Nook Bubble Systems and the Reimagination of the Neighborhood Community

Contd. from my earlier post

After 2 months of continued feedback from our customers, advisors and well wishers, we are very much excited to share with you all that we are getting geared up to roll out the 1st phase of Nook Bubble Systems. Our tentative launch date is August 17.

A big thank you to all of you for taking time out to listen to our thoughts, providing feedback while we were conceptualizing this next iterated version of Parents’ Nook. We are grateful for all your efforts especially in a time where everything has been upside down.

Pods or Bubbles vs Nook Bubbles

Recently a lot of discussion has been going around Pandemic Pods and Bubbles, and many have asked if we are any of those or how we are different.

So we are here, defining what we are launching.

“Pandemic Pods” or “Learning pods” are small groupings of children who gather every day and learn in a shared space, often participating in the online instruction provided by their schools. Pods are supervised either by a hired private teacher or other adult, or with parents taking turns. They are mainly geared towards elementary school aged children.

Whereas through Nook Bubble Systems, we are trying to create a platform for self-sustainable micro-communities, where members of each Nook bubble agree to socialize with each other outdoors, families coming together to support one another in this isolating and tumultuous time. Outside of the bubble, members agree to follow recommended precautions along with any other rules upon which Bubble members have agreed.

Each Nook Bubble might have a different set of rules or intentions and clarifications put together by the respective Bubble members. If any individual displays symptoms of the virus or tests positive, the entire bubble will self-quarantine, thereby containing the spread of the illness and preventing it from being transmitted beyond that small group.

This stage of the Nook Bubble system is a part of the evolving network system where each Bubble is a part of the network, but are not physically interconnected.

Our intuitive app will allow members to track the health trend of each individual family in their Bubble, culminating as the color-coded health trend of each specific Bubble. If your Bubble color turns from green to red, it's time to initiate a conversation with your Bubble members about why the change has occurred and how you all can work together to remain as safe as possible until it can return to green. We are advised by a medical scientist who has been a customer of ours and understands our mission here at Nook. We are so thankful for all her guidance and medical mentorship, as she has helped us to create the safest and most comprehensive model of Nook Bubbles to offer our community.

We have always believed that people and children need social contact, and some families are struggling without it. This is our effort for Nook families to provide a platform where they can socialize and trust their Bubblemates, cooperatively caring for the needs of their Bubblemates while getting work done in an open ended setting. It is an opportunity for connection and collaboration, whilst also emphasising the importance of showing compassion and kindness towards members of a Bubble at an anxious and difficult time.

So how and why do you create a Nook Bubble?

Initially, we are opening up Nook Bubbles to only 50 members of the Nook community. We are a tiny team and we don’t have the bandwidth to serve a bigger audience at the moment. We also want to ensure that the experience is the best it can possibly be for all.

We also believe that carefully and intentionally chosen Bubbles may be safer than having distanced play dates with multiple families or the pod systems, particularly when young kids are involved. Not to mention that if someone in your family gets sick and you’ve been spending time with various families, contact tracing gets much harder.

We also believe that since our Play Facilitators are already a part of the community, in tandem with the orientation program developed by the Play team, the experience is very much exclusive to our Nook community. We ask everyone as a member of our community to understand how we operate before joining Bubbles and Nooks. Moreover, as parents are able to create their Bubble themselves, the Bubble is intentional and trusted. We believe this personalization of Bubbles is what makes it very different.

Inviting members to a Nook Bubble

So, now you have downloaded our app and want to create your own Bubble. We recommend max 3-4 families in it, with 6 children max per Bubble. My comfortable choice is 3 families. We also wholeheartedly believe that it's crucial that we choose families whose judgment we trust. Trust will play a very major factor in these Nook Bubbles, and we also believe that since the members of our community have the common objective of open ended Play for kids while getting their work done in the same period of time, it’s easier for them to agree on a common set of rules/intentions/clarifications they will all abide by. Moreover most of them are already neighbors. Families are inevitably going to encounter risky situations, and we want to be able to trust that they will make smart decisions. Likewise, we will want to create a Bubble with a family that will be transparent and open about what they encounter and experience.

In the Bubble app, members will be able to invite families who they have already established trusting relationships with to their Bubble (through the app if they have already joined, or by email/text), and those families who have not had the opportunity to establish ties with their neighbors will be able to be matched with families near to them with shared ideals.

Scholarship to families in need

This is a trying time for many of us and we are coming up with a scholarship system for families in need. In each Bubble there may be one or two families, depending on the size of the family who may avail the scholarship system. Stay tuned for more details here.

Nook Locations:

Nook locations can be a private backyard which has an outdoor entry point, open spaces or parks. If the Nook is hosted in a backyard, it would be preferable to have families within 1-1.15  mile of the radius, as we think creating a walkable neighborhood is the best thing we can do for our next generation. We will announce more details as we approach the launch date on possible Nook locations.

Play and Nook Bubbles:

We are delighted to offer this safe opportunity for our children to be together again; we know that their social mandate is to PLAY! and we are excited to make this happen in a safe and responsible way.

“Play keeps us vital and alive. It gives us an enthusiasm for life that is irreplaceable. Without it, life just doesn’t taste good” -Lucia Capocchione.

Recommendations:

Create a Bubble guideline which you think your bubble members would be happy to incorporate in their life. Though we are in a pandemic situation with many uncertainties, this Bubble can function like your extended family, so keeping the spirit of your Bubble high is very important. Take it as a fun project to work on. The Parents’ Nook team is committed to supporting you and the members of your Bubble.

By taking commitments to your Bubble seriously, you are helping your Bubble members stay safe.

Create a Bubble Spirit tagline and make it fun for your Bubble members. What can you do to keep the Bubble spirit alive?

This is not an easy moment for any of us, but that does not mean it has to be unrewarding. We can push ourselves to trust this moment in the context of our lives. This is our intention in creating the Nook network of Bubble Systems.

At Parents' Nook we are committed to helping our families and caregivers stay safe, healthy and happy. This is a little step from us to keep things sustainable for everyone in the community. More writeups will be coming from our team members who are committed to the cause.

A big thank you to Kim, Made, and Virginia for working with me on this.

If you have any suggestions, thoughts or advice, please drop an email to tanaya@parents-nook.com.

Lets create our future, one step at a time.

Tanaya