These are strange times we live in. If you had asked me last week if we would be canceling school for a worldwide pandemic, I would have said, “We don’t do that!” Today I was confronted with the reality of E-Learning, from both the teacher and parent perspective. Like many parents, I will be working from home while trying to get my high school and middle school student to take learning seriously. Below are five tips to make E-Learning work smoothly for you and your student.
5 E-Learning tips for parent & student success…
- Please be flexible. For most of us, E-Learning is a new animal. We aren’t sure exactly what it will look like and it will likely evolve from our first lesson forward. From Chemistry, to Algebra, to A.P. English, teachers are working to do their best with the tools we are given. My school district told us to establish “office hours,” but I know many of us will answer emails at other times. If we aren’t able to answer right away, rest assured, we will. Perhaps we are helping our own kids with their homework or looking after a sick parent. Flexibility is our friend!
- Have a daily schedule and a place to study. For our students to be successful, we need to keep them in as normal of a routine as possible. We are all creatures of habit. I expect my kids at the dining room table by 8 a.m. to begin their E-Learning day. This gives them a place and time to work on those items which are important for their education.
- Be patient (with teachers and your student(s)). We are in uncharted territory here. I would venture to take a guess that all teachers know exactly what to do in the event of a snow day or building intruder. However, my university Education Department did not cover “Pandemic” in my coursework. We are doing the best we can to create meaningful academic experiences while apart from our students. Likewise, students will find this a time of high stress. They will have to learn to manage their time and resources…something that is generally done for them during the school day with changing classes, etc. Patience is a good thing, here.
- Look for good online learning resources. As we know, not all online sources are created equally. For instance, my blog is not peer-reviewed for its content like textbooks. However, textbooks might not be something you have access to at the moment. Using government or organization websites for accurate information is an important skill to teach our kids…E-Learning is a great time to start examining the reliability of resources and teaching kids not all resources online are legitimate sources of information.
- Take time to enjoy the downtime. Many families with kids seem to be on a constant cycle of school, sports, homework, bed. Having time to spend as a family unit is a distant memory. E-Learning means time for more family bonding. Teach things other than academics…take time each day to do something like baking cookies together, building a woodworking masterpiece, encouraging time outside, or watch YouTube videos and learn something completely new. The sky is the limit.
While E-Learning is not the perfect solution for student academic engagement, it helps to fill the gap until we can be together as a classroom family again. Whether your school posts items on the Remind app, ClassDojo, or uses Google Classroom, teachers, students, and parents are in the process of experiencing something new. Instead of complaining about E-Learning, please consider this a time of growth. We all can stand to be more flexible or patient. Some of us would like to set up that daily schedule but don’t feel like we have the time. Kids need to know about good online resources. Finally, having free time in the schedule to spend with my family is a huge blessing.
Be safe and stay well! These are strange times, but I know we will all get through it. 🙂
Do you have suggestions for making E-Learning more beneficial for everyone? Please feel free to share your ideas for E-Learning success in the comments below.
If you are interested in some of my other posts, especially ones that can be done with kids, you might like my dark hot chocolate mix, baked ham and cheese egg cups, or my easy chocolate covered peanuts. All of these recipes not only allow for family time but teach important kitchen skills! Yay!