Lin-Manuel Miranda Says He's 'Learning How to Homeschool' His Kids Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
Lin-Manuel Miranda has a newfound appreciation for teachers amid the mass school closures across the nation over coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns.
The Hamilton creator and three-time Tony winner, 40, appeared on Wednesday’s episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: At Home Edition, in which host Jimmy Fallon records a makeshift installment of the talk show from his own house, and opened up about homeschooling his children during the ongoing health crisis.
“Everything is cool. We are doing the cool thing to do which is self-quarantining, which means we are at home with our two kids,” Miranda — who shares sons Sebastian, 5, and Fransisco, 2, with wife Vanessa — said. “We have a kindergartener and a two-year-old, so we’re learning how to homeschool.”
The actor then referenced Shonda Rhimes‘ recent tweet about attempting to homeschool children, in which she said, “Teachers deserve to make a billion dollars a year.”
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When asked if he was writing during the self-isolation as well, Miranda replied with a laugh, “No, I’m not getting any work done! I’m learning how to teach math.”
Miranda went on to rave about how his kids’ drawings are “legit good” after taking an online art class, proudly showing off a picture one of his sons made while at home.
“Check out this legit good pigeon drawing,” he remarked, holding up a drawing doodle done in green crayon with the name “Seb” scrawled in the corner of the paper. “It’s amazing.”
Likewise, Fallon, 45, couldn’t help but show off his children’s artwork during the show. As the comedian is practicing social distancing with his family, he enlisted the help of his eldest daughter to design title cards for his new temporary gig.
Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Lin-Manuel Miranda
“My graphics department is Winnie Fallon, who is 6 years old,” he joked, holding up a strip of paper baring Miranda’s name. “So thank you, Winnie.”
Since the star’s two daughters — Winnie and Frances Cole, 5 — are home from school, Fallon’s talk show has become a family affair.
On Tuesday, the Saturday Night Live alum interviewed the family’s dog Gary as his “first guest.”
“Let me just do this and then we’ll play, okay?” said Fallon after his daughter Frances cutely interrupts her dad to see if he’d play a game with her.
In the video, Fallon also showed the shamrock that his daughters drew for him in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, the final work of art resembling, as he put it, “a green poop emoji.”
Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Jimmy Fallon
On Thursday, Fallon delivered his last in-studio Tonight Show monologue before the hiatus — in front of an empty crowd in the studio audience.
“As of this morning, we planned to do a show with a full audience,” he said at the time. “But as the day progressed and the more we thought about it, we and NBC decided it would be smarter to not have an audience in order to do our part to help decrease the spread of the coronavirus.”
“Like you, I’m watching the news and I’m just as confused and freaked out as you are,” he continued. “But what I do know is when we’re there for each other, we’re at our best, and I am here for you; we are here for you.”
As of Wednesday, there are now at least 5,881 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States.
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