Got Kids? Use These Strategies to Improve Remote Learning
As parents, we have a lot on our plates normally and the pandemic has also pushed us to become surrogate teachers to our kids as they navigate learning remotely or in a hybrid model. It is definitely a challenge and especially for parents who have kids that are just beginning their learning journeys or are in elementary/primary school.
As someone who geeks out on learning every day, I wanted to provide a few strategies and a few book recommendations that can help make it a bit easier and help your kids get better at learning. While it might feel like a bit of a departure on the journey to becoming the CEO of you, these are all strategies you can use to increase your focus and impact.
Prep your Mind
Working from home or “going” to school from home requires you to transition yourself mentally from the “I’m home/let’s kick back and relax” mindset into the “let’s work/let’s learn” mindset. It might be listening to a feel-good song, taking a few deep breaths, or moving into a new space.
While it is easy to focus on the challenges that remote learning (and working) bring, purposely re-focus on what the benefits are. This mental trick can increase motivation to engage in the activity. This also can help you change the narrative of how the experience is viewed.
For parents, here is a great free course from LinkedIn on Setting Yourself Up for Success when remote working.
Prep your Space
Your environment can dictate your attention which tremendous impacts your ability to learn. Create a space that facilitates learning by removing or turning off distractions (phones, TV, music with lyrics), using noise-canceling headphones, and having supplies on hand like pencils, rulers, calculators, etc. Also do a check before bed or first thing in the morning to make sure you have the latest email with course links open within a browser tab. This can save quite a few tears on everyone’s part.
Use the Pomodoro Method
You can create focus and one of the best ways is using the Pomodoro Technique. The Pomodoro Method is a proven technique for developing your focus. Coined by Francesco Cirillo, the technique uses a timer (in his case a tomato timer — pomodoro is tomato in Italian) set for 25 minutes of focus followed by a 5-minute break. You can the timer for any duration you want, but the key is that you are breaking up your time between focused sessions and breaks to clear your mind.
This technique is also useful for corraling little ones while you work. Explain that the timer is for both of you and that when they are done with their focused task they need to wait to bug you until your timer goes off. Providing a few coloring pages, a book to read, or something quiet to do until your timer goes off works well.
Ask Curious Questions
This is a trick from the book Powerful Teaching which uses science-based strategies for creating more effective learning. One strategy is to help your kids reflect on what they learn (called retrieval practice) using thinking questions like:
- What are two things you learned today?
- What are two things that you didn’t learn or have questions about?
- What did you learn yesterday?
- How might you use this information?
- When do you think you’d use this information?
These questions help your child revisit what they learned which in turn, better internalizes that information for them.
Create Routines and Build Habits
Building a routine for how to approach the day is essential to keeping our cool when managing work and kids. Help your kid help you by asking them how they want to approach their day, what would help them and then share your ideas as well. If you have a whiteboard or paper, create a schedule that everyone can see. Another trick is to have an item to indicate when you are not to be disturbed. For a little one, it might be a certain stuffed animal and for an older kid a colored sticky.
These strategies aren’t just for your kiddos, they are for you as well as they can help you transition more effectively between the various roles you care for in your life.
