Hello!

We are all gearing up to begin “school” next week. I know that there are probably lots of questions about how this is all going to work.

This post will give you some information on what is going to happen in the next few days as we all get ready for this new adventures.

First of all

This blog will continue to provide information and news to you, especially at the very beginning. As things get going, students will be transitioning to the Google Classroom platform for their assignments and information. Students are well familiar with Google Classroom as we have already been using it extensively this year. We will add a couple more classes to their classroom including a class called “Your Day” which will give an overview of the week and information on general tips and tools you and your child might use. Later this week, I will send out a post about Google Classroom and how to add those new classes.

This week

Throughout this week, Mrs. Willms and I will be calling you to check in, answer whatever questions we can, and connect with your child.

Setting Up for Learning

We understand that replicating a school type schedule at home is not realistic. The home environment and your own schedules can make things difficult. However, we do know that having a schedule for each day with routines built in will be very important during this time. Children like the consistency of knowing what they are going to be doing each day and it can make academic times easier and more productive if you are consistent with your expectations and schedule.

Below is an example of a schedule that can be implemented at home with some recommendations. We would like to emphasis that this is just an suggestion. It is very prescribed but we are not expecting families to implement this schedule as is. Obviously, you will have things that you need to work around in your day. This schedule is a suggestion as to how you might like to set up your own schedules taking into consideration when you might schedule your academics, free-time, silent reading, quiet time and other things:

Academic Period Breakdown

In times labeled, academic times, students will find assignments and tasks listed in their Google Classroom. We don’t want to overwhelm you. We will be starting slowly, giving reasonable due dates and providing choices of activities that students can work on during the week. Most times students will be given reading, writing, math and science activities on Monday, which they can then work on throughout the week in whatever order they want. The afternoon academic period will include Art activities, Gym activities, silent reading and xtramath.

You will get a breakdown of the activities for the week in the “Your Day” Google Classroom space to help make it easier for planning.

We will also be scheduling time during the week to phone or video-conference with your child. We want to maintain our connections as much as possible. More information on that will be sent out later this week. This time will be 15mins once a week to check in with your child, answer any questions you or your child may have about the work and just see or hear each other’s voices.

Recommendations For Parents

This list of tips might be helpful for you to think about as you plan for learning.

 

• Incorporate familiar routines from the classrooms: Does your child have a “job” at school? Snack helper? Line leader? Calendar helper? If you have a young child, try to give them a choice of jobs, like classroom teachers do. Maybe your first grader can do the weather report for you every morning. Perhaps your second grader can be in charge of handing out snacks to his siblings, etc. It’s a variation on chores, but reincorporates some familiar routines from the classroom setting that your kids may soon be missing.

 

• Keep the schedule as consistent as you can, but not militaristic: Your kids aren’t cadets. A little variation to the days is fine, but having a general sense of what elements the day should include, and in what order, will help you and your child maintain a sense of normalcy.

 

• Having a routine in place will also help you plan your day, especially if you’ll be working from home. If you know your child has “quiet time” for an hour, that’s a good time to schedule your conference call. If your child is doing their independent reading time, maybe you can use that hour to send off some emails.

 

• No matter what schedule you create, this will not be a perfect system: We are in a highly unusual situation. You can take comfort in the fact that every other family is dealing with complicated logistics and less than ideal work conditions. This should make it easier for everyone to cut each other a little slack here.

 

• Routines that you should not negotiate on: If you have young kids, I would make it a priority to keep bedtimes and meal times as consistent as you possibly can. Keeping a young child up way past bedtime on a regular basis will be nobody’s friend here.An older child or teenager might have a little leeway to stay up late and watch a movie, since they can sleep in a little later the next day (although I wouldn’t let them sleep too late on a daily basis!). But for young kids, getting the proper amount of sleep is one of the key elements in their ability to self-regulate. This isn’t a good time to short-change in this area.

 

• Remember that this is only for a season: I don’t know how long this is going to last, and neither do you. That makes it hard on everyone. But what we do know is that this isn’t a new permanent way of life – it’s a disruption for a season.

Hopefully, this helps to give you some idea of what is going to happen. Please be assured that we are very focused on trying to not overwhelm you but rather give you some ideas and choices on how to continue your child’s learning for the rest of this year.

We are praying for you and look forward to chatting with you soon.

Cheers,

Mr. H and Mrs. Willms