How to Help Your Student Through Another Online Semester

Covid has hit us all hard, but it may has hit our students the hardest. The innocence of school-yard friends, the excitement of bringing your first love to a high school dance, locker room talks, complaining about teachers over lunch- it’s all suddenly been taken away.

School and its social settings- for all its downfalls- is a vital part of our children’s development. It’s where they learn how to make friends, work in a group (as despised as the group projects are, they work!) Plus, it gives them a sense of duty and purpose. Sure, no kid really likes getting up at 7 am to go to school, but that routine gives them comfort. They’re working towards something, a stark contrast to the seemingly aimless day-to-day life of quarantine.

We aren’t sure how long this season of online-classes and social distancing will last, but one thing is sure: the more support we provide to our students the better. We need to support their development and education, while giving them the freedom to continue to become the person they are.

Ten Easy Things You Can Do to Help Your Student:

1. Understand how they learn and help them study according to their strengths. Are they verbal learners? Have them talk you through what they learned. Visual? Encourage art projects that relate to the subject. Do they have to move? Maybe buy a ball they can bounce on while in online class.
2. Really encourage good organization- make a game out of it or invest in a new, fun organization system for them.
3. Give them action steps to help the people around them- kids absorb more than we realize. Chances are, they know exactly what is happening around them and feel the pain of their neighbors and friends acutely. Get them involved by helping others and let them have a hand in deciding what to do!
4. If you have siblings, have the older siblings help the younger with homework. They can read to each other or have study sessions together.
5. Make sure they break often and get out of their chair- a 10-minute break every 30 minutes is perfect! Everytime they break, they should get around and move a little, maybe work on a different project or engage a different part of their brain.
6. Try incorporating stress-reduction techniques into your family’s day to day. Lead by example here. If they see you meditating or going for walks, chances are they will mimic.
7. Check in at least once a day with specific, open questions. “How was your day” will almost always garner the same response: “good”. Instead, ask specific questions that can not be answered with a yes or no. “What do you think of (teacher’s name)?” or “What was the best part of today?” or even, “What can I do to help you today?”
8. Don’t dismiss their intelligence- talk to them about current events! (And practice active listening when they respond.)
9. Plan plan plan- and let them know what the plan is! Remember, they will be craving the routine that school gives them. While structuring a full 7-hour day is unreasonable and probably annoying to the kids, having a few definite family events every week will help them normalize their new routine and give them something to look forward to.

Engage with them. If you have a teenager, it might be tempting to let them go their own way entirely. And while encouraging them to pursue their own freedom is great, connecting with them and showing you truly care is also great. Sit down with them. Express your concerns. But most of all, listen.