How to Survive & Thrive at Home in the Age of COVID-19

On Tuesday, May 12, Devorah Heitner, Ph.D. joined Head of School Andrew Davis for a Parent Education Speaker Series DLP+ livestream event for a dynamic parent talk focused on thriving at home with distance learning and understanding kids experiences with tech, friendship, and school during shelter-in-place. Thank you to everyone who joined for the discussion! 

Dr. Heitner is the author of Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in their Digital World, a guide to mentoring digital kids. She had some great insights on screen time for parents weathering the new normal at home. Some highlights from the talk included:

• Use different devices for school work and playtime (if possible).
• Watch some of the shows your children are watching to help facilitate conversations.

• Let go of the idea of “how much screen time” and embrace the concept of quality over quantity – are your children mindlessly consuming TV and scrolling through social media or are they stimulating creativity by watching “how to” YouTube videos and then trying the activities on their own. Also, consider the “when” - is it better for your child to break up TV time into shorter segments throughout the day versus watching for hours straight? Are they watching right before bed or in their room? Think about the potential positive and negative aspects of their usage to help in parental oversight.
• Some online activities are a form of socializing for your child. Is your middle school student using FaceTime to quietly co-study with a friend as if they were in study hall? If so, and they’re getting work done, this is OK.
• Does your lacrosse star now play Minecraft? This could be a great social and competitive outlet for a child who used to compete on the field. 

For those of you who missed the event, a recording of the talk will be available this week only. (It will no longer be available after 5/19.) The recording can be found here. 

After the talk, Devorah shared these articles with our community on related topics:

• Should You Let Your Kid Get That App? 
• Is your child ready for a cellphone? 
• Five Ways to Transform Your Kids' Screen Time

If interested, you can join her mailing list here or check out her website for more information. 

CHECK OUT OUR NEXT DLP+ EVENT!

A Conversation with Filmmaker, Photographer, and Marine Conservationist, Kip Evans

livestreaming on

TUESDAY, MAY 19 AT 5:30 PM

Join us for a conversation with Kip Evans, an underwater photographer, filmmaker, and marine conservationist. We will talk about his latest short film (10 minutes) "Spitsbergen Island Hope Spot | Diving Under the Arctic" and his path to photography and marine conservation. We encourage you to watch the film ahead of time, and submit questions for Kip to communications@mttam.org.

YouTube Streaming Link to Join Conversation Here