How to Support Your Child's Learning - Post-COVID
The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on everyone and, we, parents, have been challenged like never before. From constantly worrying about the safety of our children to facing the uncertainty of tomorrow, we have had our fair shares of problems.
Like all of you, I struggled to survive this chaos especially in supporting our children through remote learning, but I have learned a lot in the last two years of the pandemic.
Something I found especially difficult was the constant flip-flopping between remote and in-person schooling. I had to improvise my home into a classroom in very little time. It is even harder when you have kids in different grades.
Every parent only wants the best for their children, and like all of you, I wondered how I could make sure my kids get the best education despite these less-than-ideal circumstances.
The Three Biggest Challenges of Remote Learning
Like so many other families, our children and we faced many difficulties because of remote learning. I want to discuss three of the main ones in the hopes of helping other families going through the same thing.
1. Establishing a regular school schedule
Every school does remote learning differently, and even within one school, teachers can have different approaches. It makes it hard to coordinate the activities of everyone.
Your home is usually a place where your children can relax and enjoy family time, and they might find it hard to focus on their classes with all their favorite distractions only a few meters away. The day can easily become a free-for-all if we do not provide a little structure. It can be helpful to sit down with them at the beginning of every school day to write down a schedule based on the calendar provided by their teachers. Make sure to dedicate time to online lessons, homework, and breaks. It is difficult for children to sit down in front of a computer all day, so make sure they have time to relax, eat, and play throughout the day, just like they would if they were at school.
2. The lack of social and physical activity
As mentioned earlier, it is challenging for children to sit down for long periods of time, even more so when they have to do it at home, in front of a computer without their friends around. When they are at school, they can play and laugh with their friends. They can also help one another when facing difficulties at school. Zoom classes cannot offer that.
Children are social beings, and they might feel very lonely during these difficult times. They are not trying to annoy you by asking you questions every two minutes; they simply crave human contact. You can help by using technology to make sure they stay in touch with their friends.
Also, you should dedicate some time out of your day to play with them or to take them outside so they can run around and spend some energy.
3. Dealing with Anxiety
The pandemic has been anxiety-provoking for adults, so I can only imagine what our little ones have been going through. With so many adults having grown-up conversations around them about scary topics like sickness and social isolation, it is no wonder that anxiety has been increasing in children of all ages. I do my best to protect my children by following public health guidelines and answering any questions or concerns they may have truthfully. Make sure to provide them with an age-appropriate answer whenever they have a question and encourage them to share their thoughts and feelings with you.
But what if my child won’t tell me what is wrong? Sometimes, we know our children are not feeling their best, but they do not share those feelings with us. Although it can be hard to accept that we cannot solve all their problems, we must keep their best interests at heart. If I thought my child was in distress and did not share their concerns with me despite my best efforts, I would enlist the help of professionals and consult with mental health specialists or counselors.
How to Support Your Child’s Online Learning
Studies across the U.S. are now starting to reveal the sharp learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. If we ever find ourselves back in remote learning, there are proven tactics to help parent through it!
1. Keep your children engaged in their schoolwork
For example, you can help them create visual support tools to keep in the room where they do their homework and study.
If, for instance, they are learning about Vikings in their social studies class, you can print out some material they can read and get them a piece of cardboard to write the main key points. They can also print out some pictures and stick them on the poster to make it more visually appealing.
Learning should be fun, so if they find that school is not the most entertaining, you can create home-learning activities on topics they enjoy.
If your little one is interested in sciences, for example, you can help them look online for fun and safe chemistry experiments that can be done at home. Print out the instructions and read them together as you go along with the experiment.
If they aspire to be a veterinarian, get them an encyclopedia of animals, and read about a different species together every night before going to bed!
2.Reading is one of the best ways to promote learning in children
Unfortunately, there has been a decline in reading due to technology. It might be a bigger problem now that school revolves around technology, especially during remote learning.
This is why Reading Quests was created. In a digital world that relentlessly vies for our children’s attention, it’s difficult for books to compete. Reading Quests was started with a simple goal. To get kids off screens and to foster a love of reading.
3. Teach your child to practice self-care
Remote learning was very isolating and children did not take well to this. One way to help your child practice self-care is to make a special reading nook in the home for them.
You can make it pretty with some lights and comfortable with blankets. They might be more inclined to read if they have somewhere comfortable and peaceful to do it.
Fun Family Activities to Reduce Family Stress
Our children need us now more than ever, and family activities are something that I make sure to plan every week. Children need to be children, and the pandemic has forced them to mature very quickly. They should have tons of quality and care-free time with their parents to be their silly selves & have fun.
Family Activity #1 - Let’s get PHYSICAL
One of the things I like to focus on during family time is physical activity. If you find that your child struggles to retain information in school, it might be because they are not active enough.
It is no secret that physical activity improves focus and concentration. With online learning and limited opportunities for physical activity due to lockdown, it is no wonder why their ability to learn might have taken a hit.
In the winter, you can go skating, sledding, and skiing. Why not have a little friendly competition and organize family hockey games? And never miss a chance to go outside and build a fort or a snowman! Swimming at the pool or the beach is always a popular activity during the summer. You can also go for walks outside of the city. You can stick to walking or make it a special day by visiting a local farmer's market or a family farm.
Family Activity #2- Let’s get COOKING
Mealtimes can be chaotic during the week, but the weekends might be the perfect time to involve your kids in the cooking process. Children should learn how to cook, and getting them involved helps develop a healthy relationship with food.
Once a week, you can decide on a recipe to make as a family. Let them browse your recipe books, make a list of the necessary items with them and if possible, bring them shopping. You can assign each of your children a task related to cooking that is appropriate for their developmental stage and later enjoy the fruits of your labor together.
Family Activity #3- Let’s get MAKING
Finally, if your kids love arts and crafts, why not have a paint night? You can go to the dollar store and get all the necessary supplies. You can sit down with them with a cup of hot chocolate and let your inner Picasso out. It can be a perfect time to have a heart-to-heart with your children in a stress-free environment.
The Top 3 Takeaways on Supporting Your Children with Online Learning
I hope this article was helpful and gave you a trick or two to get through this difficult time. Here is a summary of the most important points:
Remote learning is challenging and comes with many struggles, notably the lack of structure, physical and social contact.
We are also going through anxiety-provoking times, which can be tough on the mental health of your children.
Reading is essential to learning and should be encouraged, especially now that technology plays a large role in schooling. It should also be promoted as a fun activity to relax.
Family time is important to your children’s well-being. Make time for them by taking them out of the house for some physical activity, enjoy cooking a meal together or plan fun activities like paint night
