There Are No Pandemic 'Best Practices'; or, Go Easy on Yourself

(This week's blog post was written collaboratively by Alecia Magnifico and CLC Director, Bethany Silva)

Shoutout to all of the parents and teachers out there who are starting virtual learning/homeschooling for the first time! We're gonna be alright. Yesterday, we brainstormed some tips for supporting virtual learning, and here's what we came up with. (And we'll bet that many of you have great ideas and resources to add in the comments, too.)

*Don't stress over "best practices" or "instructional continuity" right now. We're living through the first pandemic in 102 years, and we're doing our best. Don't forget that learning is hard in the best of circumstances, and SO many of us are learning whole new situations right now. Try to give yourself a break if something doesn't go well.

*Routines are great, but don't let them become stressful. Try to think through the most important items, and focus on those. (In teacher talk: What's your most important objective? Think about when/how you'd consider it complete, and then what you need to do to get there.)

*Take breaks -- both you AND your kids. Stay distant, but get out and walk. YouTube yoga. Examine cool rocks or plants if you have a backyard. House dance party!

*Limit your news consumption. It's scary out there, and marinating in it isn't helpful for anyone's mental health.

*Think about what kinds of learning are fun and generative and healing for your kids. If you have a child who loves observing nature, share some nature poetry, or draw and write together outside. If they love fantasy novels, help them search goodreads to find a new author.

*Have a broad schedule in mind, but rework it every day. Depending on the age of your child, you can have them help make the schedule. Take a look at your work schedule - do you need your kid to be completely distracted in the middle of the day? That might be the best time for free screen time. Save the evenings for board games, card games, or cooking together… those are INCREDIBLY good literacy/math activities. And plus, they’re fun.

*Different children will have different needs. Bethany’s kids are schedule fiends. Without one, they dissolve into lumps on the couch, moaning about how much they miss their friends. Other kids will be fine waking up at 10 and just kind of doing their day (Bethany is not sure who these people are because, as mentioned before, she lives with schedule fiends). You do you.

*Most children will be more interested in connection right now than anything else (and rightly so!). Two ideas of ways to build that in: group storytime (one parent reads on Skype or Zoom), or group hangout (literally just turn on a videoconference and let the kids talk to each other). Many older kids get a lot out of chatting in online games, writing fanfiction, or making memes and videos. Just because it looks extracurricular doesn’t mean they’re not learning!