COVID-19 in Schools - Guide for Caregivers, Parents and Families PDF Download

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ISBN:
Category : COVID-19 (Disease)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Author: Rose Kathleen Pozos
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Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Abstract Background When Covid-19 arrived and sparked a wave of lockdowns in the Spring of 2020, parents and other caregivers (e.g., grandparents, adult siblings) needed to decide what to tell their children, how to respond to the children's questions about the changes in their routines, and how much to shelter their children from pandemic news and media. At the time, information about the "new normal" was plentiful and chaotic; families were left mostly on their own to determine how to care for the physical, social, and mental well-being of the family members. Families, already essential yet underappreciated or overlooked learning environments, became visible centers for learning as the physical boundaries between school, home, work, and community life collapsed. Indeed, the Covid-19 pandemic is a special lens through which to understand expansive family learning dynamics with respect to the experience of sense-making in the pandemic. Caregivers are mediators and brokers of learning for their children; thus, their perspectives are critical to understand as we prepare to respond to future crises. Objective This study examines how three mechanisms shaped learning about the Covid-19 pandemic in families with elementary school children from around the U.S. during the Spring of 2020. My primary research questions are: (1) What can we learn about children's information needs in times of crisis from the questions they asked of their caregivers about the Covid-19 pandemic? (2) How were families using social and media resources to learn about Covid-19, and how did these resources play into caregivers' approaches to discussing the pandemic with their children? (3) How were caregivers managing the flow of Covid-19 information in their homes with respect to their children? Methodology The data analyzed come from a larger diary study research project conducted by Dr. Brigid Barron's youthLab, documenting how 109 families with elementary school-aged children across the U.S. adapted to distance learning in the first wave of Covid-19 lockdowns. We used dscout, a cell-phone-based, multimodal, qualitative research platform, to both collect the data and recruit participants. To qualify to participate in the study, caregivers who applied to be in the study needed to have at least one child in K-5 and give IRB consent. The final participants were mostly female caregivers (67%) who had children in public schools (84%). 55% self-identified as White, and X% self-reported incomes at or below the national average of $74,000. One portion of the study asked the caregivers to reflect on how they were learning about Covid-19 with their families. I took the multimodal data that participants provided in response to our prompts about their Covid-19 learning ecologies (written responses, two-minute selfie-style videos, pictures, and answers to multiple-choice questions) and performed multiple rounds of qualitative and descriptive statistical analyses on three units of analysis. These units of analysis are aligned to the research questions above. They are: the questions caregivers reported their children asking about Covid-19, the social and media resources caregivers drew on to learn about the pandemic with their children and inform their conversations, and caregivers' perspectives on their children's information needs and their goals for how their children's experience in the pandemic. The analyses build on each other to inform holistic case analyses of six families that demonstrate how the dynamics of Covid-19 learning were playing out in the caregiver's reports of the families' engagement with information about the pandemic. Conclusions Caregivers struggled to navigate the plethora of Covid-19 information generally and find helpful "kid-friendly" explanations they felt were appropriate for younger children. The emotional impact of not only disease but also the physical and social limitations imposed by the lockdowns also appears strongly in the children's questions also indicate their position as active participants in their families' health conversation and practices, as well as the pandemic-related topics that were most pressing on their minds in May 2020. In terms of caregiver mediation and brokering, I describe the relationship between caregivers' self-perceived transparency of information with their children versus the actions they report taking to curate their children's Covid-19 learning ecologies. Importantly, sheltering children and filtering the information they hear may have implications for public health education. Additionally, examining the social and media resources that caregivers leveraged to discuss the pandemic with their children surfaced novel forms of joint-media engagement that have implications for future research on learning in media-saturated environments. Implications Taken together, the findings imply a need for a more visible, coordinated public health educational system. A multitude of design opportunities to improve the learning environment in the next crises are evident. Some of those opportunities are material - e.g., improved public health education and messaging through all modes of media - and some are social - e.g., re-establishing sources of local information that are reliable and present a (relatively) unified message. Misinformation researchers are also calling attention to the risks to public health from the media infosphere. Now more than ever, these need to be headed and interventions designed specifically with the needs and dynamics of families in mind. Family management of the infosphere will only continue to grow in relevance as the misinformation online is not regulated. To reach families and meet their diverse needs, we must understand the frameworks that guide caregivers' actions and provide roadmaps for responding to difficult or unexpected situations. These frameworks are situationally dependent and evolve as new contradictions arise. However, we have the tools to start breaking down what is important to caregivers at a deeper level than on the surface. This study presents one method of doing so and points to novel opportunities for research on learning in families coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Author: William A. Haseltine
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780578720821
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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In A Family Guide to Covid, William A. Haseltine answers tough questions about Covid-19 honestly, with equal measures of clarity and compassion. It is written especially for those who are faced with the difficult task of not only protecting themselves, but of protecting their families, their children, their spouses, and their parents.

Author:
Publisher: Government Printing Office
ISBN: 9780160942884
Category : Child health services
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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In this booklet you will learn more about the role vaccines play in keeping them healthy. You will learn about: Diseases that are prevented by vaccines, and the vaccines that prevent them. -- How to prepare for a doctor's visit that includes vaccinations, and what to expect during and after the visit. -- How vaccines help your child's immune system do its job. -- How well vaccines work, and how safe they are. -- Where to find more information.

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309680077
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 115

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The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges to the nation's K-12 education system. The rush to slow the spread of the virus led to closures of schools across the country, with little time to ensure continuity of instruction or to create a framework for deciding when and how to reopen schools. States, districts, and schools are now grappling with the complex and high-stakes questions of whether to reopen school buildings and how to operate them safely if they do reopen. These decisions need to be informed by the most up-to-date evidence about the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19; about the impacts of school closures on students and families; and about the complexities of operating school buildings as the pandemic persists. Reopening K-12 Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Prioritizing Health, Equity, and Communities provides guidance on the reopening and operation of elementary and secondary schools for the 2020-2021 school year. The recommendations of this report are designed to help districts and schools successfully navigate the complex decisions around reopening school buildings, keeping them open, and operating them safely.

Author: William A Haseltine
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780578743615
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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The Covid Back To School Guide answers the most pressing question facing parents and students today-is it safe to go back to school? In the book, Dr. Haseltine walks readers through a three-part hierarchy of risk that every family can use to come to the decision that is best for them.

Author: Tracy Heilers
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780578627229
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 374

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Partnering with over twenty mindfulness resource organizations and written by over three dozen passionate school educators, this collaborative book utilizes inspiring storytelling to give a multi-perspective exploration of the emergence of mindfulness in US education. Together they make the case for mindfulness in schools and show us firsthand how establishing a foundation of mindfulness prioritizes well-being and supercharges all learning.Endorsements:"If you want to know what's actually happening with mindfulness in schools, this is the perfect collection for educators. A superb compilation of relevant, robust, and real-life examples to build understanding and capacity. As a school superintendent, this will be an invaluable resource for our teams." --Timothy J. Steinhauer, Ed.D, Superintendent, Mt. Lebanon School District, PA"Full of specific examples and tools, this compelling book shows many ways to bring the educational and personal value of mindfulness to all kinds of children in a variety of settings. Credible and full of common sense, a wonderful resource for every teacher."--Rick Hanson, Ph.D., Author of Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness "This book is a beautiful offering to the world. It is filled with powerful stories and learnings from the frontlines of the mindfulness in education movement. This book is a must-have for anyone engaged in sharing mindfulness with educators or young people."--Meena Srinivasan, Executive Director, Transformative Educational Leadership, Author of SEL Every Day and Teach, Breathe, Learn"I'm very excited as a champion of mindfulness in education to recommend this book. We in New York City know that mindfulness is a powerful tool in helping not just our children but our families, teachers and public servants in other agencies to manage stress, cultivate awareness and realize thriving and compassionate learning communities." --Eric Adams, Brooklyn Borough President, New York City

Author: Elizabeth Englander
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 74

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The return of traditional school in the fall of 2020 will pose challenges that educators and parents have never before faced. Academically, children are likely to be in many different places. Socially and emotionally, their isolation, increased screen time, and any social problems like cyberbullying mean that schools have to be prepared to cope with students who have gone through a pandemic, a deep recession, and new social unrest and changes. Students may have known people who became sick or even died; who lost jobs; or who were injured. This book is designed to help educators and parents on a very practical level, with TO DO lists for this summer, late August, and the beginning of school. Further, these lists of suggestions are separated by the role that the adult plays: Parent, School Administrator, School Counselor, and Classroom Teacher. For example, Teachers can be given a short list of trauma symptoms to look for in students, and can send younger students pictures of themselves both with and without masks on. Administrators can develop a quick guide for parents with relevant phone numbers, and a FAQ sheet for staff who answer the school phone. Parents, of course, can help their children cope emotionally by maintaining comforting routines whenever possible. The research that has been done during this pandemic, and during past natural disasters, helped inform the practical recommendations found in this book.

Author: Karen White Porter
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781946785220
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Parents who want the best for their child or children, and they don't feel safe putting them in their local public school need this guide if they do not feel comfortable with what the public schools are offering now. This step by step guide explains in simple terms what is needed to homeschool your child. Whether it's because of health or safety reasons or for quality concerns, your reasons are justified at this time.

Author: Dylan Meikle
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780578815404
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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