Recommended Reading for Parents and Caregivers

*Green text is hyperlinked to the online resource

May 8, 2020

In Greater Good Magazine’s How to Reduce the Stress of Homeschooling on Everyone, school psychologist Rebecca Branstetter offers parents helpful tips for navigating the emotional ups and downs of learning from home.

Marc Brackett, director of the Yale Center on Emotional Intelligence, offers a range of simple tools for managing the powerful emotions of this moment on his blog, “The Emotion Scientist”. A recent entry, Being Our Best Self During Challenging Times, describes how we can use “meta-moments” to return to our best selves - a great social-emotional learning strategy for adults and children alike.

April 20, 2020

The Harvard Graduate School of Education is collecting resources on Learning and Thriving at Home. In two short videos, psychologist Rick Weissbourd offers ideas for how parents and caregivers can talk with anxious children and maintain their own well-being:

1. Supporting One Another in a Time of Crisis

2. Helping Children Cope With Coronavirus and Uncertainty

3. In How to Help Teens Shelter in Place, Christine Carter of Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center addresses the challenge of helping teens manage social isolation.

April 03, 2020

1. Supporting children’s social-emotional needs: The New York Times addressed 5 Ways to Help Teens Manage Anxiety About the Coronavirus, with helpful suggestions from psychologist Lisa Damour.

2. Encouraging learning at home: The EdWeek article Remember, Online Learning Isn't the Only Way to Learn Remotely reminds teachers—and parents—of ways young people can direct their own learning away from screens, with accessible challenges like “practice a skill that is important to you” or “create something you are proud of.”