Dear Eliot Families,

I hope everyone is doing well and settling into this new way of life.  At the Bourn household, we continue to practice social distancing and struggle to keep our two boys busy.  Overall, we are doing well and taking advantage of this extra time together.  
        
Here are a few tips teachers will be sending home to set up a learning environment.  You can review this with your child. As a parent, I used these tips with my 6th grader and set up his work space while at home.  My son enjoyed setting up his space to prepare for the work ahead.

Find a quiet space where you can do your work for the rest of our time learning at home. Because there are so many distractions at home, it’s important to choose a spot where you can zone into your learning! To set yourself up for success, it might be helpful to have a chair where you can sit up tall and a flat surface with space to spread your materials out.
         
Gather all of the materials you will need for your learning: a pen or pencil, a notebook or paper and a device close by where you can check updates from your teachers. Eliot teachers will be sending messages at 8:00 am every day!      

Create a routine with your family that works best for you and stick to it. Building routines is an important way to help us stay focused and do our best!  Schedule a time where you will begin to work each day. You may want to work after you have breakfast, or you may want to start after you’ve had breakfast and time to free play. You may even wish to make a schedule like we have at school.               

Set ground rules about your time to learn. For example, you may have to talk to your younger siblings and ask for zero interruptions during scheduled learning times. If you have a pet, you may wish to schedule time with your pet as a break after an hour of learning.        

Set goals for yourself for how long you wish to work each day. Please know that it will take some time to build up learning stamina in your new environment, and try your best to increase your learning time each day! For example, you may wish to start with 20 minutes of reading, then try for 22 and keep building up. It’s okay to take quick, meaningful breaks if you find your brain getting off task.

Please feel free to reach out to me or the classroom teachers if you have any questions.
            
Karen Bourn
Principal
135 Wellesley Avenue
Needham, MA 02494