Reliable internet access still remains an obstacle as schools jump into the fall semester completely online.

LAS CRUCES – The New Mexico Public Education Department urges parents to participate in a new series of virtual workshops designed to help parents prioritize their own self-care and support their children in remote learning.

The workshop series was funded by PED and created by CNM Ingenuity, an outreach program of Central New Mexico Community College. The three sessions are open to all New Mexico residents at no cost and are available in both English and Spanish.

The first workshop, “Survival 101 for Parents As Virtual School Partners,” provides insights into the emotional challenges parents and children may be experiencing and provides simple ideas parents can use to build resiliency and support at-home learning. It was pre-recorded in both English and Spanish and is already available on the CNM Ingenuity website.

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The second workshop, “Reimagining Parent Engagement Leveraging Virtual Tools,” will give parents virtual tools they can use to build communities of parental support. This session will be offered live at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, and again at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, in both English and Spanish.

The third workshop, “Survival 102 for Parents as Virtual Partners,” will look ahead to what comes after this semester, helping prepare parents for continued online learning or a mix of class types. This will also be a live remote format, with several sessions in both English and Spanish. Registration for this final workshop, which will be offered from mid-November to early December, has not yet opened.

CNM Ingenuity previously provided a series of workshops to help K-12 teachers optimize their virtual learning environments.

“We quickly realized that parents could use help navigating all the recent changes and that they would benefit from a place where they could share the strategies and challenges,” said Erica Volkers-Barreiro, CNM’s Future of Work strategist who organized the workshops.

To view or register for upcoming workshops, visit cnmingenuity.org/parents-as-virtual-partners.