reporting record growth, but not everyone can afford to pay for it.

Clovis North’s Jai Mehrotra-Varma, a 17-year-old academic superstar, began tutoring schoolmates back in August, and his services are growing - quickly and for free!

»» Full story by the Ed Lab’s Ashleigh Panoo.

Helping kids read - for fun!

Parents struggling to get their kids to read while schools remain closed can get some help from the usual places - superheroes.

Yeah, the ones with superpowers, capes, and non-coronavirus masks.

Earlier this month, Tracy Edmunds, a former school teacher turned professional curriculum consultant, sat down with the Ed Lab’s Isabel Sophia Dieppa and Monica Velez to discuss ways to make learning easier on both parents and children.

Tracy created a list of free educational resources for all age ranges. Kids can experience virtual field trips with National Geographic and even work on STEM projects with MIT.

But Edmunds’ endorsement of graphic novels and comic books, was - by far- the Ed Lab’s favorite tip.

Isabel recently compiled a helpful list of some fun resources.

»» Check out the full interview with Tracy here.

Ask the Ed lab

Do you have an education question you’d like us to answer? Let us know! Contact the Ed Lab edlab@fresnobee.com.

This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 9:36 AM.