The Challenge for Families
I’ve been in education all my life and this past spring of in-home remote learning with my daughter, in pre-K, and son, in 1st grade, included some of my hardest days of teaching ever. Even after teaching science to more than 165 high school freshmen and sophomores in a school year, observing and supporting many pre-service teachers at different schools all across NYC, and designing and managing online learning at a large university, last spring was harder.
What made it so hard? I added teacher-at-home to my responsibilities (parent, partner, professional, home manager, etc.). In my jobs, I always had an educator, but my parent side was left mainly at home. So this past spring, I had to relearn teaching as a parent. My children and I had to work together to help them learn. I was no longer just a guide or coach, like I was as a high school teacher who only saw my students for 50 minutes every weekday. I was a partner in learning with my kids who was with them 24/7. I had to shift from solely being a parent who is helping them learn to navigate a complex world to being both that parent as well as an academic teacher and coach.
Even though navigating this new parent/teacher world was very challenging last spring, I had a bucket of experience, resources, and knowledge and skills that I could tap for ideas. Not all of you have that bucket. Not only that, but it may be hard to even figure out what needs you and your kids have with remote and hybrid learning. This is where I come in. My goal is to support you in navigating this uncertain and stressful time by collaborating with you and your kids to identify challenges and come up with solutions to test out.
Some common places where parents/caregivers and kids need support with remote and hybrid learning:
Motivation and engagement
Self-directed learning skills
Organization and time management
Access to and use of digital tools and software
Connection and communication with teachers and peers
Home-learning spaces
Finding joy in learning
More challenges will emerge as time goes by. I’m ready to help think through those new challenges as well. Here is a great place to convey that my role in supporting you and your kids is not to serve as an academic tutor or a learning specialist. Many individuals and companies as well as school departments offer those services. I’m passionate and excited about focusing on the needs of parents/caregivers and kids with current school models because of the pandemic.
OK, we’re ready to dive into the process we’ll use to support you and your child(ren) in solving learning challenges.
Reach out for additional personalized guidance about supporting your child(ren)’s remote/hybrid learning or homeschooling.
