Preparing for the Start of the School Year

You may be seeing this post two weeks or two months into the school year. Go easy on yourself parents, all of the suggestions can be done or redone anytime of the year!

Dear Parents / Guardians / Caregivers, This school year is starting off like no other in history. I have created this site to give you quick and easy support as you take an unprecedented role in your child’s life: Parent as Teacher. I am a parent with a Master’s degree in elementary education and have been a certified teacher working in the state of Maryland for the past eleven years. I have worked with countless parents to help them navigate supporting their learner at home and navigating ways to encourage their children to complete homework. And now this, well this is homework like never before.

Take a deep breath. Purposeful breathing and taking time every day to purposefully relax with deep breathing is essential for all of us parents, students, and teachers. Your students(s) will not know everything on day one. That’s one of the most important things good teachers know. It’s not written down anywhere, but it is one of the great truths of teaching: LEARNING TAKES TIME.

Setting-up Your Home Classroom:

This is an important first step to getting off on the right foot! Include your child or children in this process. Choose a place in your home where the majority of their school learning will take place – the place where they will meet their teacher online. Let them help you clean and set up the area. Stock it with pencils, a sharpener, crayons, colored pencils, markers, paper, notebooks, index cards, and other supplies recommended by their teachers. Make it fun!

If your students will be sharing a desk, like a dining room table, you may want to use cardboard to create divisions so they can have a private area to concentrate. Desk dividers or privacy shields can be purchased pre-made or you can use shipping boxes to make them yourself. Let the kids decorate them as part of getting ready for school!

Agree in advance on an alternate “desk” space. Maybe sitting on a soft chair or sofa with their computer could be an option, especially for longer reading assignments. A bean bag chair or a bed might be another place for their 2nd “desk”. Agreeing on learning spaces in advance helps to develop a sense of responsibility for learning. Many young students, like adult students, need choices to meet their unique needs and take the fight out of making progress.

Other Learning Spaces to Consider:

Break Space– This can be as simple as a few pillows in a corner or as elaborate as a hammock hung in the basement. This is not a place for playing, you don’t want it to be used to avoid work, just to take a ‘break’ from work. Include a timer or have a clock visible- an average amount for a break time is about five minutes and the amount agreed upon at the beginning of the break should not be changed during the break. Some kids need more, some less. Don’t try to fit your child into any box. Listen to their needs and let them know that you hear them. Have calming images in the break area. Include a squeeze or stress ball, a notebook or journal that is only used in the break area, and access to a drink of water.

Imagination Space – Math and Reading are workouts for the brain. The brain can literally ‘hurt’ as children are learning something new. (Think of how your muscles feel after physical exertion: they need a rest!) An imagination space is another way to let the brain relax so that learning can take hold. Choose another corner or place in your house and label it “Imagination Space”. Here you want to collect things that interest your children with things that they can do on their own. Even something as simple as filling a sink with water and giving them a few cups to scoop and pour can be relaxing. The imagination area can also be used as your ‘indoor recess’ area.

Free Play Space – The sky’s the limit here. Think of free-play like recess. It’s a time to get away from the rigors of learning reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. It’s time for big muscle running, jumping, skipping, ball throwing, frisbee games, and more. For some students, it’s time to free-draw or build with blocks or legos and might also be part of your Imagination Space. Playing games like Apples to Apples, pick-up-sticks, or using play-dough are other free play ideas. A local discount store or online retailer stocks many inexpensive items like these. Simple games that a child or children can do with others or by themselves. This recess could be from 30-60 minutes long depending on your school’s schedule. Use it! Don’t let them watch tv or be on a screen during this time.

Time in Nature Space -We all need access to the natural or outside world. You might have a yard to send your children to. You might have a community open space or nearby park with walking trails that allow you to social distance and be outside. You might have a porch or patio where your student can be outside and feel the wind and sun on their skin. Nature time could also be as simple as opening a window, feeling the sun, watching the clouds and looking for birds or signs of the change of seasons in the color of the leaves.

Make your time in nature a time for incidental learning! Simple flower seeds or vegetable seeds can be purchased at the grocery store, you can plant them in an old cup or dish or buy a container made for planting. Work with your child to keep records of when you water the plant and measure the growth you see. Make it your child’s responsibility to water and track it’s growth as part of daily nature time. Have them read about the plant and it’s proper care. Have them keep records of temperature and precipitation. Doing these things together are relationship building and ways to show that you care about them.