4 Tips To Help Parents Navigate the 2020/2021 School Year | Conversations With the Browns

Nothing about the 2020/2021 school year will be “normal”, so what do we do?

If you have kids, you may be feeling the pressure of heading into the 2020/2021 school year. Since COVID-19 upended life, day-to-day activities have changed. There are a lot of uncertainties and that seems to be especially true for the school year. How are you feeling about it and what do you plan to do? We wanted to share our perspective and tips on how we are handling the looming 2020/2021 school year.

Whether your kids were attending a traditional school setting or being homeschooled pre-pandemic, you are probably feeling some additional stress this school year. The pandemic is affecting everyone in some way. Were you like us and thought that school would go back to normal this fall? It is obvious that is not going to happen.    

Today we talk about 4 tips that we plan to use to help our family manage the 2020/2021 school year. We hope that these tips will help you make the best decisions for your family heading into this school year. 

#1. Start by stating your values [5:28]

What are your and your family’s values regarding school? School represents so many things for so many families. School is a solution to so many needs that a child has and that families have. When school is not going well it is unsettling. Think about why school is important to you, your family, and your kids. 

Then realize that there are things about school that you can’t control. If there’s anything that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, it’s that we don’t have control over a lot of things we thought we had control over. Schools are making decisions about the school year that we may or may not agree with. Sometimes the decisions that schools make are not within their control either.  

Now think about what you value and limit that to what you can control. Take meaningful action on the things you can control about school. Some of the school options we are used to having may not be available now, so realize that the choices you make now are probably not set in stone forever. If you don’t like the choice you make now about school, you will be able to change it later. Embrace the temporary nature of this choice. 

#2. Look for the nuance [12:35]

After you have stated your values, look for nuance. Nuance is the subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound (dictionary.com). There are so many things at play with the 2020/2021 school year. There are different points of view and opinions on what is best for the school year. Before COVID-19 made its epic debut, you agreed with and disagreed with people on many school-related topics. How much more is that true now?  

Looking for nuance means embracing uncertainty. Every issue cannot be simplified and there aren’t shortcuts for everything.  

When you know what really matters to your family you can seek out other points of view and increase your understanding of the situation. When you come across a situation you don’t agree with, be curious about what the opposing thoughts are. When the stakes are high personally it’s harder to look for nuance, but that’s when you must look for nuance even harder. In those situations, look for nuance to come to a more creative solution and better understanding.  

School in 2020/2021 will look a lot different. How will you handle it?

#3. Release control [18:50]

This is hard. In some ways, everyone likes to be in control. Control brings security. The need to control the environment is also tied to a sense of responsibility. Kids need the adults in their lives to be responsible. Kids need guidelines and boundaries.   

Releasing control is a helpful mental shift to remember that even when you are not in control of a situation, you can still be responsible. When you release control, you also release the results of the decisions being made. You may not like all of the decisions being made about school, but you can be responsible for how you respond.

Knowing your values and seeing the nuance in the situations can help you to release control. Getting mad at the school can make you feel like you have some control, but it doesn’t really help the situation. Recognize if you are headed into a situation where you will be upset. Release the need to be in control of it all and make decisions based on your family values and the nuance you see. 

#4. Show up [24:20] 

This can actually be stated as, “Show up with _____(insert response). Show up every day and then ask yourself what you can do to show up in the best way that you can. You can show up in a situation to listen and learn. Or you can show up to contribute. The focus for showing up should be to show up with kindness. 

None of us can eliminate uncertainty for ourselves or our kids, but we still feel a responsibility to our kids. Showing up with kindness for the 2020/2021 school year means offering grace to teachers and principals. It means offering grace to other parents who hold different values than you do. Despite these uncertain times, you can choose kindness every day. 

Be ready to articulate your own values, but also appreciate that other people have different views too. Show up because you bring value to the situation. You have a story to bring, insight, and you have ears to listen. Everyone needs to show up during this time and be a part of the solution. Showing up in kindness is important because it’s hard to be kind when you’re scared or if you want to run away from the situation. 

Final thoughts

These 4 tips open up a path to having conversations. We are all going to make different decisions. In some ways, we are all in the same boat, but in other ways, we are all experiencing something very different. Continue this conversation in your community. Talk to your spouse. Talk to your neighbors. Talk to other parents at your school. Keep these 4 tips in mind while you have these conversations. This process can help us all to show up in a better way and ask better questions.                  

We want to hear from you. Do you think these 4 tips can help you with the 2020/2021 school year? 

 Send us your questions and your thoughts. Let’s continue this conversation.   

Leave a comment or call/text our 24-hour feedback phone at 530-535-8121. 

Submit a topic for a conversation - https://forms.gle/actLkkKrEHP7pNMZ9 

Make more connections with us at https://linktr.ee/lifewiththebrowns

Sponsor for the show: Sutherland DDS https://sutherlanddds.com/