In this time of learning at home, parent engagement in their child’s learning has never been more important and schools are doing a great job of getting what students would normally be doing in school online for families to access. However, in these uncertain times, teachers operating in online learning environments and parents finding themselves as teachers, both parents and teachers are struggling.
#homeschooling #learningathome #onlinelearing #COVID19learningfromhome Whatever it is being called it is causing stress for both teachers and families. Teachers are working so hard to provide so much information for the learning of students to continue. But parents are overwhelmed.
- Let’s ease back on everyone.
- Note to Teachers – parents are never going to be as qualified as you to teach the way you do in the classroom.
- Note to Parents -there is no way you are going to get through all that stuff -for every child as well as maybe work from home.
Now might be a good time to check in on every one of your families, not just the students and their learning but how are the families coping with #COVID19 in general. Who is working? What are the family circumstances? How is the wellbeing of all? Be creative in how you do this – personal phone calls, zoom meetings where parents are involved and then follow up on the ones who were not there. Are they OK?
Challenge to schools
Divide it up amongst the staff so the onus is not great on teachers but try and have a 2-way conversation with every family enrolled in your school. What a great time to build relationships with your families and get to know them and show you care.
As someone who has studied in the area of engagement of parents in their children’s learning both at home and at school, I offer a focus so we can all get through this. According to the research, there are key areas for parent engagement that will have the greatest effect especially if they are based on mutually respectful relationships between home and school and 2-way communication.
When things calm down, and you would like more information about what these key areas visit www.cathyquinn.com or www.parentengagmentforschools.com.au or email me for a free ebook outlining how they can be incorporated into the work being sent home
cathy@cathyquin.com
Stay safe and be kind to yourself warm regards Cathy Quinn
Experience as Principal, Teacher, and Mother of three
Dip. Teach, BED, BA, Masters of Educational Administration,
Ph.D. Candidate focusing on teachers’ understanding of parent engagement.
Facebook Parental engagement for families and schools
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