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Learning at Home: Tips for Parents and Caregivers

Learning at Home: Tips for Parents and Caregivers   

By Erik Berman

Many parents are feeling the pressure of facilitating distance learning for their kids while also working from home. We all want to do right by our children, but you don’t have to be a superhero! Don’t worry about perfectly replicating the school experience. Be flexible, develop a plan, and rely on the resources you can find online.  

Be Flexible

You don’t have to be a superhero! Some days will be easier than others and that’s ok. Not everyone is homeschooling during school closures and no one is expecting you to become an expert teacher on top of everything else. Choose the times that work for you and your child and cover topics that you are comfortable with. Check out Daddy School by Michael Goldstein; we really like his focus on a positive experience for his children (and also his emphasis on teaching something he finds easy).  

Develop a Plan and Schedule   

School-age children are used to a highly regimented and organized day. Without that structure, it’s easy to let everything devolve into chaos. Don’t follow that impulse. Don’t plan on eight-hour days either; your child simply won’t have the attention span or capacity. (We like Dr. Colette Poole-Boykin’s guide from Good Morning America and her recommendation of 1-2 hours for Elementary School Students, 2-3 hours for Middle school students, and 3-4 hours for High School students.)  Developing a schedule will help you and your child cover the topics they need while also making sure they stay on a regular schedule of sleep, exercise, and meals. It’s important enough that even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends it.

Rely on Online Resources  

Schools, museums, coding classes, and companies have all thrown open their (virtual) doors to help keep you and your child in the learning game. Some of these resources provide whole lesson plans while others are full of activities to do, crafts to make, and lectures to listen to.

• Scholastic Learn at Home - 20 days’ worth of active learning journeys designed to reinforce and sustain educational opportunities for those students who are unable to attend school.
• Khan Academy - Online learning platform. They’ve also created template schedules for PreK-12 that you can copy and modify for your child’s needs.
• Code.org - Coding games and tutorials for K-12.
• PBS Kids – Online learning games. Signing up for the newsletter provides daily activities.  
• Exploratorium - Videos and activities that explore topics in art and science.  

Check out these resources and share your favorites with your friends! Come back here next week for more tips on learning at home.