The crucial role parents play in distance learning and beyond.
You didn’t sign up for this, but here it is; parenting and teaching. The shift to distance learning during the coronavirus lockdowns (while an impressive feat) has put a huge amount of pressure on parents, and where distance learning has not been implemented properly, all of the pressure on parents. So, how do you navigate this new role? (Tons of patience might help)
The good news is that you have been your child’s primary teacher for a long time; you may just need to update your role a bit. Whether it be potty training, learning colors and shapes, bike riding, swimming, handling relationships I am sure you were the primary teacher throughout all of that and then some. You watched your child fail and kept trying new techniques until the failures turned into successes. That is in essence teaching. Failures should not lead to frustration; failures should lead to creative ways to circumvent the challenges.
Perhaps you have been hands on with your child’s education, perhaps not (no judgment), but it is more important now than ever to have an active role. Something that schools provide is an organic opportunity to extend learning or to get additional help whether it be from teachers or peers. That is something that is lost in distance learning, the casual conversations about assignments, or staying after class is a rare occurrence now. This is where parents can, and need to fill the gap.
Don’t worry about suddenly becoming a math expert, that isn’t your role. You don’t have to know any of the content to offer help (although it would be a huge plus), what you can provide is a calm voice that can help your child find answers. The internet is a vast resource that can help provide content knowledge to both you and your child. (I have listed some links at the bottom of the page to help you along) A keyword that I mentioned was calm, not being able to find an answer and have their normal resources available can be anxiety inducing for any student. Parents can help by aiding your child in regaining perspective and helping them navigate resources.
What comes next is the truly scary part, the summer. In much of the country schools are shut down for the rest of the year, and in others the end of school will come as scheduled even with weeks of instruction lost. Educators know about the summer slide (to summarize, the amount of knowledge lost during the summer months, a good description can be read here), but experts are predicting that the COVID slide will be far worse. The amount of learning that can be lost from shifting into distance learning then directly into summer can be damaging to every student’s learning path. It is important that your time as teacher continue until your child gets their routines back and is back on track, even if that lasts well into the fall.
These are unprecedented times, but this shift in roles can very much be a positive (although stressful) change. Every child needs a support system, and while your role has always been at the top of that system, you may have to wear a few more hats now. Such are the joys of parenting.
Until next entry,
Chris.
Links as promised:
Khan Academy (a content specific site for upper grades)
Learning Resources (a wide range of resources for lower grades)
EdHelper (reading and math worksheets for lower and middle grades)
CK12 (a repository of textbooks across subjects)
Project Gutenberg (public domain poetry and prose)