With Remote Learning, Offer Students Choice

I’ve seen a lot of schedules floating around. They may look something like this:

First of all, this is awesome. It provides structure for parents who may need as much help as possible setting a schedule for their kids.

After all, kids have strict structure at school. So why not home?

Only most educators would probably agree that, although structure is good for some, many kids would flourish in a less structured setting.

And some students simply need to learn flexibility.

Instead of a strict schedule, some families may benefit from a Choice Board, where kids can choose what they do and when they do it, hitting on a variety of important categories.

For my family, there are seven things we all try to do most days: Read, Move, Learn, Create, Connect, Chores and Rest.

Each day, our kids have the option of choosing from the various categories and when they get to do it. But they have to choose a balance of activities; they can’t all be from the same couple categories.

When they wake up, they will see something like the following (I’ve modified the grid so it provides more options for kids of various ages):

Our kids can then choose what they want to do and when they do it. The time on each is merely a suggestion (if it takes longer, great! If it takes shorter, then it’s time to move on). And, of course, parent guidance is necessary.

Obviously, this would need to be adapted to fit the technology availability, subscription availability and physical abilities or age of each child.

And when it comes to learning / creating, it’s also important to see these as projects, not one-day activities. Creating a book or learning an instrument can take months. But it’s valuable to spend quality time each day / every couple days doing the activity.

After all, we just might have months of remote learning.

Any other suggestions? Feel free to comment!