Here’s Some Homework to Help Handle the New Demands of Remote Learning

There was a time was when “remote learning” looked something like “Little House on the Prairie,” with children saddling up or hopping aboard the horse-drawn buggy to travel to an equally remote schoolhouse. Remote learning, of course, has taken on a whole new meaning.

Boasting a tranquil setting, yet still close to everyday conveniences, West Villages cherishes the award-winning community’s close-knit atmosphere, with resort-style, family-friendly amenities and stunning homes in nine distinctive neighborhoods. In a word, togetherness, where you’re not alone—and you are definitely not alone in a crisis of global proportion.

It’s estimated that more than 55 million American schoolchildren now have to do their schoolwork from home. West Villages’ children can’t attend their A-rated Taylor Ranch Elementary School and Venice Middle and Venice High schools nearby.

With all that in mind, West Villages offers some tips for how to handle remote learning, saving you hours on Google trying to learn how to become a homeschooling pro—likely the very last thing you need to do while juggling your own work-from-home demands.

Lesson plans: Like everything else in life, planning is good. Make a schedule for the day and design lessons for the hours—or minutes—you’ve set aside for “classes.”  Establish time limits (think: attention spans, yours and theirs). Take turns with parental duties.

Resistance: Kids’ resistance to remote learning is now very much a thing. One expert suggests making a “Let It Go” board. If your child refuses a particular task, have them write it on a sticky note and attach it to the board, then return to the lesson at a better time.

Be playful: Now’s not the time to forget about everyday “teachable moments.” Try channeling your own challenges into a curriculum: “We’re decluttering the pantry and, look!, we have some garbanzo beans! Can you teach me what a garbanzo bean is?” or “Let’s sit out on the lanai, where we can watch butterflies and you can tell me what kind they are.”

Designate space: Perhaps the lanai is a good learning space, as well. Just as you need your own WFH office, and a number of West Villages homes boast dens or private studies, your children need to feel they have a workspace, too. Suggestions include a kitchen counter, a cushy pet bed, a “fort” or an actual desk as distraction-free kids-work worlds.

Recruit: A physician friend and her husband with two young daughters brought her sister to live with them. Just so happens that the sister once worked as a teacher. Now the family has a live-in au pair and a qualified educator, who schedules prescribed lessons. Reach out to loved ones—and, better yet, if possible, pros—who can pitch in at home. Likewise, experts encourage you to continue reaching out to your children’s regular teachers.

To learn—yes, educate yourself!—about West Villages and Life Your Way, call the Home Buyers Information Line at 941-960-7805 and we’ll schedule a remote lesson about the extraordinary lifestyle opportunities here.