During the lockdown, students, teachers, and parents everyone have experienced a shift in the schooling system. Now, most institutes offer online school during a lockdown to students nationwide. In Part 1, you have learned how this transition from physical classes to virtual school brings many challenges for both parents and teenagers.
In this time, maintaining high levels of engagement can be challenging even for savvy adult learners. Due to changes in routine, parents might have noticed a behavioral change in their children. This is why parents need to know the effective ways to help teens with the challenges of online school during a pandemic.
Here are some tips to help your child stay engaged during this time of online learning:
#1 Help Teens With Routines Not Schedules
With schools shut down in pandemics, most parents try to create a school at home with daily schedules and activities. But, this may make your teen feels frustrated and angry sometimes. It is better to set effective routines rather than setting schedules for children at home. When you create routines for learning and other activities, the teen will feel relaxed and will enjoy attending school from home.
#2 Maintain Breaks Between Work
Following a proper routine and attending online classes is very important for students during a pandemic. To encourage them, it is the duty of parents to allow the proper time for lunch breaks and activity breaks. When the online class finish, give your teen time to relax and to play their favorite game. Also, if you think they need more guidance with any of their subject, then enroll them in online tutoring to help them with their doubts.
#3 Have Open Conversations with Teens
When your child is at home all day due to lockdown, it is very important to help them with their feelings. Sit with your teen and ask to encourage them to express their feelings with you. Be patient and try to understand how your child is feeling and what is bothering them with online learning. Be sure to acknowledge their feelings and assure them with compassion.
#4 Allow Them To Interact With Friends Via Video Calls
At school, the children are used to a lot of social contact with classmates and friends. But with online schooling, the interactions between children have become zero as everyone is attending classes from home. Also, teens are not able to move out of the house due to lockdown. So, it is possible that they may feel isolated and stressed as well. Parents should allow teens to do a video call with their friends.
With video chatting, students can feel connected to others and also can share their thoughts as well as feelings with friends. This is very important for the mental well-being of your children at the current times of pandemics. Moreover, video chats are often the closest thing to seeing someone in person.
#4 Praise and Encourage Teenagers’ Efforts
Always praise your teenager’s efforts and their positive behavior as well. This will motivate your child to stick with online learning and will boost their confidence too. And, it is better if you will be specific when praising them for a specific achievement or behavior. Give them a reward when your teen finishes school work on time or score good marks in exams while attending online school during a lockdown.
#5 Setting Up A Productive Learning Space For Teens At Home
Set up a good space for study at home for teens. Here are some suggestions to help you set up a learning area at home for your children.
- Select a location based on the learning preferences of the child: If your child prefers silence, a spare room could be a good option for studies. On the other hand, if they have no issue with some background noise and love it, then choose a spot somewhere in the house where distraction is less.
- Eliminate distractions: Make sure the phone of your children is off when they attend an online school or online tutoring classes. Also, make sure the room or area you select for the study of your child has no other distractions like video games or TV.
- Choose a comfortable chair and table: Place a chair in the study area where your child can comfortably sit and attend online classes for more than an hour. Also, ensure that they have a desk to put books, laptops, and other learning supplies.
#6 Things that Might Help with Online School During a Lockdown
Here are some other tips for parents that might help teens with online school during a lockdown:
Go for a walk together – It is a good way to connect with your teens. During the walk, discuss their issues and try to help them with solutions.
Give them space – Make sure you give private space to your child when they are at home for the whole day.
Help them develop different strategies – Home exercise, cooking, relaxation techniques. Talk to them about the things they find relaxing and encourage them to take part in them.
Final Words
Lockdown is a challenging phase for everyone, including students, teachers, and parents. In the time of online school during a lockdown, the parents should help their children so that they feel happy and can engage in studies well. It is very important to support the teens with studies as well as with personal life. It will make them feel connected with the world emotionally. Take help from the above tips and make online learning easy and fun for your child.