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.

 

1.     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.

 

1.     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.

 

1.     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.

 

1.     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).

 

1.     Work together, as a family and with educators. Continuously remind yourself and those...