Pandemic Parenting: How Can I Support Educators?

Pandemic Parenting: How Can I Support Educators?
Many schools will look differently this year and experts say parents and teachers have to work together to make it work.

As if parenting wasn’t challenging enough, the coronavirus pandemic has raised 1,000 new, unprecedented questions on everything from work, to school, to finances and health. 

We asked the experts: How can parents support teachers during this time? 

"I feel like giving teachers positive feedback and telling them what you really love. But you might also give them feedback of what you would like to see changed or maybe brainstorm with them, but in a way that's still supportive and positive," suggested clinical psychologist Carolyn Ievers-Landis of Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland.

"Use your voice, use your platforms that you have, and put yourself in their shoes. They have kids, a lot of them, like we have kids. And they have loved ones and parents they want to protect and so understand that they're not trying to dodge their responsibilities. They just want to work in a safe environment," said pediatrician Dr. Dontal Johnson of Meharry Medical College in Nashville.

"And so just trusting that, if we are virtual or if we are in school, that we're doing everything, we can. And just as our kids kind of learn those back to school routines and procedures, this is a great year for parents to do the same to really get to know the ins and outs of their child's classroom and the routines and the procedures that the teachers are teaching. And to get a really good handle on that and just become the strongest partners in education they've ever been," said Virginia teacher Andie Pitchford.