How to Become a Parent-Teacher in 24 Hours
WRITTEN BY Rocketbook Launchpad
(Even If You Don’t Remember Math)
If parenting was a video game, a lot of the world just entered hard mode. Parenting and teaching your kids while their school is online can be tough, but just like a video game, there are cheat codes. In this case, those cheat codes come in the form of tools and tips for becoming an effective parent-teacher.
Our goal is to make your life easier, and so we’re providing tools and tips to help you overcome the challenges associated with parenting while your kids’ schools are online.
Help Your Kids Learn
During this transition to a remote world, teachers will need help from parents. That’s where you come in like the protagonist of an action video game…except, what if you don’t remember the subtleties of 4th-grade math? That’s okay, you can still help your children learn without teaching material. Check out our parenting cheat codes below to see how.
Create a Daily Schedule
Kids work best in a routine. Routines make it easier for children to transition between activities and gives them a sense of independence. Studies have even shown that establishing nighttime routines for children can have health and cognitive benefits. While this tip won’t answer a math question, it’ll help your children get into the habit of learning at certain times throughout the day. This parenting cheat code isn’t just helpful for the children, though, it’s also helpful for you, as creating a schedule each day helps you know how to prepare for the day ahead.
Monitor Your Student’s Progress
A teacher’s job also includes following a student’s progress and collecting assignments. You can level up your parent-teacher skills by staying on top of your children’s workload. Communicate with your child’s teachers about upcoming long-term projects or homework schedules to help keep your kids on track. It’s important to keep in mind that this is a new situation for students, and it’s okay to lower expectations a bit. The goal here isn’t perfection, but rather to help prevent falling too far behind.
Use Outside Resources
Okay, the moment you’ve been waiting for, the cheat code meant to take down the boss level.
There are tons of online resources that teach concepts for students from elementary school all the way through early college. We polled our Rocketbook teacher community for their top picks of online learning resources that you can use to learn the material and then answer your child’s burning math question. Here’s the list:
Help Your Kids Relax
Parents, like yourself, who are working overtime to maintain a positive distance learning environment for their kids are incredibly important right now. Becoming a teacher-parent requires you to not only teach but also — as the term suggests — parent, which is no easy task. Fear not, here are some parenting power-ups coming your way:
Mental Breaks
Research on elementary school students has shown that breaks not only improve a student’s focus, but also reduces stress. Remember that everyone is different, so it’s important to tailor mental breaks to each child’s needs. One kid may want to work on a puzzle or color, while another might want to get outside by going for a walk or stargazing, and yet you might want your kids to play the game of sorting dirty clothes into lights and darks (a.k.a. helping you do laundry).
Stay Social (safely)
Being stuck indoors with the same people can grow tiresome, especially when kids are used to seeing their friends at school every day. Combat this problem by replacing in-person social interaction with online social playdates. Use Google Hangouts or Zoom to set up a video call with your child and their friends. Even though a screen, social interaction can act as a mood booster and even can help cognition.
Take It Easy
There’s a lot of uncertainty and unfamiliarity injected into kids’ lives right now, and routines and mental breaks can help. Even with those cheat codes at your disposal, though, your children might act out, throw a fit, or need extra attention. This is okay. Cut everyone (including yourself) some slack, and make just being okay the main priority.
Help Yourself Relax
Successfully navigating the unfamiliar parent-teacher role means looking out for the parent-teacher — that’s you. Use these tips to conquer working, parenting, and teaching from home:
Wake Up Early
There’s a lot on your plate. Wake up before your kids to get started early so you can prepare for the day before it begins. We polled our parent community (Rocketbook users who are also parents), and 50% said that 9am-12pm was their prime time for getting things done. Statistics aside, routines are important for adults, too, so make some breakfast, meditate, or have a cup of coffee. If you need more suggestions, here’s how to craft the perfect morning routine.
Reach Out To Others
Just like children, it’s important for parents to interact with one another to offer tips, discuss common struggles, and share a laugh. Set up a video call after the kids are asleep, or join a local parenting Facebook group. Even small steps like these can help put your mind at ease and if instead of joining the parenting Facebook group you end up in a rabbit hole of funny YouTube videos, that’s okay, too.
Right now there are lots of resources for parents and remote workers being shared, but maybe you’ve still got some unanswered questions. If you’d like additional help, suggestions, tips, or tools, we’ve got your covered.
- Email Rocketbook at hello@getrocketbook.com with any questions on how we can help you.
- Help other parents by sharing your tips online with the hashtag #BetterTogether.
In the meantime, thank you for working hard to help make this a seamless transition despite it being anything but for you.
The LaunchPad
WRITTEN BY
Rocketbook Launchpad
