The New Era of Virtual Learning: A Parent's Guide to Supporting their Child’s Success

By Tiffany Ford Leave a comment

It was March of 2020 when school systems across the country started to shut down. At this moment, there was an abrupt halt of face-to-face instruction and many parents were concerned about how this will impact their children’s academics. Teachers were not prepared to be virtual teachers and students were not prepared to be virtual learners. However, circumstances had left everyone having to adapt to this new era of virtual education. As a teacher during a pandemic, I went through the struggles of having to adapt to virtual learning. It definitely was not easy, especially with having little to no time to prepare and understand the ends and outs of teaching virtually. Yet, after many hours of planning, sharing ideas with fellow educators, support from my school, and a lot of pep talk from loved ones, I was able to successfully tackle and adapt to teaching virtually. However, all educators must understand that we are not in the struggle alone, and our success as virtual educators is only solving half of the problem. You as parents are having to adapt to virtual education as well. After all, you are more involved than ever in your child’s education. Students are learning from home with you and educators are relying on your support to make this transition effective. You would not believe the number of emails and phone calls that I received from parents concerned about schools shutting down and their child having to learn from home. Many of them were truly in panic-mode which was completely understandable; I am sure you went through those same feelings. It was then that I decided I needed to do my best to help parents feel more at ease by helping them through the transition as well. With this in mind, I would like to share five strategies with you, as the parents/families of virtual learners, so that you too can be at ease and gain some insight on how to successfully support your children with their virtual education.

1. Do not be hesitant to ask your child’s teacher questions.

Never feel like you are bothering the teachers with your questions. Teachers understand that you are in a new situation and questions are inevitable. After all, no one was prepared for virtual learning. For example, some parents/guardians are more technologically advanced than others and that is okay. If you have a question about how to submit an assignment or logging in to zoom, feel free to ask. The teacher’s job is to be a resource for you if you ever have questions about anything, big or small.

2. Keep an open line of communication with your child’s teacher.

Always be sure to let the teacher know what factors may impact your child’s education. For example, if your child is known to grow tiresome and zone out during live online lessons, alert the teacher. That way, the teacher will know to do random check-ins on that student throughout the day. If your child did not sleep well the night before then let the teacher know that they may seem sleepy or not like themselves that day. If your child will need to enter live sessions late or leave early, also alert the teacher. Teachers just want to know what is going on so we can be prepared to give your child what they need.

3. Familiarize yourself with your child’s online learning schedule.

It is important to be aware of your child's schedule each day that they are required to be online with their teacher. Understand what times they need to be logged on for instruction and what subjects are being taught during those times. Know the times for lunch break and what your child is supposed to do during the times when they are offline with the teacher. The more you know about your child’s schedule, the easier it will be for you to get your child familiarized with the schedule. In the end, the goal is to get your child, regardless of age, adjusted to this new schedule and this starts with how well you know their schedule.

4. Set a schedule for turning in your child’s work.

If your child is older, then they probably know how to turn in their work. However, we know that even older kids sometimes need a little reminder with getting things done so still check that they are turning in their work. If your child is younger, then you are the one who has to turn in their assignments. With this being said, set a schedule for when your child will complete their work. Then set another schedule for when you will turn in their work. Teachers understand that many parents are working, so set a time when you can turn in your child’s work for that day that fits your work schedule. Also, teachers understand that not all parents have the same 9-to-5 work schedule and have others helping to support their child with their learning. If this is your case, then inform the teacher so that you can arrange a time for turning in assignments that will be more manageable. This goes along with keeping an open line of communication with your child’s teacher.

5. Provide a good work area for your child.

Your home is now the school, so it is best to try to make it feel/look as close to school as possible. This does not have to be extravagant; you just need the basics. A desk/table, comfortable chair, good lighting, the TV turned off and all their classroom materials in reach. I would also add, if possible, that your child does not work in an area where people are constantly passing by to get to other areas of the house. This will hinder your child’s ability to focus if people are constantly moving around them. The overall goal is to give your child the feel of a school environment as they work from home; this will help with their focus and productivity.

Final Take Away

Remember that you are not alone and that you are doing great. We all have our struggles and are best to get through this. Teachers and parents are having to work together now more than ever to support the success of students. As a teacher, I have seen how hard this can be on parents. However, I have also seen the worries fade away for parents once they start to feel comfortable with virtual learning. I do hope that the strategies listed above will help you as you continue to be a huge support system for your child. Always keep in mind that this will not last forever and that there are always ways to make a tough situation more manageable.

Tiffany Ford is a Masters-level public and charter school teacher and private virtual tutor of students at various grade levels. She can be contacted at tiffanytutoringk6@yahoo.com. See more of her blogs at https://cunningham-creations.com/blog/