Learn

To ensure effective and successful learning among children – where minds and hearts are truly open and ready for learning – it is important to establish a relationship of trust and respect between a child and their teacher (and/or parent in the case of at-home learning). Creating a safe and comfortable physical learning environment that reflects how your family values learning is a big part of ensuring that.

While a home should not look like a classroom, there are things parents can do to make at-home learning more effective, and to make shifting between online learning and pencil + paper less chaotic (i.e., those moments when a child shifts their attention between screen and traditional school work and the transition may feel chaotic, confusing or distracting).

Your Back-to-School Checklist for At-Home Learning

(PRINT ME!)

1. Create or revise family agreements
   • Now is a great time to create family agreements or update what is already in place. Given the current context of families together for extended periods of time, it is helpful to set clear expectations for behavior and reaffirm your family’s core values. Think of any sticky spots in the spring and consider incorporating specific ideas to address these into your agreements. For example, if sibling squabbles were frequent, consider putting “Keep bodies and feelings safe” at the top of the list. Post your Family Agreements in a high traffic area.
2. Set up a learning space
   • Consider how your child’s sensory processing system impacts how they learn – Understand how your child uniquely interprets their environment (for example to noise, space, movement, touch and light) and factor this into their learning space, so that their attention is optimized, and their emotions and behaviors are regulated.
   • Plan! – Consider how to organize your home and workspace to provide a consistent sense of structure and order for the entire family. Having a designated school space, along with a routine, provides children with a sense of security, safety and stability – all critical for ensuring their minds are ready for learning.
   • Designate a single place as the primary learning spot – Consider how your child learns best and whether their learning space should be at a desk in their bedroom, or in a more central place, like at a kitchen or dining room table – and balance this with where you need to be to best support your child’s learning, while maintaining your own work needs and/or the needs of other family members.
     • If you have multiple children, it may work best to have the same designated space to centralize ‘school’ or it may work better to have children separated, based on how their at-home learning is structured. Regardless of what makes the most sense for your family, try to ensure that all materials are organized and easily accessible.
     • Nothing is permanent – if you try something and it doesn’t work, change it! Flexible thinking is key.
3. Stock up on learning materials and supplies – Be organized, be consistent. Keep all supplies (see below) in the same place, including electronic devices; label bins, baskets and storage containers, if necessary. This makes clean-up easier and empowers children to be independent learners and accountable for their materials.
   • It is important to hold children responsible for maintaining their workspace, just as teachers ask of them at school. This helps children cultivate respect for the process of learning and their learning environment.
   • Being organized is an important part of executive functioning, the set of cognitive skills that guide us successfully through life.
4. Create a calming place for your child to settle and reset themselves – Children experience big feelings on a daily basis, typically even more during stressful times and confusing transitions. It can be helpful to create a safe space, a Cozy Corner, where your child can independently take a break when they need.
   • Post a feelings poster, a Body Engine Checker tool and a go-to list of calming strategies to help your child identify and articulate their feelings.
   • Provide a variety of soothing sensory tools to help your child self-regulate.
   • Snug, sensory-friendly seating can go a long way in creating a haven that opens a child’s mind to learning (see below).

Every home and child will be beautifully unique through this process. There may be lots of experimenting and lots of trial and error. You know your child best – do what works for you and your family.