Sharing the load of the week
Best practices of how parents can band together to share the weekly planning/educating responsibilities.
đ° The Topic
For most of us, weâre heading into the 3rd or 4th week of strict social distancing - aka living the realities of 3 fulltime jobs - caring for kids/home, work and educating kids. For some, schools have started sharing helpful schedules and resources. For others, weâre still on our own.
Whatâs fairly clear is that we need to figure out arrangements that can help us navigate work, school and home responsibilities in a sustainable, doesnât-burn-us-out-in-a-week way.
So for this weekâs Parent Like a Pro, we tracked down ways that parents are banding together to Share the Load.
đĽShared morning group time (if schools arenât already doing it).
Reach out to 5-7 other families (eg kidsâ class friends) and schedule a daily 9:30am shared academic time.
Set daily topic - eg. Mon: Spelling/Creative Writing; Tues: Math etc
Send out calendar invites with a video link (eg. Zoom or Google Hangouts).
Have parents sign up to lead one morning/week.
Create a shared document where you can all share the weekâs plan and activity/meal ideas - here is a template to get you started.
Have fun with it!
Shared recommendations.
The cognitive relief of not having to make all the decisions every day is real. Whether itâs what for dinner this week or the best live events to join this week, share recommendations among the parents in your community.
Plan âfield tripsâ to zoos, aquariums, safaris and museums with webcams or virtual tours.
Find games the kids canât get enough of (hopscotch and Zingo are winners in our house).
Find the recipe site that speaks to you and makes you feel excited about trying new things out. Delish, NYT Cooking and Serious Eats are mine.
Shared community projects.
Lift the heaviness of the times with projects that make you feel more connected to the community around you.đ§¸Join in the Great Bear Hunt - with teddy bears in front windows.
đHearts for Healthcare - put hearts in your front window to show appreciation for healthcare workers.
đ˛Shared chalk art - takeover the neighborhood/school basketball court by starting an art or games project that others can add to or play on
𧰠The Tools.
Pod shared document - shared schedule and activity ideas
đ§ Worth Reading (and Watching)
How to actually do this remote-learning thing while also working from home - some helpful suggestions
Some Good News - what the world needs - John Krasinski helping us focus on all the good.