As a parent, it is quite likely that the year 2020 and 2021 have been the most challenging on record. The economic hardship associated with a medical disaster has left many people uncertain about their future, crippling the world. Many countries are suffering due to the outbreak of COVID-19, unable to break through the cycle of losing money and losing lives. As a parent, you might be used to seeing your kids more because of work and school closures. However, many schools are moving towards a (temporary) distance education system.
How, then, can you help prepare your children for this essential part of their education?
This is likely to be a medium term solution until a COVID-19 treatment can be developed. With this in mind, we recommend that you prepare your child for distance learning. So what matters the most?
Create a comfortable learning space
You should first create some kind of learning space for them, either in an empty room or in their bedroom. This should keep them free from distraction, giving them all the space they need to work on their school work without any kind of interference.
Unless you’re very lucky or in a very direct field of work, you’ve likely found yourself working from home at some stage in 2020. You will know for yourself how difficult it can be to function at 100% if your attention wanders around you. With this in mind, we recommend that you try to create a more comfortable learning space for your child.
This means that they can learn and work on their projects without unnecessary distraction, which will improve their learning outcomes. It also allows them to focus on the subject at hand, free of distractions.
Work with your school
The next step is to make sure you have a full line of communication with the school itself. This is essential because it allows both of you to make decisions based on what will be most useful to your children. As a parent, you need to be ready to step in and take the call if you think a decision is going to negatively affect your child.
Find out where they are most limited in their learning, and try to find ways to work with your child specifically on these topics. The more help you can give them when they are at home, the more effective they are going to be in the future when it comes to dealing with a similar situation on their own.
We recommend that you speak with their school to determine what can be done to make their lives easier.
Find educational supporting tools
From online websites and apps to their smart devices, you have ample opportunity to help enhance learning for your child. We recommend that you find 3-5 different apps and websites that they can use after school hours and help them gain knowledge of a certain subject.
This is extremely useful if you want to help your child become a sponge, soaking up a lifetime of information. Try and put them in a position where they are able to learn after hours with their teacher using perhaps more informative and interactive tools than a textbook or webinar.
Assistive devices can go a long way in helping your child become more confident in any subject, as well as give them the means to learn a subject that their textbooks cannot provide.
Prepare for technological burdens
Whether it comes to a teacher who likes App A or App B, or you have an Internet connection that may be inconsistent, you need to be prepared for the technical burden. Even if your Internet is turned off regularly, however, pre-preparing learning materials in open Internet tabs can help you overcome that problem.
Technical problems are going to be a significant issue and something that you need to be ready to work on without losing your child’s valuable learning time.
Don’t lose the social touch
Finally, one of the most common problems during the learning process for your children is the social factor. Not being able to play with classmates and spending time with friends on their breaks can become a big issue. As such, try and make compromises to find ways to compensate for not having social interaction during school hours for your children.
From Zoom calls with friends at night to some virtual gaming or other similar methods, you should find ways to help your kids maintain that social enjoyment. After all, a greater part of school comes from social development as much as from academic learning!
At Edukick, Joey Bilotta is helping a lot of students by mentoring and supporting them.
