Emerald Zeitz’s Tips for Parents New to Online Schooling
Start and end school at the same time each day - This will help your family take it seriously and commit to it.
Use timers - Time can and will get away from you! Timers help you set healthy limits for lessons and breaks.
Factor in breaks, lunch, and exercise - Add these necessary breaks into your school schedule and use timers to keep true to the time given to each.
Get outside - Weather permitting, get out for a 20-minute walk/run/bike ride after lunch to break up the day from your morning and afternoon lessons. If you are not able to go outside, use stretching, and other exercises you can do at home to break up the morning and afternoon schedule.
Avoid long TV/Online game breaks (over 30 minutes) - To ensure productivity, refrain from TV/game breaks until after ALL lessons are done for the day. It is often very hard to get kids motivated for school after longer breaks with these.
Consistency is key - Be persistent and commit to schooling five days per week.
Communicate your expectations - You know your child best; be firm but kind with your expectations. Additionally, you are working together as a team - be patient and kind to each other.
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Miriah Bordoni’s Tips for Parents New to Online Schooling
1. Make a Schedule: Make a schedule and stick to it. Learning should take 4-6 hours a day with breaks built in.
2. Make it Fun: Take the time to make learning fun. Enjoy the learning process alongside your child. Don’t hesitate to ask questions and explore topics that make them happy.
3. Cherish the Time: Cherish the extra time you have with your kids, get inspired with curiosity, and enjoy the ride!
4. Resources: Take advantage of the free resources such as:
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Preparing for Online School
Hello from The Berning Family! This is our 14th year in public online schools, and we are in our 3rd public online school. We have one graduate, who is now in college, and four children in public online school. All five of our children enjoy learning and online education. We wish you well as you prepare for online schooling, and hope that we have some helpful suggestions and words of encouragement for you.
Preparing for the Enrollment Process: Get onto the school’s website, contact the school for more information and questions. You can start the application process and schools will quickly get into contact with you. Make a list of questions and have them ready.
Gather the usual “paperwork” and records. The school will have a list of what you need. This can often be the biggest slow-down in the process. Although there is so much access to online textbooks and lessons, keep in mind that student’s materials need to be shipped, and also some schools have an enrollment cap.
Attend information sessions. Many are also online and at various times for your convenience. This is a great resource for your questions.
Technology Preparation: Have a computer for schooling. Some schools provide a computer and headphone/mic sets. Because my husband is an IT person, we do better with him finding and buying high-quality used computers that are far less expensive than brand new systems--but at the same time “going cheap” on your computer or computers is a really bad idea. So do the best you can with what you have, as my husband always says. And, have high-quality updated anti-malware and scan really, really often, at least several times a day. My family prefers computers and have one for each student, although we understand that some people use smartphones for some of their schooling. However, we think that it is a lot easier to read and to type papers on the computer. Ask the school what they advise.
Have a good reliable internet connection. Some schools will provide internet help in some way to all or some families.
Online schools will have a “technology page” and/or you can call them. They want to help! Download necessary programs to computers as soon as possible in preparation for the first day.
Parent Preparation: Online schooling is a partnership of school and teachers with parents/guardians/learning coaches and students. Do not hesitate to reach out to your teachers. They want to help!
Schools want your student(s) to succeed. They will have recommendations and tips for you. Follow their advice.
Be aware of the support your school offers through teachers, customer service, and even tech support.
Public online schools still have to follow state regulations and have state testing. This means that we have a required amount of days and hours for our students, as well as progress expectations.
Our “flexibility” is not without structure and every school may have some different rules regarding flexibility. Find out what your school of choice means by the term ‘flexibility.’ For example, if a student prefers to do a lot of lessons in one subject, which is called ‘chunking,’ are there grade penalties if lessons for other subjects do not get completed in the week of which they are on the schedule? Flexibility may include options within a given week but absolutely no options within a school calendar. Whatever the flexibility level is, schools set everything up to help our children make progress and stay on track to succeed in online school.
Make a list of ‘why’ you have chosen online school and keep it handy. Everyone will have a “hard day” or several. It can be overwhelming, but knowing ‘why’ you are there will help get you and your student(s) through the hard days and have better days.
Check your own attitude. If we are negative about this experience or parts of it, then our children will likely be, too. It will be harder to encourage them in their work.
Expect time. Schooling at home still takes time. Prepare for it and be patient with yourself and your student(s). It is normal for younger students to need more assistance throughout the day with their lessons and to keep on track. Older students may often be more independent, but check in with them and check your parent account. Our support is still beneficial and encouraging to even the most independent students. Also, it is completely normal that each child is an individual with their own personality and needs, even within each family. We cannot expect them all to react the same to schooling.
A designated school area is nice to have, but many of us have school in our living rooms, dining room tables, or other places. We make it work and try to make it a quiet place during our school time.
Student Preparation: Don’t look at an entire week or an entire semester of lessons and think that it all has to be done in one day. Take a breath and work through a lesson at a time. You will find your pace as you go along. Think “The Tortoise and the Hare or marathon vs sprint.”
“Focus on what you CAN do, not what you cannot do.” Things in life happen so don’t ‘get stuck’ and then just stop, in what you cannot control.
You can make a list of school resources such as your teachers, counselors and advisors, customer service, and even tech support.
Communicate with your teacher. Reach out. They are there for you!
The class syllabus and any message board or site your teacher has made for reference is important to go to for instructions and clarification on an assignment.
Don’t stop schooling because one lesson isn’t going well. Take a short breather. Maybe move to a different subject, and then come back to it. Check to see if there is more information from the teacher on it. Do not hesitate to contact the teacher for help. They want you to succeed! If you need to wait for a response or are having another issue, then start on another subject.
Having an idea of your weekly schedule, including live class times and open office hours, will be beneficial for online and offline opportunities.
If you miss a day, you have to make it up somewhere. The time may need to be made up on a weekend day or two, and/or adding extra lessons on other days. Therefore when you are doing well in the pace of online schooling or if you get work done early, then add an extra lesson or two for that day.
Everyone has “off” days, but that doesn’t mean it won’t get better. As mentioned before, we always tell our kids to do their best under the circumstances.
In closing, Parents and Students, always remember that you are not alone in online schooling, but always remember that it is an online public school. So, we encourage you all to make the most you can of the great learning environment while keeping your own child or children safe in your own “one-room schoolhouse.” Most families thrive in an environment where learning is at stake and not survival. :-)