The second semester of school has started, and we are still doing digital learning.  The first semester was full of new challenges, adjustments and sanity checks.  Now that we have the first semester under our belt (check out blog post part one of this series- how to prepare for virtual learning), I would like to share with you the things that we have done to make working from home and learning from home live together in the best version of harmony that we can get, haha!

1 / Pivoting

In August, I had a schedule laid out for our day, and after a few months I had to make some adjustments to it.  The first thing is...I sleep in a little longer than I used to now.  I get about 30 more minutes in the morning and have adjusted making my morning latte to late morning.  We now take a break around 10am, and that’s when I make my latte or tea.  It’s a block of time when Ava’s ready for a break and I am as well.  I don’t find myself in need of caffeine as soon as I wake up these days, so this change worked out nicely! I also enjoy the process of making my morning latte (I find it therapeutic), so the morning break is the perfect time for this centering activity as well. And yes, the latte that I made below is pink :)

Another change I made is to my work schedule. I get my work day started 30 minutes later so I can dedicate the first 30 minutes of the day to LM&C as well as my daughter's morning meeting (as a reminder, she’s in Kindergarten so I have to be present and active for her full day).  These small changes to the schedule have made a huge difference for the better!  If something isn’t working well for you, by all means, pivot!

2 / Sanity Check

It can be difficult to try to stay sane when you have such a hectic day. The best ways I have been able to keep my sanity are the following:

Wine.

Haha! No seriously, while a glass of wine is nice, I dedicate time to relax after my work day.  Sometimes that looks like watching TV, sometimes it looks like listening to music with a candle burning and sometimes it’s me starting on my blog/biz tasks earlier than planned.  All of it is for the sole purpose of keeping me sane.  The days are much more hectic now and there’s ALWAYS something going on (Ava’s small group meetings, my work meetings, my work tasks, Ava’s lesson plans that she needs my help with, etc.)...not to mention everything else going on in the world.  Making time for yourself is a key to keeping your sanity in check.

Also, on the days that my husband is home, he is able to assist with Ava’s school day which is a HUGE help! When she attends aftercare, he also takes her there and picks her up, so the team effort really helps with keeping my sanity in check.

3 / Social Outlet

Since Covid hit, Ava has continued to attend her childcare facility.  We felt very comfortable with this because of their protocol (temperature checks at the door for students and staff, no parents or outsiders allowed inside the building, scheduled deep cleaning, etc.).  Since Ava isn’t in her Kindergarten classroom during the day (the school system does not have as thorough of a protocol as childcare), we decided to have her attend aftercare three days a week so she can have interaction in person with other children.  Many of these children she has known since she began attending as an infant, so the familiarity is great.  She gets to play and learn more with her friends safely, and I get to finish my work day with 100% focus.  This has been a huge help during this school year.

4 / Car Time

On the days that Ava attends aftercare, on my drive home I usually listen to explicit music lol!  This is one of the only times I can listen to it since Ava’s not around.  Sometimes I stop to get a small snack then sit in my car listening to music while snacking!  Little moments like this are enjoyable and don’t happen often, so I take advantage when I can!  I sometimes even find myself in the garage after I return home still sitting in my car listening to music and scrolling through IG or TikTok for a quick laugh before I clock back in to work!

5 / Normalcy

One major reason we decided to stick with digital learning for the remainder of the school year is because we know that kids thrive in routine.  They need routine and predictability to aid in their learning process.  Going into the winter months, we were certain that there would be back and forth with in-person students going digital due to rising numbers, etc. (in fact, that is exactly what happened this week!).  We didn’t want to deal with the back and forth and break up the routine and normalcy that she has.  We have a great routine going, and 95% of the time, we stick to it.  Ava’s day (with my assistance) consists of a live morning meeting, two lessons, morning break/snack, three more lessons and live meetings, lunch, two final lessons, then aftercare (or chill time if it’s a day she doesn’t attend aftercare).  This schedule has worked well for us and it helps me to also know what my capabilities are with my job such as when to schedule meetings and trainings and when to work on different types of tasks (high concentration tasks happen when she has a long lesson or after she has completed her day).  I am thankful that my job knows and understands the situation and is willing to work with me to make everything flow as smoothly as possible at home and work.

6 / Learning Aides

Something that I adopted early on in the school year was hanging learning aides in her work area.  Things such as the ABC, number, money and shape charts have been a huge help in her learning.  She can easily reference these things to check her work and help her if she needs it.  Her work area also resembles a classroom with these things on the wall, so she knows it’s school time when she’s sitting at her desk.  I also have a large whiteboard that I write the weekly schedule on as well as her sight words for the week and her special class of the week.  She has the task every morning to change the magnet to the current day then tell me the full date which she enjoys!  She also has different tasks such as turning on the printer when we need to print worksheets, and I have been teaching her how to use and navigate her way through a computer.  It’s never too early!  She enjoys learning about finger placement on the keyboard, using the shift key for capital letters, using backspace to erase and opening/closing internet tabs when different screens are needed for her lessons.  I even gave her a lesson in marketing when she wanted to know why ads are on YouTube!  I explained everything about having to watch ads if you don’t pay for a service and went into all the detail!  She repeated it back to me so she gets it and never asked about it again lol!  Learning aides, especially as a young child, are not only in the classroom, but also life lessons in the things that you use and do everyday.

7 / Supplemental Lessons

Many say that Kindergarten is such an important year for a child’s learning and development.  I understand this the more I see what they are learning (Kindergarten has changed since I attended in 1987!).  If there is a concept or lesson that Ava may need to focus more time on, I like to supplement her regular lessons with extra things such as workbooks that I have purchased for her and real life lessons (learning in life).  This way, she can focus extra time on the concept outside of her classroom hours.  These things are also sometimes through a learning game on her tablet or a book that we have about the subject.  I think parent involvement is a key element to a child’s education. Though teachers are the main source of education during the school day, parent involvement outside of school hours is key! A child’s education shouldn’t fall totally on their teachers or stop in the classroom.

These are the things that we have adjusted since school started in August.  If your child (or children!) is doing virtual learning, how is it going for you all and what are some things you have had to adjust to make the day flow as smoothly as possible?