Preparing Your Child for Learning at Home

With the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak causing schools across the nation to close temporarily, it’s probably on your mind: how will your child learn going forward? 

It’s too early to tell whether school districts will transition their students to at-home, online learning for a couple of weeks or for the rest of the school year. However, there is plenty that you as a parent can do to prepare your child for the impending change. Here are several tips: 

• Address the state of affairs. By no means should you scare your child with statistics and charts you’ve seen on the news, but remind them why schools have closed for the time being and what this might mean for your family. Answer your child’s questions the best you can about how your workplace is affected and what school might look like going forward.
• Prepare your child for how school might be different. If your school district has not already worked up plans for distance, home-based digital learning, it likely will soon. Talk with your child about what that might look like, should your child need to learn from home for an extended period of time. You’ll learn more soon, but it might involve videos, a digital learning platform, checking in with teachers multiple times a day, and more.
• Talk logistics. Online learning might sound simple, but if your child is home while you also work from home, you’ll need to discuss and address important things as a family, such as:
  • Where your child/children will do schoolwork
  • The time of day that your child/children should do their schoolwork
  • Screen/technology time rules to keep your child/children on task
  • Whether you have the tools you’ll need to support more than one child in the home (laptops and work space)
  • Boundaries for the online school day that are similar to the rules set by your school, such as no phone usage while doing schoolwork 

Last but not least, remind your child that this is all new, and it’s okay if it takes some time to get comfortable. The coronavirus epidemic is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. It induces anxiety for many of us, and it might be stressful for your child. They will need to grow accustomed to the dramatic shifts that have taken place in such a short amount of time. 

Stay safe as a family and do your best to keep in mind that your child will learn a lot from this time – more than you realize. Together, you will get through it alongside your community, your child’s teachers, and classmates. If we at Huntington can help your child during this time, call us at 1-800 CAN LEARN.