3 tips to help your children succeed with remote learning
Are your kids learning from home? Maybe they’re self-motivated learners who thrive in the home environment, or maybe special circumstances mean it’s their only option. Whatever the case, remote learning has become an increasingly popular option for children across the globe. It’s easy to see why. Remote learning brings many advantages: there are no buses, bullies, or accessibility issues.
Unfortunately, kids, especially those used to a more structured school environment, can find it difficult to adjust to the challenges of remote learning. With active engagement from their parents and their teachers, however, these problems can be overcome. That’s why experts recommend parents use three simple strategies to help their kids thrive.
1. Make Your Kids Feel Like You’re Involved
Kids need to feel their parents have an equal stake in their learning. The simplest way to do that is to ask your children questions. “How are you feeling?” “What did you learn today?” “Why was it important?” It’s important to respond positively and, if your kids have any issues or concerns, sympathetically.
It’s important to give them plenty of room for taking breaks. These breaks are excellent times to take questions from your kids and provide your own personal take on what they’re learning. Whether it’s times you’ve used a certain equation in your work or your own fond memories of a book you read in your childhood, that kind of connection can cement new and exciting ideas in your child’s mind.
2. Remove Distractions and Keep Them Focused
Any parent knows that keeping children focused can be a challenge. It’s even harder in remote learning where children do most of their studying on the computer. The internet is an amazing study resource and enables access to nearly infinite educational resources, but it also provides all kinds of awful avenues of procrastination. That’s why employing simple parental controls on their browser during study time can make all the difference. It doesn’t hurt to check in with them from time to time, too, to make sure they’re not struggling in a way you can help with.
More common distractions, like phone calls or texts from friends, should also be done away with and preferably kept out of sight. Out of sight, out of mind. This works well for motivation, too. Once they’ve finished with their homework for the day, it’s easy enough to lift their restrictions and let them enjoy themselves.
Checklists can also be helpful. The lists should contain bite-sized goals that can easily be accomplished each and every day. Providing your kids with easily attainable goals doesn’t just make them feel good when they’re finished, it also encourages them to work just a little bit more to get that last bit of the list finished.
3. Work With Their Teachers
Be sure to stay in touch with the people involved in your child’s education: tutors, teachers, and other service workers all play vital roles in their success. They’re usually the ones best equipped to offer advice, instruction, and information on your child’s progress in education.
In a brick-and-mortar school, a teacher would usually be around to monitor your children and keep them on task. However, in a home learning environment, a large part of that role falls to you. Most teachers have plenty of experience and can give you crucial instruction on how to best engage with your child about school activities.
As the school year progresses, they’ll also grow more familiar with your child’s needs. That’s why carefully following a teacher’s recommendations can make a large difference in how your kids perform.