By: Jesse Alcontin – November 10, 2020
The secret of how a child learns to believe and trust in his own abilities is a parent who believed in him from the very beginning. When we show our children that their achievements matter, big or small, our children will learn to develop a sense of fulfillment that will then translate to better performances to anything they wish to do.
Supporting your child during traditional schooling is one thing, while supporting your child in online learning is another. Given the prevalent situation with the pandemic, many of the parents new to this structure have been having worries and confusions as to how they can continuously support their child in this new normal. We’ve provided you some tips and advice on how to properly give your support during their distance learning.
LEARN HOW TO ADAPT WITH THE ‘NEW NORMAL’
We may have been very accustomed to the nature of having our children learn at school but embrace the change that distance learning brings to reap the different opportunities that also comes with it. Nothing goes wrong by taking it slowly but surely. At first, it will really feel so foreign. But familiarizing ourselves with the system at our own given pace would help a lot in discovering how great online learning is.
It would also be very helpful that we don’t compare distance learning to the traditional. Each has its own perks and charms but right now, we should get a hang of how online learning works. And the more we get a hang of it, the more that we’ll appreciate the advantages of letting our children learn from home. We can best support and guide our children if we know what they are facing every day. Want to know some important do’s and don’ts? Here you go!
DO encourage our children to attend their online classes with the same enthusiasm as when they attend school.
DON’T let our children skip their classes without any valid reason especially now that it is easier to do so. It is important that they value each class that they attend to.
DO talk to our children about how important online learning is during this difficult time. It is best that our children are well aware of the situation and understands it.
DON’T cause panic and fear to our children by alarming them of the danger outside. Let’s make sure that we explain the crisis without scaring them. Our children are under a new environment that would require them to focus. Causing unsolicited fear would not help them to focus with their lessons.
DO give them their own study area. Assigning a particular space would help our children to be encouraged and to look forward to their upcoming classes. Adding some personal stuff like their favorite pencil case, favorite books to read would also give them the impression that it really is their own learning zone in the house.
DON’T let them study from one place to another. Having different areas to study would prevent them from developing a habit in learning and studying. It would also be very distracting for our children especially when there are other family members in the same space where they study. They can easily get bored and would just opt to talk with who they are with.
LET OUR CHILDREN LEARN ON THEIR OWN
Now it may be tempting to listen to our children’s lessons and help them when they’re having a tough time, but what we should do is as much as possible, stay away. We allot our own time to help our children review their past or future lessons, to make their assignments together, and to even do mock quizzes sometimes with them. We already have our own time to be very hands-on with their education, so we should also respect their time with their online teachers or tutors alone.
We don’t just want to give our kids fish to eat, we want to actually teach them how to fish! Let us allow them to learn by themselves and accept the fact that there are times when they are vulnerable. It’s not always in victory that we learn. Isn’t it that our mistakes are often the best teachers?
DO our own routine and business when it’s our children’s class. Being busy about other things would less likely prevent us from listening to their discussions.
DON’T come running whenever we hear our children struggling to answer. In school, we don’t come running from work or home just to answer for our children in a recitation or quiz, so why should we do it now? It’s all about trusting their own capabilities!
DO let our children know that we believe in them. Be vocal with reminding them that it is very important that they learn on their own and that they can do it. Show high spirits whenever our children are doubtful of their own potential. How we believe in them is how they believe in themselves.
DON’T let them on their own completely. There’s a big difference between letting them learn how to be independent and neglecting them. When we want them to grow and nurture themselves, it doesn’t mean that we will fully let them do things alone. It is important that we still oversee everything and give guidance to our children every step of the way.
KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THE TEACHERS/TUTORS
Let the teachers or tutors know that your children’s progress is at your best interest. Communicating regularly with them would allow us to understand our children’s growth and performance during their online classes. And there are also concerns that only teachers can handle. Keeping an open communication would also let us be on track with their behavior. Is my child participating actively, is my child shy, is my child having difficulty navigating the online system, the teachers would be the only people to answer those questions.
DO develop a friendly relationship with the tutor while still keeping it professional between you two. There’s always a time to be casual and also a time to be more serious with other matters concerning our children.
DON’T be too uptight when raising concerns. If we find something wrong from lessons, of how they talked to our children, it is advisable that we face the conflict calmly and address it directly to the teacher. We won’t be getting proper explanations if we’ve already scared the teachers so let’s prevent ourselves from getting mad too easily.
DO let the teachers know that whenever our children need something that would help them improve in class, we are 100% assertive about it. We can always show how truly supportive we are as parents especially to teachers. In this way, teachers won’t have a hard time making suggestions with the progression of our children.
DON’T close our doors to suggestions. When the teacher suggests something we don’t like, we should still be supportive. We should always remember that if there’s someone other than ourselves who would want the best education we can give to our children, it’s the teacher.
THE BOTTOMLINE
At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child’s success is the positive involvement of parents. Our children value what we think and say, so let our voices as parents be essential in empowering our children to study hard, strive for success, and not being afraid to make mistakes. Their education is our most prized possession. If they gain awards and medals along the way, then that’s our consolation. There’s no pressure in turning them into the best students ever. But being their best parents ever? We can do that!
