It’s safe to say that education will never be the same again. The pandemic has achieved the impossible. More specifically, it has managed to efficiently bridge the gap between home and school.
This rare event will go down in history as the pivotal moment that brought educators and parents together. They put all their differences aside and joined forces for the sake of the children.
However, this metaphorical bridge that we speak of can only stand the test of time with the help of parental engagement and after school activities. Without them, it’s bound to crumble.
The Village Method has emphasized the vital importance of family engagement for the longest time. We believe that any child can achieve academic excellence as long as the parents are involved in various educational activities.
This certainly explains why we’re so thrilled to watch the current implementation of family engagement in schools.
In this article, we’ll take a look at distance learning and how it’s starting to affect working families throughout the nation. Read on!
How Social Emotional Learning Can Help Working Families
In a perfect world, parents are always there to support their children’s academic journeys. Family engagement activities are a daily occurrence, positive learning habits are built upon and sustained, and the parent-educator relationship is nothing short of perfect.
In the real world, things are not as simple as they might seem at first glance.
Working families have to juggle it all. Their daily efforts are immense and we’re certain that most children who grow up in such families will one day be grateful for mom and dad’s resilience.
However, while they’re still young, they need to feel prioritized, even though they’re currently a part of the distance learning system.
Social Emotional Learning has become a critical component of today’s multicultural schooling system. By adopting this type of learning for both family engagement in schools and after school activities, parents will start noticing important improvements in their children’s ways of adapting to the world.
Positive social behaviors such as generosity and kindness are always prioritized by the Social Emotional Learning framework.
Our youth needs to develop the self-awareness and confidence necessary to excel during school, college, and ultimately, in life.
Working families require peace of mind. They need to know that their children’s cultural, emotional, social, and academic needs are all met during distance learning.
However, after school activities that include strong parental engagement frameworks will continue to play a crucial part in the healthy development of a child’s life skills.
After School Activities and Working Families
According to the Afterschool Alliance, parents in California whose children benefit from various after school activities have noticed colossal improvements. Their children are kept out of trouble and consistently encouraged to build sustainable life skills.
Most parents have agreed that after school activities provide them with peace of mind. This is especially relevant for working parents. While they may not always be able to constantly be there for their children, they’re still enjoying the benefits of culturally responsive education.
African-American students require a different approach. More specifically, this culturally accurate approach must focus predominantly on offering them a realistic picture of their history.
As we’ve discussed in our earlier articles, the rich heritage of our ancestors has been not only silenced but erased from the curriculum. This is unacceptable at the very least. If schools refuse to nourish our youth, we’ll have to seek help elsewhere.
The Village Method provides working families with not just regular after school activities, but with a complex, all-encompassing experience that aims to echo the African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child”. The village might be missing at school, but it can surely be found if one looks for other empowering alternatives.
Because we’re inspired by the Critical Race Theory, we strongly believe that a truthful account of African-American history could go a long way for everyone involved. The longer we choose to negate the truth, the longer systemic racism will continue to thrive in our country.
The Conclusion for all Working Families Is…
Our youth needs to evolve in an environment that is safe, culturally affirming and nurturing. However, the plague of systemic racism continues to spread because of the massive gaps in our curriculum.
We must compensate by prioritizing family engagement and getting involved in after school activities that provide our youth with the right tools to dismantle systemic racism once and for all.
The Village Method has been a trusted ally of working families way before the COVID-19 pandemic. We rely on you to continue our noble mission. All you have to do is either share our organization with your friends and family, donate, or volunteer. The choice is yours.
It takes a village to raise a child, according to our African ancestors. However, what do we do when the village is not there? What do we do when it’s systematically being destroyed? We build it from scratch. Join our cause today!