Parents have a role to play — it just isn’t this one
I’ve read the articles and heard from lots of parents of PreK-3rd graders; no matter what lens you see this remote learning effort through, it’s not a scalable and sustainable option.
Parents of course have a role to play in educating their kids, especially when it comes to learning to read, but what we are demanding of them right now is not it. There are little souls in front of those screens, and even if we could assume that they were all fed, outfitted with a working device, using good wifi, and seated in front of engaging and appropriate teacher-led lessons, they may be unhappy or unfocused or living with parents who are just too overwhelmed to help.
As educators, we have to be honest; we are asking for so much from a group of adults we have never even done a sufficiently good job setting up as partners around learning. Now, we have families who have tried to make it work but have “had it” because of all they are juggling.
So why not support families to do what educators are counting on parents doing every day, not just during this Covid-19 crisis? That kind of “work” is done while pouring cereal, running baths, reading stories, and commuting together. It’s intentional, it’s rich, and it’s doable. And those moments of parent/child interaction inspire learning, self-motivate kids, and can make a true difference in children’s skill sets and overall success.
How would it look? The at-home quarantine curriculum for PreK-Kdg:
- Read a book(s) together.
- Play a game together (card games, board games, etc.).
- Work on a letter or sound together.
And for 1st-3rd graders:
- Read a book together (a more challenging book that your child can’t read on his own).
- Play a game together (including games that involve adding and strategizing)
- Help child practice reading individual words/appropriate books.
This kind of checklist could be more effective simply because it’s clear, it’s doable, and it feels right. And children would be building the skills they need if these together-times also inspired great conversations.
This period won’t last forever, thankfully. But if this remote learning time were spent helping parents take on the roles we need them to play today, and more informally when schools are back in session, this crisis could inspire the collective effort we have always needed to boost children’s outcomes and reshape family/school engagement.
