Make a "Healthy Mind" Schedule for Your Child During Distance Learning
As an online tutor, I now work exclusively with students over Zoom, FaceTime, Google Docs, and the like. So, I've been busy figuring out ways to help them survive days, weeks, and maybe months of distance learning. This September, I'm going to share one of those tips each week with parents. We really are in this together!
This week's tip is to make a "healthy mind schedule" for your child.
Photo by @joshriemer on Unsplash
Middle and high schools are fantastically ordered places – at least when it comes to time. Students (and teachers!) never have to think about when to move, when to sit, when to speak, when to eat, when to rest: bells do it for them. If your child’s learning from the living room, make a schedule that promotes a healthy mind:
integrate the following “bell times” into each day:
wake time
sit-down-at-desk-in-front-of-computer-time
physical activity times (these should be more numerous the younger the child is)
snack and lunch times;
rest times (again, younger children will need more of these at more frequent intervals);
social time.
Photo by @emmamatthews on Unsplash
(By the way, if you'd like to replicate the bells of middle and high schools, check these time-keepers out on my website.)
Parents who have attended my talks on how to combat anxiety and to succeed while distance learning may recall the phrase "healthy mind platter." I borrow this phrase from UCLA neuropsychiatrist Daniel J. Siegel. Dr. Siegel has written extensively on the development of children and adolescents' brains. He contends that we all need seven types of activities in our days in order to promote healthy brain functioning. Check out this great visual of the “healthy-mind” platter along with a definition of the seven "times" our brains need.
It'd be awesome if we could schedule all seven of Dr. Dan's "times" into our days. Realistically, though, I'm not sure that's possible. Nevertheless, we could schedule some "time in," for example, once per week. The six times that I've listed above are, as an online tutor, my own recommendations for daily "must-haves" for every child -- whether they're learning virtually or in person.
Photo by @annelizaearl on Unsplash
Just remember, though: the walk to the bus stop, then off the bus to the classroom, then from the classroom to the art room and back, then to the cafeteria, then to the playground, then back to the bus and home again provide a lot of physical activity -- especially compared to those learning from home. That's why it's essential for parents to schedule movement in several times a day for kids learning virtually.
As an online tutor, I help parents and students craft healthy-mind schedules all the time; contact me here if you'd like help in scheduling one for your child.