Doing Acton at Home – Six Tips for Parents

Laura Sandefer
March 15, 2020

Being a learner-driven community means the learning doesn’t stop when our campus must close. Each child is equipped with the identity of a responsible, independent learner and with the tools we deliver daily through our virtual “learning management system” called Journey Tracker.

While the world may feel chaotic and confusing right now, you can create a feeling of security by keeping the learning progressing consistently at home. We’ll be creating and posting at-home challenges and hosting virtual discussions. Your Eagles will love the familiarity of the work and will feel connected to their community even if physically apart.

Here are six tips for parents and caregivers who will be creating the Acton experience at home.

  1. Create a schedule for the day and stick with it. Post it on the fridge.
  2. Write a contract of promises you will make to each other during this time of “Acton at home.” Write down what the consequences are for breaking the promises.
  3. Plan to start and end the day with a short but intentional conversation. Ideas: Start they day with a discussion of SMART goals. What do you want to focus on achieving today? How will you fight the monster of distraction to achieve your goal? End the day reflecting on the learning by using the Challenge Donut as a tool: When were you in your comfort zone? Your challenge zone? Your panic zone? Ask what one thing your child is looking forward to tomorrow. (The combination of reflecting back and looking forward is important to keep motivation and engagement high.)
  4. Play freely! Your schedule should have a couple of big blocks of free play time. Outdoors, if at all possible.
  5. Read. Every day. For pleasure. We call it “DEAR” time: Drop Everything And Read. Make it comfy and special.
  6. Schedule Studio Maintenance time. Hopefully you can carve out a space for your “at home studio.” Maybe it’s your kitchen table or the living room. Marking it as “sacred” for learning will help mimic daily life at Acton. Ideally, let them make a checklist for this work. Get it all fresh and ready for the next day.

I’m sending my love and hoping you stay well.