Sanity-saving advice for parents teaching their kids - The Washington Post

Sanity-saving advice for parents teaching their kids - The Washington Post

Sanity-saving advice for parents now trying to teach their kids

This is the first in a weekly series on The Answer Sheet for parents who have found themselves learning to home-school their children on the fly now that the covid-19 pandemic has closed schools across the country.

The series is written by Roxanna Elden, who combines 11 years of experience as a public-school teacher with a decade of speaking about education-related topics.

Her first book, the nonfiction “See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers,” is widely used in teacher training. Her debut novel, “Adequate Yearly Progress,” follows a diverse group of educators in an urban high school. She has adapted some of the advice she has long provided to new teachers for this series. You can see more of her work on her website, here.

By Roxanna Elden

Many educators say nothing prepared them for their first year on the job. Even with good training and intentions, new teachers face a nonstop series of judgment calls they’ve never had to make before. Suddenly, they’re sleeping less and yelling more than they ever imagined. They worry that each mistake is impacting kids’ futures. And they’re swamped with urgent-yet-conflicting advice, even the best of which has exceptions they’ll learn the hard way.

Sound familiar? That’s because in many ways, parents are now rookie teachers. And they’re getting much of the same advice. This advice tends to fall into two conflicting camps, each with their own promises and pitfalls, and many an early-career educator has steered too hard in one of these directions. Here’s a review of both camps, plus tips for correcting course if you need to.

CAMP #1: “THIS IS OUR CHANCE TO SHINE AS HOMESCHOOL SUPER-TEACHERS!”

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Advice from this camp tends to take the form of elaborate science projects, breathtakingly detailed lesson plans, and (insert new creative idea that just popped up in your Facebook feed and that you now feel like you should add to your schedule).

Why this is (at least partly) the right idea: Advice from Camp #1 can be inspiring. It may contain some useful ideas to keep your kids learning. And, depending on your situation, you may find that in this moment you actually do have an opportunity to try that Educational Thing You Always Wanted to Do with Your Kids But Never Seemed to Find the Time For. Also, it's hard to know how long this home CONTINUE READING: Sanity-saving advice for parents teaching their kids - The Washington Post

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