I am a mother to a seven year old daughter and a bichpoo. I am working from home full-time. Are you wondering how I am holding it down during these times? Honestly, in my household we were all doing fine until the Ministry of Education announced that children across Canada will be engaged in distance learning while schools are closed. Now don’t get me wrong, I really welcomed the concept of distance learning and like some parents felt relieved that my child will be getting some formal instruction remotely. So what happened?
The first week was great. My daughter was excited to use the computer more. She enjoyed hearing her teacher’s voice recordings on Seesaw, playing math games on Prodigy and reading e-books from an app called Raz Kids. After the first week the novelty wore off. As more assignments were set up on Seesaw, the more trouble my daughter and I had using the application to complete and submit tasks. My daughter and I grew more frustrated with Seesaw each day. I want to mention that my frustrations were not solely with Seesaw, but with balancing my time between my work and being a supportive mother trying her best to guide and yes, ‘teach’ her daughter. It’s exhausting. I noticed that my daughter’s motivation had waned greatly and she wants to have me present while she is working. Well, I need a new game plan if we are going to get through the next month of distance learning. This is where I had to rely on my parenting skills, and I chatted with friends and co-workers about their experiences. Here’s my game plan:
Encouragement
Remember to speak positively about the work my daughter is doing and to acknowledge her efforts. Her learning environment has changed and in many ways there are more distractions at home. Encourage her to stay focused and to complete small tasks.
Break Time
Ensure that there are breaks in our day where we can goof around, dance and meditate (silent time). My daughter likes dancing. At 3:00 pm every day she can choose to participate in the Kids Bop daily dance break. Also, video calls are a good way to connect her to the friends she misses.
3 .Develop independence
I remind my daughter that she does not need mommy to complete every task with her. Before COVID 19 she was at school and I was at work. I want her to be confident that she can get work done without me. Her and I will work from the same room but independently. If any of us cannot focus because of distractions, we’ve agreed to work in different spaces.
Don’t sweat it!
Many parents have chosen to design a distance learning plan that doesn’t have to be about completing tasks on Seesaw. We won’t spend 30 minutes trying to upload a document with three sentences on Seesaw for her teacher to review. Maybe my daughter completes an assignment from the many workbooks she has or perhaps the only thing she does on any given day is to read a book. It’s okay for my daughter to have a free day. I will not stress over helping my daughter complete every assignment that is posted on Seesaw.
Communicate with the teacher
Talking with my daughter’s teacher helps me gain perspective on how children like my daughter learn. Her teacher offers tips, and reassures me that distance learning should not be stressful for my daughter and I.