What went viral this week: Loving dads, one teacher’s no-homework policy + other good news you need to know💕

This foster dad just adopted 5 siblings to keep them together ❤️

As first reported by TODAY, a family is staying together because of one foster parent’s dedication to his kids. Robert Carter, age 29, was in foster care himself as a child and understands the trauma of being separated from one’s siblings.

That’s why, after becoming the foster father of three boys in December 2019, he worked to reunite them with their two sisters. After six months the brothers and sisters were brought back together under Carter’s roof.

Recently, all five kids—10-year-old Marionna, 9-year-old Robert, 7-year-old Makayla, 5-year-old Giovanni, and 4-year-old Kiontae—were adopted by Carter.

“They never have to worry about being neglected or alone ever again,” he told TODAY. “We’re a family forever.”

This teacher is going viral on TikTok for her ‘no homework’ policy

We know that homework is controversial for parents and teachers, leading some to call for banning it.

That’s exactly what Texas high school teacher Courtney White has done in her classroom, and it’s why she’s now going viral on TikTok. “I have never assigned homework during my teaching career,” the English teacher tells TODAY.

The comments section on White’s TikTok has blown up, with some parents agreeing with her and others suggesting high school kids need academic work outside of school hours to foster responsibility.

“I have received some backlash from people who claim that I am coddling my students or not preparing them for college,” White explains. “My response to that is simple, homework does not have true benefits if it is not being done properly. I have students that need additional support at home and if they don’t get their accommodations then the homework will not be beneficial for them. Teaching isn’t one size fits all so my method works for my kids.”

No homework may not work in every classroom or for every kid, but it’s working for White’s kids and that’s what matters.

Dad builds backyard school to help his struggling daughter

It can be hard for kids to transition from in-classroom learning to at-home virtual learning, especially if they have special needs or a disability.

That was the case for 8-year-old Ixel, who was challenged by having to learn at home this year. But as Good Morning America reports, Ixel’s dad decided to build a schoolhouse in the back yard so that Ixel wouldn’t be as distracted as she was at the kitchen table.

And so, with scraps of lumber donated from neighbors and community members, John “Mac” McInitre built his daughter her very own backyard school. Ixel was involved in the construction, and helped build her schoolhouse over a period of two months during the summer.

Now, she’s learning inside her little school, free from the distractions of the kitchen.

These twin sisters both gave birth on their 33rd birthday, just 90 minutes apart!

Knoxville sisters Autumn Shaw and Amber Tramontana really do do everything together.

The twin women gave birth to their daughters on the same day and the cousins were born just 90 minutes apart, WATE reports.

Tramontana told the local news station: “From childhood to homecoming to high school to college and nursing school, nurse practitioner school, our sons who are 10 weeks apart, having them close in age and now our girls.”

This isn’t the first time the two have been pregnant at the same time. Their 2-year-old boys are just 10 weeks apart (and were the same weight and length at birth).

Congrats to these twin mamas, and their baby girls (who are technically cousins, but in some ways closer than siblings).