The school day will look much different this year, and not just inside the classroom. Social skills and friendships also built outside the classroom play a vital role in a child’s learning, development, and overall well-being. Parents also have a lot to juggle, and this school year more than ever, they’ll look to online resources and virtual tools to stay connected with others in their community.
Connecting on Messenger Kids: With social distancing in place, parents have shared countless stories about how Messenger Kids is helping their children laugh, create, and engage with their friends
- Virtual Lunchrooms & Recess: Much needed breaks in the school day including lunch and recess aren’t long gone. Through Messenger Kids parents can help kids create unique groups for chatting and video calling experiences between classmates.
- Hassle-Free After School Play Dates: Taking some of the stress out of supervised playdates after school, Messenger Kids offers parents extended control and visibility features in the Parent Dashboard, while the Supervised Friending feature enables parents to allow their kids to learn to manage their contacts with supervision.
- Connecting on Messenger Rooms: This Back to School season, Messenger Rooms can be a great resource for virtually connecting through free and easy to use shareable video links. Host up to 50 people with no time limit on any device, making it easy to organize everything from virtual ‘Back to School’ nights to PTO meetings, to even virtual study breaks.
Digital Resources for Back to School: Developed in partnership with Ericka Souter, Messenger and Messenger Kids is offering a series of digital guides and activities to help stay socially connected and engaged while heading back to school this year, including topics ranging from tips on study dates to how-to’s on hosting virtual recess. Messenger also collaborated with a member of Facebook’s Safety Advisory Board to add a series of safety tips found within the guides. More information can be found in Facebook’s Educator Hub, [link to follow] an online destination helps build community and connection as teachers, parents and their kids prepare for this challenging school year.
MORE ABOUT ERICKA SÓUTER:
Ericka Sóuter is a nationally recognized voice in the realm of parenting news and parenting advice, featured several times a month on Good Morning America, World News Tonight with David Muir and Nightline. She is a contributing editor for Mom.com and her work has also appeared on CafeMom, The Bump and What To Expect, all high traffic parenting sites that reach millions of moms each month. It’s her job to speak to women across the country to stay on top of the issues, controversies and trends most affecting families today. Her upcoming book Honey, I Can’t Find Myself: How to Have a Kids and a Life will be released in Spring 2021 and explores the 21st Century parenting dilemma: when did being a good mom become synonymous with giving up everything that makes you, you? A journalist with over 20 years of experience, she has been on staff at both People Magazine and Us Weekly where she has written cover stories on everything from the Sexiest Man Alive to the untimely death of Michael Jackson. Ericka received a Bachelor of Arts from Georgetown University and a Master of Science from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She has also written for Self, Cosmopolitan, Cosmo for Latinas, Essence and Huffington Post
