Tips on Returning to School During a Pandemic | POF58

What we know about this coming school year, is how much we don’t know what will happen or what the school year is going to end up looking like. 

Kids returning to school usually has us feeling mixed emotions.  We are excited to have them back to school, back to routine but we also can feel melancholy at the site of our kids entering a new grade, getting older and more independent.  Now we need to add in the uncertainty of going back to school during a pandemic.

How are you feeling about it?  Are you nervous?  Worried about your child not being safe?  Worried school might be closed again (and terrified of having to homeschool your kids again!)?  Worried that they are falling behind in their education?  Worried about their future?  I get it.

My guest, Dr. Annie Snyder and I talk about all these fears and worries in this episode and what to do about it for yourself, teachers, and for your kids.   

Dr. Snyder is an educational researcher who is studying the “Covid Slide” which is the decrease in learning due to the lengthy disruption of school from last year plus the summer holidays.

This episode is full of useful tips and advice on how to handle returning to school.  Be sure to check out the show notes for important tips from the episode but also for Dr. Snyder’s tips on how to support your kids with continual learning.

About Dr. Annie Snyder

 A former teacher and educational researcher, Annie Snyder currently serves as a senior learning scientist within the Learning Research and Strategy team at McGraw Hill. She holds a doctorate in educational psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, and is interested in the links between learning science, research, teaching practice, and families’ roles in education. Annie has been happily working from home with her three sons since 2016. 

From the Podcast 

Dr. Snyder has so many great resources to keep the learning going and on how to support your kids during this time. 

Tips from the Podcast:

1.     Encourage young learners to exercise for a few minutes before any online learning (jumping jacks, dancing, running in place, etc.). Physical movement will help those learners become more ready to engage in learning and stay focused.

2.     Make a written checklist for any procedures that learners may need to follow, whether they are going to school online or in a brick and mortar school (for example, for online learning, turning on the computer, shutting the door, drinking some water, preparing materials before logging on). Especially for new processes, this can help prevent learners from needing to use their cognitive resources on procedures, so they can more easily pay attention to school learning.

3.     Explore the accessibility options offered through technology (e.g. text-to-speech options for online text). Some of these may help ease learning burdens (and boredom!) by providing learners other avenues for accessing learning content.

4.     Try forming online (or safe, socially distant) study and social groups that meet on a regular basis. Learners can not only have the opportunity both to work on school tasks, but this also offers an opportunity for practicing social skills as well as working through some of the emotional challenges posed by learning during a pandemic.

5.     As best as possible, reduce distractions when learners must learn online. These distractions might be in the room itself (e.g. move the toys out of the room BEFORE the virtual meeting with the class) but also distractions within the technology (so that learners are not surfing the Internet when they need to be responding to a teacher’s question).

6.     Work together, as a family and with educators. Continuously remind yourself and those around you that we will succeed by being kind, empathetic, and cooperative to each other as we all work toward ensuring children make forward progress.

7.     Remember that learning never stops. The human brain is continuously learning, all throughout the lifespan, and the world is rich with opportunities to continue to grow and learn more – no matter where we all might be in any given moment.

Dr. Snyder’s Tips to Keep Learning Going

Literacy:

Read aloud: 

All forms of reading aloud can support literacy learning for children of all ages. While it is always terrific when adults can read aloud to children, remember that children can also read to adults, other children, pets, or stuffed animals. Children can also benefit from listening to online read-alouds, as well as recording their own.

 Lean on the library: 

Throughout the country, libraries have been hard at work finding new ways to provide services online. Check out the local library to determine whether there are online programs, summer reading programs, eBook loans, book recommendations and other offerings to support literacy learning this summer.

 Encourage writing: 

Some children may naturally want to engage in writing as a way to express their ideas and emotions, while others may need more encouragement. Families can support writing development by setting aside designated writing periods each day and providing a few basic materials such as writing prompts, blank comic book strips, journals, or even stamps and envelopes for written correspondence. Remember that writing doesn’t necessarily mean that children must put pen to paper – typing and oral recordings also count!

Math:

Play games: 

A deck of cards, a sheet of paper and a pencil, and a few dice can all provide countless opportunities for playing math games (for example, Addition “War” with cards, in which each player plays two cards instead of one and the player with the highest sum wins the cards). Chess, checkers, and other classic board games are also great choices, as they can support the abstract strategic thinking that is critical for mathematical development.

Discover real-world math:

Math surrounds us at every turn, and it can be exciting for children (and their families!) to uncover all the ways math can not only help us understand the world, but also solve problems. Whether children are measuring for a garden, tracking weather statistics, or creating a budget to help save for a new toy, authentic projects help younger learners make sense of mathematics.

Make math active: 

Try skip count hopscotch with sidewalk chalk (count by tens for each square!), jump rope counting challenges, or number line dancing. All of these are just a few ways that families can blend mathematical learning with movement. This is especially helpful for younger children, who may be less inclined to want to sit and practice with flashcards or worksheets during enticing summer weather.

Science:

Join a community: 

Although we often think of lone scientists working in a lab when we hear the word science, in reality, many scientists work collaboratively as part of scientific communities. Young learners can be encouraged to form their own family science communities (e.g. a backyard experiment family club) or can, with adult help, take part in one of the many citizen science projects that are available online. 

Explore: 

Both the natural and the human-made environments that surround us can provide lots of options for scientific exploration. For example, nature hikes or city walks following appropriate social distancing precautions can provide families with opportunities to help children explore science in the world around them (e.g. birdwatching, tree identification, studies of architectural principles of city buildings, etc.)

Engineer: 

Summer is an excellent time for building things with blocks, cardboard boxes, or whatever scrap materials happen to be on hand. For younger children and older children alike, it can be helpful to provide daily challenges (e.g. build the tallest tower, the longest tunnel, a maze, etc.) to help inspire problem-solving and collaborative engineering.

Social Studies:

Study civics: 

What is civics, exactly? This single question can open doors to endless writing opportunities, discussions, and projects during the summer months. In addition to examining definitions of civics, learners and their families can explore ways to engage in civics both at the family level (e.g. creating a list of family rules for the summer) as well as at other levels of society (e.g. learning how the various branches of government work together, studying the Constitution, writing letters to Congress, reading the news).

Build an exhibit: 

Museums around the world are offering virtual tours of their exhibits. After taking a tour, learners can learn more about some of the artifacts and then create an exhibit (or an entire museum) of their own! Cardboard boxes, an empty shelf, a table, or a blanket on the floor could be a great place to display the exhibit. To add authenticity, learners may wish to make placards to provide facts for every artifact included. Older learners might want to take digital photos of the artifacts and record a gallery walk for virtual visitors.

Travel the world, from home: 

The study of geography is all about the places, physical features, and people around the world - and how all these interact. Although actual travel may not be a possibility for families this summer, learning about the world can happen from anywhere. For example, families can explore atlases (online and print), practice map skills by creating maps of the home or neighborhood or investigate the geographic origins of objects in the home. 

Thanks for listening!

It means so much to me that you listened to my podcast! If you would like to purchase my book or other parenting resources, visit me at www.yellingcurebook.com

With this podcast, my intention is to build a community of parents that can have open and honest conversations about parenting without judgement or criticism.  We have too much of that!  I honor each parent and their path towards becoming the best parent they can be.  My hope is to inspire more parents to consider the practice of Peaceful Parenting. If you know somebody who would benefit from this message, or would be an awesome addition to our community, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

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