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Effective Virtual Learning Tips for Parents
By mid-March 2020, almost every school across the country closed in order to try to avoid the spread of the novel coronavirus to vulnerable persons. Most took a week or two to take a deep breath, plan, and then took the plunge to embrace online education. Learners of all ages have been learning online now for more than two months, but quite a few parents are looking at their children’s experiences and scratching their heads about how to make it work better.
Generally, most of them are not professional instructors. Many wish they had an instructor available to give them advice on keeping their learner (s) motivated and getting more value from virtual education. In this article, we’ll focus primarily on tips for parents who have kids engaged in virtual learning.
Setting Up a Good Routine is Crucial
Without the same necessity to get ready for a typical school day, and with everybody being home all the time (for a lot of time), it is all too easy to let what used to be regular routines slip by the wayside. Come up with a routine and stick to it, as well as a time for going to bed and getting up in the morning, personal hygiene, breakfast, as well as other meals, and so on. The daily routine does not have to be similar to as it was during the pre-pandemic school year, but it requires to be regular, and you have to stick to it. This is really important for learners of all ages.
Transitions are often challenging for the youngest learners, so give them fair warning when a change is coming up, or use a fun timer device that keeps them aware of upcoming changes from one activity to another. Build a lot of breaks in the day as they would have at school, as well as snack times and recess or free play. And get them outside when possible for fresh air and fun!
Continue Interaction Alive with Online Education
It’s up to your children’s educator (s) to build peer interaction into their online studies. If you feel like there’s not enough of that, contact the instructor and let them know. But apart from online learning with teachers, there are other things parents can do to keep interactions going even during the pandemic. For younger children, virtual playdate events have become a thing. For these to be effective, a little though needs to go into it. You have to figure out what events the children can do together online, like drawing pictures or doing a craft or something like that, which might also mean coordinating with other parents to ensure they have everything needed.
For older learners, have them coordinate online group homework sessions or study-buddy sessions to prepare for quizzes and exams. This can be done with numerous video chat apps like Facetime, Google Hangouts, and many more. These interactions outside of class time are going to be very vital for older students, and it’s okay if they are not the most productive study sessions in the history of education. The peer interaction will be a valuable advantage in and of itself.
Parental Monitoring of Kids’ Online Learning
Nothing about all this online schooling during a pandemic crisis is normal for anybody. The most significant thing parents can do is monitor how children are doing with this new form of education. Observe them. See how involved they are. Are they taking notes? Are they asking questions? Are they simply zoning out? Identify the hang-ups and problems and then think about what you can do to assist them through those. It’s not usual, for everyone to be stressed out, so it’s fine to be flexible and forgiving, but only up to a point. This is not just a “vacation,” this is what we have for continuing your kids’ education, so it requires taking it seriously.
High School of America: Your Online High School
We do not know if traditional education is going to be possible for the next school year, but if you have found that your high school student has done well with virtual classes, then contemplate enrolling them in the online high school program of High School of America. We have been doing this for years, which means we know how to do it correctly. Learn more about High School of America by exploring our website, or feel free to contact us directly with any questions you may have.
