Here’s How Much Time Children Should Be Spending on Distance Learning
Understandably, parents often convey this homeschooling situation ( I still refuse to call what we are doing now “homeschooling”). In my tapes in social networks parents are worried about the fact that during a pandemic, they do not have time to study their children, because they also work from home, or work outside the home, or just worried about the condition. everything at the moment. Undoubtedly one of the things that does not hold water right now is the academic performance of our children.
Some states and individual counties offer parents more leadership, support, and structure than others, which means some of us are completely overwhelmed and others wish they had more resources or guidance. Enter, the Illinois Board of Education , which has produced a comprehensive (and thoughtful) report on what distance learning should look like right now, as well as why it’s okay if it doesn’t look like it for everyone.
The recommendations in this 62-page report were drawn up by a committee of dozens of administrators, teachers, and students across the state of Illinois. And they start with these wise words:
As educators work to implement these guidelines, we encourage everyone to be flexible and graceful for everyone. At this point, we will all need to model resilience, critical and creative thinking, thoughtful responsiveness and empathy in order for students to continue to grow personally, academically, and linguistically.
Preach, Illinois. Preach.
Anyway, the whiteboard then provides a useful chart with the ranges of minimum and maximum times for which children should be distance learning by class, plus how long we should reasonably expect them to actually concentrate in one sitting:
The Council also encourages educators to provide families with additional elective work, interaction opportunities and enrichment opportunities, but only if it is also clearly stated that the work is optional and will not adversely affect the student’s grade. In fact, here’s what the scoring report says:
Grading should focus on continuing learning and prioritize connectivity and care for students and staff. All students should have the opportunity to review, compose, or try again to complete, show progress, or attempt to complete work assigned prior to the distance learning period during this time period. Our top priority in this unprecedented time must be to ensure the emotional and physical safety of children, their feeding and participation in learning.
The report goes on to provide a framework for teachers developing instructions for students in different grades, as well as for students with special education .
But the diagram, as well as the overall tone of the entire document, helps parents to refer to them as a reminder that we cannot or do not expect to do hours of homework every day. Rather, if your kindergarten is getting a good 30 minutes of instruction (broken down into smaller chunks), you’re fine.