How to make remote learning work for your family with Sarah Durack
"In the current environment getting kids offline and in the outdoors learning should be a priority."
Sarah Durack
Remote learning is one of the biggest changes many of us are facing as lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders continue, and after lots of conversations with other parents I know Ben and I aren't alone in finding the transition challenging.
So when I received an email from today's guest offering her time and expertise to speak about exactly this topic, I jumped at the chance. After all, this season of the podcast is all about bringing you good, relevant, and above all, helpful conversations as often as I can. Hopefully today's episode fits the bill on all counts - particularly for any parents or guardians struggling with remote learning.
Today’s guest is Sarah Durack, is a high-school science teacher from an independent school in Sydney, who also has a background in tutoring. Sarah's school has been using remote learning for a number of weeks and brings with her a whole heap of incredibly helpful, practical tips on how we can make this learning-from-home experience a little less stressful for everyone.
The tips and suggestions Sarah offers apply to kids of all ages, but I also know there are a lot of parents of older high school students who have specific concerns about their kids' schooling. Considering my kids are still in primary school I wanted to dig in to some of the ways parents can support their older kids at the moment so Sarah and I delve in to that at the beginning of the episode.
Sarah also offers some advice on how to best advocate for your kids if they are struggling under the current learning conditions, as well as how to make some of the learning (which for many students is almost 100% digital and online at the moment) more analogue.
Lastly, I wanted to find out how local communities can come together and offer help and show support to teachers during this tough time, and Sarah has some really lovely practical ideas to share.
Head over to iTunes to subscribe to the show and play the episode.
Or you can listen to the show directly, simply by hitting the Play button above. Enjoy!
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Things to Check Out After Today’s Episode:
- The Slow Beginnings Retreat is now open for registration! We kick things off on Sunday April 26 and if you'd like to know more or want to secure your spot, head over here.
- Some helpful links Sarah shared with me after our chat:
- Sponge Education - an online support initiative for teachers and tutors working all over the world
As always, thank you for listening.