In Defense of At-Home Learning
In the midst of the Covid 19 shut down of schools, public gatherings, and entertainment options, I have seen quite a few parents talk about how they are going to do nothing school related with their kids at home. This is completely within your prerogative. But as a teacher, I must admit this kind of cuts to the quick. It seems to indicate that many parents do not think that us educators do very much with our time. As if subtracting two weeks of the school year (or more) doesn’t have an impact on our ability to do our job well. A job which is centered on your child’s learning and growing into the best possible version of themselves. Yes, your child will survive without two or more weeks of education but let’s not discount what teachers are doing day in and day out. But the longer this goes on the more significant impact it will have on your kids and their learning.
Every day teachers head to school and love on 30-200 kids. They meet students where they are at and try to fulfill their social, emotional and educational needs. If you’ve ever been exhausted hanging with your kiddos all day, imagine hanging out with 30 or more kids all day, 5 days a week. Teachers do this on the regular, and most of us love it. If your teacher sends home work, please note that for most of us it comes from a place of wanting to do the best we can for your kiddo. And then please make your best effort to get it done. I am in no way suggesting that you should not use this time for extra family bonding. Go ahead and snuggle up and watch that movie marathon! But I would encourage you to establish a routine each day that includes some learning time.
In that vein let me offer an alternative perspective and encouragement for students to do educational things during this time at home.
Respect educators expertise
Many teachers are working very hard to transition into online learning. For some, this will be a new experience and so they will be spending hours of their time, not with their children watching movies and eating extra carbs, but preparing lessons for you and your little ones. This is not how they wanted to teach, but they are doing their best in the circumstances to do right by your children and the responsibility to educate them. Let us respect their efforts and their expertise as educators and do what they ask us to do with our kids if we are in any way able to do so.
State testing pressure
As of now, teachers will be very much under the gun for state testing when they return. There is a ton of pressure placed on teachers for their students to prepare. If our students literally check out for two or more weeks, there’s no question about it, they won’t do well on those state tests. There is documented evidence that supports this idea of “summer brain drain.” Kids lose skills over the summer. If you don’t think your kids will experience some of that same brain drain with three weeks filled with TV and junk food, then you are sorely mistaken.
Sense of normalcy
This is a stressful time for everyone and your kiddos are feeling it! School is a normal part of their life. Keeping a routine and the discipline of learning intact in some form will help them experience something that’s familiar which is certain to lower their anxiety, and yours!
Preparing for college
If you are a parent of a high school or even a middle school student, navigating online learning will help prepare them for college. Not only are many classes taught digitally in full or in part in the modern world, but college requires independent learning. Let your students grow in their ability to work independently during this time. Perhaps set a timer and tell them they have to work for a certain period before they ask you any questions. Let them struggle a bit, it’s good for growth! Not only will this allow them to develop new skills, it might give you the time you need to get some of your own work done.
Minimize the tantrums
Whether you return to school in three weeks or six, it is bound to be a hard transition. I know even as a teacher every time I head back from break I get down in the dumps. Want to minimize your kids' back to school blues? Maintain a routine of learning during this time off.
Teach them digital citizenship
We are in a new and digital age and many of our students have no idea how to manage that connectivity well. This will be a great opportunity to teach your young people some digital citizenship! Have them call or FaceTime their friends, teach them how to ask to speak to someone on the phone, teach them how to write an appropriate email to an authority figure. I am regularly dumbfounded by how many of my students cannot do these things well, but that is because they have never been taught.
Use real life learning opportunities
One of the most common complaints I hear about education is the disconnect between the learning in school and the “real world.” This is a great chance to show your kid the connection between what they study and life. Let your kids cook or create a schedule (math), read (English) at an age appropriate level about the medical research (science) and geo-political and economic challenges and decisions being weighed right now (social science). None of this should be contrived or force but it will help them make connections they may never have made before.
We are in strange and unusual times and I have a sneaky suspicion things will get crazier before they get normal. This is not how I wanted to or planned to spend my next few weeks. I am sure it wasn’t on your agenda either. Yet, here we are learning to navigate a new and strange reality, may we learn to do it well together. I hope and pray that in this season we develop new coping skills, new levels of resiliency and new ways to love others in a hurting world. If we do so, we will be able to say we met this challenge well. It won’t be perfect, it won’t always be pretty but it will certainly be revealing of our hearts. May our hearts grow in love this season, may we grow in community in this time of separation and may our distance not isolate us.
