From Surviving to Thriving During the #COVID19 Pandemic

We so appreciated the participation of many in our survey on how we can meet your needs at this unique time during the COVID-19 pandemic. There were an average of 76 responses to each question, four questions total. When asked, “what is causing the most unrest in your family?,” 33% said motivation to work while 21% said too many responsibilities with too little time. To the question “What are your learning condition preferences?”, 66% responded that they preferred learning supports that could be accessed anytime and on their own schedule and 30% said they preferred scheduled, weekly opportunities. The most popular ways of learning included short videos and blog articles. Of the topics that would help you the most, there were a wide range of responses with the most popular being managing screen time and also, dealing with power struggles, facilitating learning at home, creating social connections during stay-at-home isolation, how to support children through their fears and anxieties, how to deal with parents’ big feelings, and how to use this time to build social and emotional skills.

This will very much guide our agenda going forward starting with this post. Check out the top most popular tools and practical resources from Confident Parents, Confident Kids that relate to your needs for support. 

Reinventing the Family Media Agreement 

Even though you may have had media rules in the past, our lives and our relationship was screens has changed dramatically. Now for some, school comes through screens so kids are using them for learning and for entertainment. That’s why it makes sense to have a fresh family conversation about screen uses and how you will manage your time. A healthy relationship with screens means that you’ll incorporate your other priorities into your life and ensure that time outside, creative time, rest time, meal time, reading, family game time and other important moments are kept sacred while screens are put to rest. Talking about those priorities helps all family members get and stay on the same page and also creates a day and a schedule in which physical and mental health needs are considered and respected. Get the printable plan.

Disagreeing Respectfully with these Conversation Tools

In this time of close proximity when we are with our family members much more regularly, we are certain to encounter frustrations with one another and to disagree. If we have conversation tools at the ready, we’ll be able to navigate our way through those challenging conversations while keeping up relationships intimate, healthy and growing. Get the one-page printable.

Inspiring Hard Work

Yes, there’s a science behind motivation that can shed some light on how to inspire our children to work hard even during these stay-at-home, distance learning days. It’s true that relationships are the cornerstone of learning. “Research from the children’s media field suggests that technology can, indeed, facilitate meaningful connection. Joint media engagement—a relatively new concept—refers to using technology and media as a co-engagement or co-viewing tool between adults and children. Multiple studies show that a healthier way for children to interact with technology (especially screen media) is if an adult is physically or virtually present and participating in usage with the child. The positive benefits increase when the technology delivers high-quality educational content.”¹ 

Additionally, our expressions of confidence that our children have “got this” can help children engage in the work at hand. Check out the article entitled “Homework Attitude — Promoting Autonomy and Competence to Inspire Hard Work.” And get the printable hard work poster to hang in your school work location.

Creating a Morning Routine for Learning Success

The CASEL Cares Initiative created this short video on why a consistent morning routine is so important and how to co-create a successful plan with your family. Excerpted from the longer webinar with Jennifer Miller on promoting social and emotional learning at home. Check it out!

Setting Up for Learning Success

How do you set up your physical and psychological environment to promote the conditions for learning to take place at home? Check out the latest webinar from Jennifer Miller for the CASEL Cares Initiative to learn about more!

Dealing with Fears and Anxieties

Reading with your children can serve as a way to face fears together, talk about them, and conquer them. Check out this new podcast from Highlights for Children with Jennifer Miller and Editor-In-Chief Christine Cully on “How Reading Helps Social and Emotional Learning.” And check out this one-page printable on “Eleven Simple Tips for Parents on Helping Children Deal with Anxiety.”

Dealing with our own Big Feelings

We are all having them right now. From fear to worry to frustration to anger, it seems some form of anxiety is living just under the surface and a small trigger can bring it out in a heartbeat. Because we are already on edge, we are more likely to explode with our more challenging emotions. So why not plan ahead for our responses to those big feelings so that we never do or say something we’ll regret. Do it for yourself and for your family. And remember that when you take care of your own big feelings, you’ll be modeling and teaching your children self-awareness and self-management skills at the very same time you are taking care of yourself. Bonus! Print off the Family Emotional Safety Plan.

Global Pledge of Allegiance

Finally, Jennifer Miller’s family is offering morning announcements every weekday morning through Facebook Live at 8:15 a.m. EST during the pandemic to help families begin their mornings with a positive, calm tone. In those morning announcements, we say a Global Pledge of Allegiance that honors the fact that we are in a global crisis and are collectively working toward a healthier, safer planet. Connect with this community and use the Global Pledge of Allegiance to begin your days with your family!

May you and your family find comfort and support in these tools. We’ll be certain to continue to produce practical, research-backed tools going forward so they’ll be more to come! Meanwhile, here’s to our collective health and safety.

References:

Barron, B. Et al. (2011). The New Coviewing: Designing for Learning through Joint Media Engagement. NY: Joan Ganz Cooney and LIFE Centers.