Choosing to become a learning coach and supporting a child’s education at home is often a truly rewarding experience for parents. Learning coaches support and lead their child’s learning and development. Parents can experience first-hand their child’s progress and achievements. They can help transform their child’s education into a positive, effective and memorable experience and help them become life-long learners.
However, it’s no secret that choosing to be a learning coach comes with its fair share of challenges and sacrifices. It can sometimes become an overwhelming experience for parents, especially those who are new learning coaches.
The teachers and staff at Compass Charter Schools (CCS) sincerely enjoy partnering with learning coaches to help scholars succeed and achieve their goals. We believe it’s important for learning coaches to maintain a good self-care routine so that they can keep a positive approach as they lead their child’s education.
This week, we’re sharing four simple self-care tips that learning coaches can use to keep high energy levels and a positive outlook:
Ask for Help
This is arguably one of the most important self-care tips for learning coaches to consider. Although learning coaches take the lead on their child’s education they often have access to other professionals who can support them and their scholar to ensure a positive learning experience. Learning coaches at CCS have access to credentialed teachers and school counselors who are always willing to provide support and guidance. Parents at CCS are encouraged to attend virtual workshops for new tips and advice, and they are invited to consistently meet with their scholar’s teachers to discuss goals, progress and best practices for learning at home. It’s important for learning coaches to know that there are countless resources available to guide them as they support their child’s learning.
Connect with Your Community
Learning coaches can significantly benefit from a supportive network of other learning coaches! There are countless online communities and even local in-person meetups designed to support parents who choose to support their child’s learning experience at home. These communities of learning coaches often serve as great resources where parents can get answers to their questions, receive advice and tips from other parents, get new ideas to better support their children. Connecting with a community of learning coaches can relieve a lot of stress for parents. These communities can reduce any feelings of loneliness or anxiety that some learning coaches may feel. They can serve as great social outlets for learning coaches who are looking to connect with parents who can relate to the unique experience of guiding their child’s learning at home.
Take Time for Yourself
All work and no play usually leads to stress, exhaustion, frustration, and minimal patience. Taking time to care for yourself is an effective way to reduce those negative feelings. Learning coaches are strongly encouraged to care for themselves by spending time on their own doing the things they enjoy — without their children! An important part of self-care includes refilling the well. Parents can schedule a time to do the activities that they enjoy to refresh and replenish their energy levels and patience so that they can continue successfully supporting their child’s learning experience. Some parents may enjoy gardening, attending a concert or enjoying a nice meal out a fancy restaurant. The choice is yours! Taking time to recharge can help learning coaches feel determined and focused as they guide their child’s learning.
Create Shorter To-Do Lists
Learning coaches often spend a lot of time with their child at home where there seems to be a neverending to-do list of chores and responsibilities. Learning coaches can often feel a lot of pressure to get it all done perfectly. Living with that kind of pressure can cause stress, tension, and anxiety. Parents can overcome these feelings by giving themselves permission to accept that they can’t always get all of the chores done in a day. Being a learning coach is a time consuming and often means that other responsibilities like the vacuuming, laundry, and doing the dishes need to be put on hold. Learning coaches can give themselves permission to say no to a long list of chores. They can adjust to this concept by creating shorter to-do lists each day. A shorter list will likely feel less overwhelming and may even feel more rewarding when that shorter list has been completed!