Preston Scott

Preston Scott

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PARENTS! Don't Give Up...Help is Here

I have imagined the white flags waving; parents all across the country worn to a nub - praying for a return to normalized schooling. I have received phone calls, emails, and texts. Parents are reeling. It's time for someone to offer help.

Enter CLA. Longtime friend Pete Boulware and his wife Kensy founded Community Leadership Academy. I knew where to turn and Pete got me contact with another friend.

Tina Hinton is the Vice Principal at Community Leadership Academy, a fully accredited local private Christian School that offers a variety of schooling options for families in Tallahassee. CLA offers a hybrid homeschool model that combines in-school and at-home learning as well as a traditional model where students attend classes all 5 days of the week. Tina has 3 teenage children and has utilized a variety of educational models with her children including full homeschooling, CLA’s hybrid model, CLA’s full time model, and public school.

Community Leadership Academy

www.clatallahassee.org

850-597-9124

Difference between Homeschooling and Distance Learning

Homeschooling – The parent is responsible to direct the child’s learning. The parent chooses curriculum, defines the pace, tracks credits, etc. Gives a lot of autonomy to the parent but also a lot of responsibility.

Distance Learning – The teacher is directing the child’s learning, even if that learning is happening at home. That’s the good news! The teachers and school systems are the ones who are figuring this out so that you don’t have to. All you have to do is follow whatever directions your school gives you! And it’s going to look different for each school. Each school has had to think about the needs of their particular school community and the systems they already have in place. Then they can figure out what distance learning can look like for their school. I know that at our school we have tried to make it as flexible as possible while maintaining educational quality so that we find that balance of making it as manageable as possible for parents while still continuing to move forward in the learning process for students. Follow whatever directions your school gives you. And reach out to your teachers or school if you need help! Teachers and Administrators really want to help you be successful!

But, of course this is still hard. What can we do to make this go smoother?

  • Perspective and Practical tips.

Perspective

  1. Breathe!Give yourself some grace! Give your kids some grace too!
  • This is hard! It shouldn’t be completely overwhelming or crippling, but there’s no getting around the fact that this isn’t going to be easy or simple. This is not what we planned! And that’s true for both parents and educators! But don’t worry! Just do the best you can. It’s going to be ok.
  • This is not going to be perfect. Educators know this and they have thought about this. We have put a lot of thought into how to make this as effective as possible in spite of the situation. Use the systems schools have put in place to get help from teachers. I think for parents of public school students it will get easier as students are now becoming reconnected with their teachers. I think that will help a lot.
  1. Lead the environment in your home: Your attitude matters probably more than anything else right now. If you are stressed and frustrated, and you let that affect the environment in your home, your children will pick up on that and it will make learning harder. It will make everything harder. Focus on the positives throughout the day. I’m not saying to hide reality or your feelings but even in the midst of stress you can project an attitude that says, “It’s ok! We will take this one day at a time and do the best we can today. Nobody in our household knows how to do this math problem, so let’s see what we can do to change that.” Incidentally, learning how to overcome a challenge is both an academic skill and a life skill. This is your chance to model this for your child!
  2. Opportunity – For older students, you have an incredible opportunity to help your child develop life skills and leadership skills right now.
  • Talk to them! Talk about how each of you are coping with stress, talk about how to stay healthy physically and mentally when all of our activities are canceled.
  • Have everyone pitch in on chores. Make it a part of the routine!
  • Help them learn to enjoy the moment for what it is. Help them learn that it’s ok to be bored! That’s when creativity can flourish!
  • At appropriate ages you can give students some choices within their daily schedule. And give them freedom to fail. That’s how they learn to make different choices the next day.
  • Older students can begin learning about what this whole pandemic means for the economy and how things have been affected at your place of work. What do you see people doing to help save businesses and help their employees? How do businesses get creative to continue to earn money during something like this? Only have this conversation with your child if you can do it without causing stress. Don’t let them get overburdened with it at this age!
  1. Be Realistic: It’s ok if you are just barely holding your head above water and can’t take advantage of the extra opportunities that present themselves along the way! Stick to the basics and what’s required and don’t feel bad about that at all! Don’t put extra pressure on yourself or your kids!

Practical Tips:

  1. Get into a routine. Having a routine really makes the day go smoother and helps everyone to have appropriate expectations for what the day will hold. Find a routine that is comfortable for your family and that works for your particular situation. Get up at the same time each morning. Get to work at the same time each day. Take a break for lunch around the same time each day. Set a time for playing outside too! A time for reading books for pleasure or a time for doing crafts. You don’t have to be pinterest mom. Do NOT put that pressure on yourself! Do what makes sense for your family! If you have toddlers, you might want to use nap time to help older children with schoolwork so that you can be interrupted. Be strategic. Adjust the routine until it works for you.
  2. Take Breaks: Think about attention span and the age of your child. Young children can’t sit there for hours on a computer or in front of a stack of worksheets. Set smaller goals for completion followed by a break.
  3. Motivation: Particularly with older and more independent kids, give them something to work towards. Let them know that once they have finished all of their work for that day, they can have some time on electronic devices or whatever it is that will motivate them to get the work done!
  4. Academic Help: Help! I don’t remember this grammar concept or I didn’t learn math like this!
  • Use Google! Type in the name of the concept (ex: adding fractions). It sounds so simple but it can help you remember what the concept is and you can watch a few tutorials with or without your child. Teachers make videos for their classes all the time and many are posted on YouTube. Some are more helpful than others, but you would be surprised what you can find!
  • Reach out to the teacher – I know at our school we have office hours and live question and answer sessions throughout the day. I’m sure most schools have some sort of structure where you can get your questions answered. Teachers are happy to help!
  • Check out the links provided. Websites like Shmoop, Kahn Academy, and IXL have a wealth of video tutorials and extra practice in all subject areas. Some of these sites are also linked to Florida Standards so you know you are practicing the right skills. For older students, you can even practice for the SAT and ACT on these sites.
  • Leon County is in the process of posting video tutorials specific to the review packets on their Leon County Schools YouTube channel. This can be helpful if a question is asking your student to use a specific methodology that you are unfamiliar with.
  1. Know when to stop: Recognize when a moment is just not going well. Step back, give everyone a break and come back to it later that day. It’s really not worth tears or yelling. Come back to it with an adjusted attitude and approach.
  2. Ask for help! Reach out to your teacher or school administrator if you are having trouble meeting the requirements or are unsure what to do.

Links:

Kahn Academy has video tutorials and practice in a variety of subjects – https://www.khanacademy.org/

IXL has practice in all subjects and is linked to Florida Standards: https://www.ixl.com/

Shmoop has a video library as well as extra practice available in a variety of subjects: https://www.shmoop.com/

Leon County is starting to put up videos that have tutorials specific to the review packets. Go to the LCS YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/wlcstv

Use Google! Type in the name of the concept (ex: adding fractions). It sounds so simple but it can help you remember what the concept is and you can watch a few tutorials with or without your child. Teachers make videos for their classes all the time and many are posted on YouTube. Some are more helpful than others, but you would be surprised what you can find!

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