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Supplement your child’s education so they thrive during the pandemic
I remember worrying about the public and private schools in my neighborhood when I was pregnant with Nicole, my first child. I visited many classes to find the “perfect” school for her – and didn’t find one school that provided the academic rigor, depth in critical thinking and problem solving, the arts and theater, and the physical activities (dance, sports) that I was looking for. I didn’t bash schools for not offering what I wanted for my daughter; instead, I supplemented both of my daughters’ education so they would love to learn and get all of the important experiences to keep them engaged.
That’s exactly what parents will need to do during this pandemic, and most likely after this pandemic has passed. Yes, things are different now. Whether your school is 100% online, hybrid, or on campus, you can supplement your child’s education so they thrive. Use this time to experiment and try new approaches.
You can tell if your child is engaged in classes and work (asynchronous or synchronous). This is where you can fill the void by giving them interesting assignments or even inviting a mentor or teacher to work with them in virtual sessions. Here are some activities that I’ve set up for families during this pandemic:
1. Bamboo vs Oak Tree Experiment (to find faster, efficient ways to produce oxygen in the atmosphere)
2. Reading Challenge (to increase their reading fluency and comprehension)
3. Math Challenge (to build a solid math foundation so they’re prepared to move on to the next level)
4. Gardening Experiment (to determine which organic pesticides work best)
5. Research Writing (to teach them how to write a comprehensive research paper – something they probably will never learn in school)
6. Create a Podcast (to find their voices – and do research – and share their opinions)
7. Start a business (to learn about marketing, accounting, ecommerce)
If you find that your child is not thriving in whatever mode of learning they are engaged in, you can hire teachers to teach their classes one-on-one. Some states require that students be enrolled in a public or private school, so check with your state. It’s actually easier to open a private school for just your children (in most states) than to jump through hoops with homeschooling or independent studies programs.
You can also start a pandemic pod, see my blog: How to Form a Pandemic Pod for Free that can be free to the hosting family. In this setup, the hosting family hires the teacher, sets the curriculum and invites 2-3 other families to join. The other families’ tuition covers all costs so the pandemic pod is free to the hosting family. I’ve even written curriculum for preschool through high school.
While this is a stressful time as you make difficult decisions about whether to send your child back to school (if they’re opening) or worry that your child is slipping behind academically (for online classes), know that you have many options. Sometimes chaos gives us the unique opportunity to reinvent ourselves, and in the case of our children’s education, we can create something really stimulating and challenging for them. For me, I started Merit Academy with the projectMERIT theme. And yes, it was created when I realized that the existing academic options just weren’t good enough.
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How to form a Pandemic Pod for free
Back when my daughters were young, I created a preschool and enrichment program to give them stimulating activities with a few other children. I developed the curriculum, trained the teacher, and hosted the program in my rec room. My girls LOVED the program and their academic skills were off the charts. I loved being able to set up the lesson plans to ensure that they were challenged and intrigued by their classes. By charging tuition to the 2-3 other families that joined the program, their contributions paid for the teacher and material expenses. It was a win-win situation for all of us.
Today, Bay Area families are scrambling to set up pandemic pods for their children to either enhance their school curriculum or to replace it. My consulting firm, Merit Educational Consultants, is helping parents set up their pandemic pods as coops (all parents contribute funds to pay for expenses), as independent programs (parents pay the hosting family to cover expenses), or as private schools (parents pay hosting family for program and/or work with Independent Studies programs for school credits.)
I’ve written a book that lays out exactly how to set up these programs and it comes complete with forms, policies, and tips. Check it out: The Millennial’s Guide to Free Child Care in Your Home. I have also written curriculum framework for all subjects starting at 18 months old to 12th grade; the high school courses are all UC A-G approved. DIY parents love customizing their family programs by utilizing the book and curriculum.
Creating a pandemic pod is similar to setting up in-home child care or starting a small homeschool. The only real difference is selecting families who share similar coronavirus safety protocols. You could imagine how this adds a new layer of complexity because there are still many unknowns about how this virus spreads and how to protect everyone.
Choosing students for your pandemic pod requires looking beyond the students themselves. You’ll need to evaluate how the family lives, who they socialize with, how they protect themselves, and most importantly, how honest they’ll be about their social interactions when not in the pod. In other words, you are interacting with everybody THEY interact with.
So if they don’t wear masks when stopping at the grocery store, it’s like you went with them to the store and didn’t wear your mask – and you may be exposing your family and the entire pod to the coronavirus. If one of the parents is having a sexual affair with someone out of the pod family group, you’re essentially in bed with their lover too. Get my drift? Now the big questions are can you trust them to tell you these private details about who they’re socializing with and can you operate your pandemic pod safely for your teacher and the students?
I’m helping families design their pandemic pods and vet students/families to find good matches. It’s best to keep pods to just 2-4 families. By doing the interviews and setting up policies as their consultant, it makes it easier for the families to discuss concerns about other family member’s activities and the overall safety of all parties. Is it worth it? We’ll see… For me back in the 90s (pre-pandemic,) it was the best decision I made for my girls, their education and their social lives.
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4 Alternatives to On-Campus or Distance Learning
As we approach the start of the 2020-2021 school year, parents and students are worried and frustrated by the decisions their schools are making due to the coronavirus pandemic. Teachers and administrators are concerned about spreading the virus and how they can conduct classes keeping students 6 feet apart. Parents and students realize that their spring 2020 online classes did not offer the quality instruction and overall learning that they had hoped for. Another year of distance learning or hybrid programs will undeniably disrupt both the quality and depth of instruction and learning. So what are your alternative choices?
1. Individual Tutoring (Virtual)
While online or hybrid instruction offers safe learning environments, actual instruction time with real teachers and the depth of material covered during the semester is often truncated. Teachers may not cover all chapters in their textbooks and may require less assignments and exams. While this may seem trivial, students need to receive instruction for all concepts listed in the class curriculum in order for them to be successful in the following year’s courses. So even if the student gets an “A” in the class, they may not be prepared for the next class in the sequence.
Many students are working with tutors to take instruction to a deeper level. By having a tutor review and discuss concepts in depth, students can complete the course being better prepared and more confident. Tutors can fill the gaps when teachers simply don’t have the time or resources to support individual students online.
2. Small Homeschool with Real Teacher (Face-to-face)
Young students and students with learning differences can benefit from having classes at home with just a few students (2 or 3). Parents can select a teacher to teach these classes using curriculum and materials. All parties would be tested for the coronavirus and they would wear masks and maintain 6 feet distance. These classes offer more individualized instruction than online classes. Classes can take place in the home or outdoors. The hosting family can charge tuition for the classes to cover the cost of the teacher wages. I wrote this book to help set up these small homeschools.
3. One-on-One Classes with a Real Teacher (Virtual)
For high school students who want high-caliber individual instruction and grades to separate themselves from their peers (and competition for selective colleges), they can take accredited classes taught one-on-one with a real teacher. This ensures that the student develops skills and learns concepts at a deeper level. Classes are taught using Google Meet in a virtual setting. The teacher individualizes the instruction to best fit the student’s learning modes. Colleges accept these courses and appreciate that the student has taken extra measures to build their academic foundation so they can be successful when attending college. Check out Merit Academy’s one-on-one classes.
4. Do a project (Virtual)
While students are not taking classes on campus and participating in afterschool activities or extracurriculars, they may have more free time. Rather than playing videogames or binge-watching TV shows, students can do a project. Projects can range from writing a book, to developing an app, to creating a non-profit organization, to engineering a device. Some of my students are creating solutions to supply chain problems, while others are engineering fire prevention devices. One student is writing a book on teen angst with tips on how to avoid problems. These projects give students the opportunity to explore possible careers, and they all become more confident and interesting people when they complete these projects. Check out Beat the College Admissions Game with ProjectMerit.
If you don’t like your school options for 2020-2021, consider alternatives. You can make this unprecedented school dilemma a positive opportunity for your child to develop academic and professional skills so they can be more prepared to return to the classroom and position themselves to get into top colleges.
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Good grades are better than Pass/Fail
What does it mean for your child now that their classes will not return to school campuses for the rest of this spring semester? It means that you need to become both teacher and guidance counselor to ensure that your child stays on track.
Teachers and administrators have scrambled to learn how to conduct lectures in an online group setting. They are struggling to test students to determine if they understand the concepts covered in this new classroom venue. Some students don’t have access to high-speed internet or computers to partake in these classes. This isn’t fair to anyone – especially those students who don’t have laptops or teachers who don’t have the technical support to set up Zoom or Hangout classrooms.
As final exams loom over every high school teacher, schools are making difficult decisions about how to assign grades for courses taken this spring semester. College-bound students need strong GPAs and transcripts to be competitive in the college admissions race. I’m hearing that many high schools are succumbing to giving pass/fail marks instead of letter grades.
Average students benefit from pass/fail because colleges won’t know if they’re an A or a D student. For students applying to selective colleges, these pass/fail grades create a question mark about these courses. These students need to do other things to stand out in the college admissions process.
In addition to the problem with pass-fail courses on student transcripts, students really aren’t going to learn all of the concepts that would normally be taught in these classes. They lost several weeks of instruction due to the chaos that the shelter-in-place order caused in every school. Many classes have been reduced to just once zoom class per week while all other interaction with teachers consists of turning in homework assignments.
The problem with this scenario is that the students are expected (and need) to know all of these concepts in order for them to transition into the next class in the fall. That means that they’ll be starting the next level of instruction with a gap in their knowledge and skill set. This isn’t fair to their future teachers who will then attempt to teach those skills that weren’t taught this year along with all of the new concepts and skills they were planning to teach during the next school year.
Here’s what you can do as parent, teacher, and guidance counselor to your child:
1. Talk to your child’s teachers to determine what concepts will NOT be covered this year. Then look for resources that will help bridge this gap. Consider online lectures, videos, textbooks and other materials.
2. Use a planner to help your children organize their time so they can be sure to cover the additional reading, videos, or projects to supplement each of their academic classes. It’s easy for them to skip these extra steps amidst the lack of normalcy at home.
3. Insist that courses receive grades (not pass/fail) and work with your school to find solutions.
4. Hire a tutor who can teach concepts that your child is having difficulty with. Don’t let this snowball into a big problem next year.
5. If your children aren’t learning in one or more of their classes, consider enrolling them in accredited classes taught one-on-one with a real teacher (using Google Hangouts). They’ll have customized classes that focus just on your child. These courses will receive real grades (not pass/fail) and your children’s GPAs will be more favorable to college admissions officers.
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Supplementing Academics While at Home
Now that most schools in the US are closed for at least 2-3 weeks and some for the rest of the school year, there are some things you can do to make sure that your child won’t fall behind and to give them a head start next year. While this interruption in school affects the whole country, it doesn’t need to handicap them if we use this time wisely. Don’t be fooled to think that your children are okay because their teachers won’t test them on material they didn’t cover due to school closures. They may get A’s on their spring report cards, but they still need to learn the concepts they missed. When students miss a month or more of school (and classes aren’t conducted every day at the same caliber as they are when they’re in classes), they will be behind next year when their teachers expect that they had learned a bank of concepts the previous year. This is the real problem.
You don’t need to be a mathematician, physicist, or published author to support your children’s academics. All you need to do is organize their time at home. They’re already used to a routine at school, so give them some structure to help them stay on task and to ward off anxiety and depression. Set up a schedule for them to wake up, have breakfast, and get ready for the day – yes, get them out of their jammies!
Then, layout their academic or school schedule if they don’t have online classes with their teachers at a regular time. This gives you the unique opportunity to fine tune what they will learn and to give them support in areas where they may be weak. If they need to build a stronger math foundation, set up math drills using online math games (MathBlaster) or math programs (Khan Academy) to give them mileage so they can be successful in math when they return to school.
For students who need to build reading comprehension skills (all ages; and it’s great for SAT prep too!), give them books to read. Yes, lots of books! Here is a list of summer reading that I recommend for elementary, middle, and high school students. Block off 45 minutes to an hour for reading without distractions (cell phones, video games, TV, radio). Have your children start a journal to document their experiences and to give them free reign to find their voices while using complete sentences (no abbreviations or text-message style). The best way to improve writing is to write!
Hire online tutors or teachers to teach difficult concepts and to give your children exercises to build their skills in these areas. These teachers can pick up where the classroom teacher left off, and continue to cover all chapters and concepts that the students will miss. This will ensure that they do well when they return this semester and that they’ll have the foundation they’ll need to proceed in all classes next year. Merit offers both tutoring and one-on-one accredited classes taught by real teachers in Google Hangouts.
Besides academic learning, you can also block off time for your children to explore art and history museums online. They can start a vegetable garden. Children and teens can also learn how to crochet and knit blankets. Pull out puzzles to give them a long-term challenge – and to get them off their computers. Create a list of movies and documentaries you’d like them to watch.
The opportunities are endless. Just make sure they stay home or in the yard – don’t take them out into the public. We all need to work together to make sure that we aren’t carrying the virus and spreading it others. So let’s use this break from school to prepare our children with the additional skill-building they’ll need when they return to school in a month or next year.
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