Building Positive Conditions for Learning at Home: Strategies and Resources for Families and Caregivers

Image of mother with young girl reading on bed together

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As we all adjust to the current situation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that we create safe, supportive, and engaging spaces for learning at home. Think about these four elements—your readiness and your child’s experience of safety, support, and engagement—like building a house:

As you read through these resources, remember: Every family is different. Everyone’s individual circumstances are different. Everyone brings their unique set of strengths to address life’s challenges. The information we are sharing here is designed to be flexible and adapted in the ways that work best for you.

Remember that each of these elements are really important when building positive conditions for learning at home. The positive conditions that you create will give your child what he or she needs to succeed. In fact, positive conditions for learning will not only help your child with learning at home right now, it will also help everyone in your home no matter what is going on in the world around us.

In the coming weeks, we will continue to add new information, strategies, things to look for (in other words, what you can expect as normal behavior during these stressful times), and resources that have more information. We will also describe developmental differences to be aware of (for example, what this looks like for a younger child compared to a teenager). This information will help you create safe, supportive, and engaging spaces for learning at home, both now and in the future.