When the sudden rampant pandemic named Corvid-19 surfaced and changed the game of educating many of the world’s children from institutional to home schooling, the “new age way” of learning has turned life as we have known it upside down and has set many parents on edge - - especially those with access to distance learning technology.

As a veteran educator with thirteen years of experience, I have 10 helpful tips that may make this transition easier for you:

#1: Have your children logon and report to class/classes like it is a regular school day. This keeps a sense of normalcy in play. Ensure that your child completes assignments. There are way too many truancy issues during this period of home learning and we need all students to participate.

#2: Make sure that you are aware of what your child’s assignment(s) are and that they are completing them and not playing Fortnite and other video games. Remember what gets monitored gets done.

#3: Ensure that your child keeps a regularly scheduled bed time. Educators have daytime hours and are available online to assist students. If your child is up late at night and sleep during the day, they are missing opportunities to directly interact with their teachers and peers.

#4: Don’t yell, scream, and curse at your children because it does not make them any smarter. It only damages their self-esteem. Remember that kids are people too therefore, use nice words and specific praise.

#5: Do not try to beat knowledge into your child, reach out to their teacher(s) or an online tutoring site. We are here to assist you. This way of learning is an experience for all of us and it will take some patience and understanding as we all get accustomed to it.

#6: Answer the phone, we are not calling to make small talk, the call concerns your child. If you have changed your number since August/September, please inform the school. We are calling to ensure that all is well or to offer encouragement to those who seem to be giving up evidenced by poor online attendance.

#7: Parents we always say, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Well now is the time to demonstrate what this really means and kick this quarantine old school style by playing some board games with your child.

Consider activities like tic-tac-toe, boxes, hangman, or online hangaroo. Moreover, you may even want to consider substituting a day of online learning with some hands on learning. Incorporate home economics into your home schooling by cooking a meal or baking cookies with your child. Another thought is a science experiment because those are always interesting and fun.

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Socializing is very important and healthy for children. Please allow your child to call or FaceTime with a close friend.

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#8: Keep them encouraged because when students fail to see the value in completing a task, they often give up or refuse to do it.

#9: Do not pawn the laptops that are meant for your child to participate in distance learning. The school system went to great lengths to ensure that every student could continue to learn during this pandemic. Please do not add to the stress of the children by making bad choices that negatively impact and embarrasses them.

#10: Socializing is very important and healthy for children. Please allow your child to call or FaceTime with a close friend. It is very important to keep social skills intact, especially during this period of social distancing.

Remember that this way of learning is new for all of us and I and other educators don’t have all of the answers, therefore, be encouraged and do your best because nothing beats a failure but a try.