Seven Actions for Families
Full disclosure, I’m Type A- (the minus comes from my time in CA when I learned how to relax…a little…after growing up in New England), I am action-oriented, and I studied science. With those attributes, I always take problems and challenges and create action plans and lists to address them. So...I’ve created a set of seven actions you can try to help make this fall - and possibly winter and spring - of remote and hybrid learning better than it was in Spring 2020.
These seven actions emerged from my work and research in teaching, learning, design thinking, and leadership as well as my personal-lived experience of parenting. I hope they’ll provide a roadmap for you and your child(ren) to use to support growth and learning in the school year of 2020-2021. Here are the seven actions:
LISTENING
OBSERVING
IDENTIFYING
BRAINSTORMING
TESTING
REFLECTING
REPEATING
Notably, all of these actions are best done in collaboration with your child depending on their age. And, these actions don’t necessarily happen linearly. You can move through these actions in a different order depending on the situation. For instance, you may start at the BRAINSTORMING action because you and your child have already accomplished IDENTIFYING the problem to solve.
Also, this blog will be forever evolving because as I hear feedback from you all about what is working, what is not working, and what else you need, we will revise and build out this resource. I want this blog resource to focus on you and your needs so you can focus on your child and their needs.
Before diving in deeper into the seven actions, three caveats. One, this work is not quick. It takes time and all of us are stretched with jobs, family commitments, etc. right now. My hypothesis is if you are willing to put more time into these actions at the start, you and your child(ren) will become faster at moving through this cycle over time and also, you’ll discover some learning tactics and self-regulation approaches that work for your kid(s).
The second caveat is teaching and parenting/caregiving take patience. Patience for ourselves, our partners, our children, our teachers, our schools, and our communities. We are all trying our best during a very hard time. We can contribute to lowering collective stress and anxiety by keeping in mind the need for patience and the outlook that everyone is making decisions based on best intentions.
Lastly, every child is different. My suggestions may not work for your child(ren) and that is ok. What I hope is that trying these actions and some suggestions may lead to discoveries that support your child(ren) in whatever way they need. Also, my suggestions are mainly focused on academic learning. If your child(ren) need support for their own emotional and mental well-being, I recommend reaching out to your pediatrician for help.
Remember that all of us, as caregivers, have teaching knowledge and skills inside us based on being caregivers, we just have to identify them, practice them, and be willing to sometimes have bad days, knowing good days will also happen.
The next blog post will be about LISTENING.
Reach out for additional personalized guidance about supporting your child(ren)’s remote/hybrid learning or homeschooling.
