Making a Schedule and Managing the Minutes
by Jessica Delaney, Principal, Engagement + Communications
Today is the first day of virtual school for my little ones. They will receive three hours of instruction a day with additional supports. I am completely awestruck by the willingness and energy their teachers and school administrators are putting into this new frontier. Three hours of day of “school” is great, but for our little people (and honestly us too), we need a schedule or a framework to organize our days. We are not the only ones. Check out a Globe and Mail article here. As a facilitator, I am all about managing the minutes and making sure we achieve our multiple objectives (learning, fun, sanity ????). There are lots of resources available and wanted to share just a few with you:
- Day Designer: There are printable templates for free download available here https://daydesigner.com/collections/printable-library Print them out and work together to fill them out and make a schedule that works for everyone. If you love their planners, the best place in Canada to buy them is Staples.
- Paaper Studio: Free daily printables with templates and a daily reflection for adults and kids alike. Consider including a daily reflection in your schedule. https://paaperstudio.com/blog/
- Huffington Post: There’s a load of information and links to schedule available here. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/sample-kids-home-schedule_ca_5e6e5904c5b6747ef11f12ce
There are so many resources coming out now, and loads of information. It can be overwhelming. The point is not to have perfection, but to have a framework that creates a sense of control and creates a feeling of normality. From an engagement perspective, I’d like to suggest:
- As much as possible, build the schedule with the kids. Make it a collaboration with a few givens: “mom/dad has work calls from 10-12” might be one.
- Remain flexible and share control with the kids. If it’s a beautiful morning, but the afternoon calls for rain, move PE to a morning hike and math in the afternoon.
- Remember Chris Corrigan’s post. http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot/learning-with-your-kids-at-home-how-we-unschooled/ Love them hard. It’s not school, make it better. Have dance parties, snuggle-fests (pile as many stuffies as you can on a bed and dive in), make cookies in the middle of the afternoon and (bless us) have a freaking nap.
This time will not be forever. Have fun making a family schedule that is based on health, sunshine and time together.
