Dos & Don’ts for Parents to help kids with online school

The lockdown has compelled schools to begin the new academic session through online classes. It is commendable how the schools and teachers have put up immense efforts into understanding the virtual learning apps and tailoring their curriculum to run online classes.

However, this transition might not have been smooth for you and your children. You not only need to figure out the technical settings for online classes, but also shift your mindset from a traditional classroom set up to e-learning from home. It is indeed an additional responsibility in the list of your lockdown struggles.

Teachers can provide some broad guidelines on how to attend the classes from home, but the onus of helping your children navigate through this lies on your shoulders. So, here are some dos and don’ts for you to make online classes an enjoyable and seamless experience for your children.

1. Motivate your child to attend the classes in the same spirit as he/she attends school.
2. Ensure that your child has taken the bath, had breakfast and is ‘ready for school’.
3. Provide a dedicated place for the child to attend to his/her online classes without disturbance. Also provide that the child should have the required technical bandwidth.
4. If you do not have a spare computer, then share your phone with your child so as to help him connect with his/her teachers in the session.
5. Explain to your child why this is important, talk about the Coronavirus epidemic and basic safety measures.
6. Ensure that there is no disturbance when your ward is attending his ‘school’. For every practical purpose, the child should be made to understand the importance of the class and how he/she must pay attention.
7. Follow the time table shared by the schools diligently and assist the teachers for they too are trying hard and face similar concerns as you do during this period of Lockdown.

DONT’s

• Don’t Take a Casual Approach: if you do not acknowledge the efforts of schools in conducting online classes, then it is quite likely that your child will replicate your behaviour.
• Don’t Disturb: Do not intervene in the online classes unless the child calls for your help. Also, do not find unnecessary excuses to enter the child’s study space and disturb him or her during the class.
• Don’t Hang Up on the Class: Make sure that the child doesn’t skip the classes just because it is happening online. If your child is using your computer or phone for classes, do not plan your meetings or any other activity or request him or her to hang up during the class hours.