Suggestions

Here are some suggestions to structure your time for learning at home.

Big Picture Think about what you and your family need today and this week. As much as you can, involve your children in these plans.

“Week at a Glance” Consider the plans for each week in a chunk. Consider using a resource such as this one. Preparing a week-long schedule will reduce anxiety and provide predictability.

“Plan for the Day” Maintaining a consistent daily routine is ideal. It is comforting and regulating to younger children. Teens may appreciate a little more sleep or rest time built into their schedule. Visual schedules help relieve some of the "what's next" that we may often hear at home. We encourage you to build a schedule with your child or teen that accommodates everyone's wants and needs including, academics, exercise, screen time, and free/social time, just to name a few. Here is a sample day long schedule.

“Checklist” Using a checklist can help us to track our progress and see what we have ahead of us and give us a sense of accomplishment. Checklist samples: Daily Goal Setting Checklist, Simple To Do Checklist.

Communication In the coming weeks, communication with your children may look different than what you have previously experienced. We encourage setting up a system for checking in with them daily about their emotions as well as how they will communicate academic frustrations. One simple tool is a Traffic Light. Check out this video for an explanation of how to use them.

Teens - Sit with your child as they access their Google Classroom. Ask them about the assignments posted and their plan for getting assignments completed. Create schedules and to-do lists with your teen. Our current times will certainly add more stress to your teen. Persevere. Keep checking in often. They appreciate you checking in, even though they don't show it.

Ask for Help We know that this situation is ever changing and we are all doing our best to keep up. If you have any questions about any of the resources above or about how to organize your child's day, please reach out to your child’s teacher, your school guidance counselor, your principal, or me, Chip McGee, Assistant Superintendent at ecmcgee@methuen.k12.ma.us.