Five tips to engage your children in their studies during the COVID-19 pandemic
The current COVID-19 pandemic is has ushered in a new norm in family life. Find out how to keep your child engaged in their studies.
Parents are getting used to the fact of having their children around all the time. Learning at home is becoming habitual. However, it feels different from the traditional classroom setting. Here are ways you can adopt to help your children engage more with their studies while at home.
The current state of education in the COVID-19 pandemic
Almost all public and private schools are currently shut down due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This means that nearly 55 million elementary school children are out of school.
The government recently announced that the public and private schools would remain non-operational this academic year. Recently, nine states approved for private and public schools to stay closed until 2021 to curb the deadly virus spread.
One significant effect of the long-term school closure since March 2020 is children’s learning. Not all children can access learning materials while at home, and it’s placing a significant amount of pressure on learning institutions to proceed with online learning.
It’s not the first time in history child’s education has been impacted. The New York teacher’s strike paralyzed learning for two months. And disasters such as hurricanes can also see school closures for periods extending to months or, even worse, a year.
The closure of schools has a negative effect on the academic success of students, and many are falling behind on their courses. However, we’re lucky today to have such easy access to technology, which enables education to take place online ensuring it’s somewhat uninterrupted, despite the current conditions.
Online learning is becoming a new theme for most parents in different homes. It remains a struggle to compare the efficacy of online learning and traditional classroom learning. However, there are various strides made on both sides. Here is a breakdown of ideas to help your children learning while at home.
How to learn at home
Most parents are struggling to ensure their children get quality education in the comfort of their home. Here are some tips that you can adopt during this season to improve the academic performance of their children.
1) Plan a routine together
As a parent, it’s important to take an active role in your children’s learning during these times. And it can help to plan a routine for their activities at home.
For example, you can form a plan for educational programs that will be followed online. Studying at the same time, in the same place every day, with planned breaks, can help children to get used to studying and find it easier to focus.
2) Open conversations
Don’t assume you know what your child is thinking or feeling – ask them. Open up conversations with them and genuinely listen to their answers. To take some of the pressure off, it’s a good idea to chat while doing an activity,
For example, you can ‘casually’ ask them if they’re missing their friends or have any worries while doing crafts together. Get into the habit of having conversations so your child feels comfortable opening up to you.
3) Get help if they need it
With a new experience of school, your child may worry about tackling all their online assignments. So get help if they need it. Subscribing to a buy essay service, for example, might help ease some of their fears if this is a relatively new skill they’re trying to learn.
4) Protect your child online
Despite the advantages that online learning offers, it does come at a price; more online access for children leaves them at risk for protection, privacy, and safety. So it is essential to have discussions about their internet usage while at home. Establish ground rules about internet usage during learning sessions and free time.
You can use features such as child-lock or parental protection to ensure your children’s safety online. Other instances when you need to take an active role in your child’s life are cyberbullying cases. Keep hotline and helpline numbers close in case of any incident.
5) Consult your child’s teacher
Your child may not be physically in school, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still check in with their teacher to find out about their progress. In fact it’s probably more important than ever right now.
Check they’re making good progress and see if they need any support. You can also chat about how your child is coping emotionally and get any advice you need that their teacher may be able to offer.
