Just when we thought in-person learning was back in full swing, the Delta variant has driven tens of thousands of students back into quarantine or forced school closures altogether. A recent report showed that since the school year started, at least 1,000 schools across 31 states have closed because of rising COVID-19 cases.
With parents worried their children will struggle in school as they switch back and forth from in-person learning to virtual learning, and back again, Child development expert, founder of Fit Learning, and author of the highly acclaimed new book, Blind Spots: Why Students Fail and the Science That Can Save Them, Kimberly Berens, Ph.D., believes that in order for children to succeed, parents need to intentionally design their households when they are in quarantine.
Dr. Berens and a team of scientists have spent the last 20 years perfecting a powerful system of instruction based on the learning, behavioral, and cognitive sciences that they call Fit Learning. The company, which started in a broom closet, showcases a method of teaching that has been proven to markedly improve how students understand and achieve, by targeting areas such as basic classroom readiness, phonemic awareness, reading fluency, comprehension, inferential language, basic and advanced mathematics, grammar, and expressive writing.
“Intermittent quarantine and school closures have become our new normal, but there are ways parents can help their kids adapt and continue to succeed,” Berens said. “In order to thrive rather than simply survive all of this, parents need to design their households for virtual learning to help their child feel like they never left the classroom.”
Berens offers guidance to parents to ensure their child is successful as their learning setup flip flops between the classroom to virtual learning. Tips include:
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Create a designated virtual learning area - When your kids are home, they need a learning space that is organized and free from distractions and clutter.
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Become fluent with your child’s school portal - This is important to help keep your child on track from the classroom to virtual learning.
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Help your child become fluent with their school portal
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Have them “talk aloud” and click through the essential features of the portal until they can do so without prompts or hesitation.
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Watch recorded classroom lessons together and have your child practice active responding while providing a lot of positive reinforcement for participation.
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Simulate a Zoom session and provide positive reinforcement for sitting up straight, attending and answering questions.
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Set up a positive reinforcement system
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Identify and list behavioral expectations.
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Participating in lessons.
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Completing assignments.
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Identify and list privileges earned when expected behaviors are performed.
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Screen time minutes.
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Allowance.
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Free-time activities.
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Berens is a scientist-educator and founder of Fit Learning. She co-created a powerful system of instruction based in behavioral science and the Technology of Teaching, which has transformed the learning abilities of thousands of children worldwide, including those who are struggling, average, gifted or learning disabled.
For more than 20 years, her system of instruction has produced one year’s worth of academic growth in only 40 hours of training. Her learning programs effectively target such essential areas as early learning skills, basic classroom readiness, phonemic awareness, reading fluency, comprehension, inferential language, basic and advanced mathematics, logical problem solving, grammar and expressive writing.
From her early beginnings in a broom closet at the University of Nevada – Reno, Berens has helped grow Fit Learning to an organization with more than 30 locations worldwide.She currently lives in Long Island with her husband and two children, where she oversees Fit Learning locations in Long Island, New York City and Connecticut. "Blind Spots: Why students fail and the science that can save them" is her first book.
