I'm going to preface this: I know there are a lot of opinions out there about the choice/lack of choice to do online school/distance learning. I really don't want the debate right now. My school district has made their decision, I am working with the challenge, and being positive about it. So, other parents who are doing distance learning, or who did it in the spring: Any tips or best practices? I bought a cute cart from Michaels and put all munchkins school supplies into it. It's got wheels, so we can move it as needed. Picked up his school books and added them to the cart. Along with the headphones and charger for the Chromebook. Is there something you do to make it easier? Or something that your kid loves having handy?
If he has codes for zoom meetings (or whatever virtual meeting app the teachers use), write them on a post-it and put that on the wall behind where he'll be working. That has two benefits: 1. You don't have to frantically search for the code if the meeting sneaks up on you. 2. He'll feel independent because you don't have to be there, looking over his shoulder as the lesson begins. (This was big in my house.) Write everything on a calendar. I used our family calendar so DS could see it. (DD had her own calendar because she's older and able to handle it on her own. She even color-coded it this past spring! ) Keep distractions in whatever room he's in to a minimum--and try to keep him in one space so it feels like "school happens here." I too have a cart for supplies! A lap desk or some type of writing surface is nice, too. Lastly, and you may already have this figured out, but cut yourself and your son some slack. And same for the teachers. This is new for all of us, and no one has all the answers ... something I don't like but I've had to roll with it, which is good for my kids to see, I guess?
I have mid and high schoolers, so they are pretty self sufficient. A few hints that have evolved over the the past two weeks: 1. My boys must be separate! and no headphones for youngest...mid schooler, as the accountability helps (hearing you tube videos start in the middle of class time etc) 2. Finish early, and I give BIKE time. Ride to this location and back...tracking time! 3. Timer for breaks and teacher returns. We will meet back in 20 minutes...SET a timer. It is a HUGE help 4. We have a basket for their work and spot for CHROME (supplied by school) books. It goes there EVERY Night! 5. I also have a white board with times and subjects that I can see from my desk. I am clueless, and can't keep just 2 of them straight in my brain. 6. Keep good communications with teachers, don't be afraid to text/call/email them! and CC the principal if you do! Fast response! lol 7. Healthy snacks for in between (covid has really caused us to snack more) 8. Bring some chores to them, let them be more part of running the house. I sent my boys to grocery store today with 10 item list....some were new and hard to find (brasso)! they loved it! 9. When one yells out a question to me, like "how do you spell AWesome?" my reply is YOU are at the middle school/high school, mom ain't there! bhwhahha 10. take a zillion photos and scrap them
I really like Sara's Zoom tip and need to try that! To make it easier on me and my kids, I let them choose what time they start doing their work. One loves to do it all in the morning. The other two prefer noon. Noon is the latest I'll let them start because I want school to be done before dinner. This allows me to do what I want in the morning instead of nagging them to get things done all morning. Good luck everyone!
I don't have kids but a FB friend shared some photos of a setup for online learning. I just found the post (couldn't remember which friend!) and turns out the gal has had a lot of questions about her setup so she put together a YT video. I like her concept as it gives each child privacy and has everything at their fingertips.
As to be expected, last semester was a total dumpster fire! There was absolutely ZERO structure and my middle really struggled and her grades suffered...which they weren't that great to begin with. This time around because we "voted" for IN person, my girls are online on their laptops from 8:10 - 3:00 M-F. The teachers are online teaching the class the ENTIRE day! Those who opted for remote learning only login once or twice a day and work just needs to be done by Sunday at 11:59 pm...I knew this was NOT an option and wouldn't work for my girls. Monday the learning labs who are run by the bus drivers opened at their school, so that is where they are, in the cafeteria M-F 8:00 -3:00. They have to bring their own school supplies (there's no sharing), their laptops and headphones. The first two weeks here at home, I had my middle in the corner by the front door and coat closet, and my youngest had her back to the wall by the hallway and the laundry room/entrance from the garage. I had their back towards walls so if I needed to walk by the teacher and the kids couldn't see me. I also had them placed where nobody could see what was in my house...I like my privacy and I was keeping it that way. I also knew if they were in their rooms, there was a snowballs chance in hell they would stay on task and focused. Their teachers require their cameras to be on at all times unless they're at lunch or break and their mic muted; however I could hear a few teachers gripe when someone would unmute their mic to talk and there was background noise (TV, radio, younger siblings) so basically I sat in complete silence all.day. Had to rush cook dinner on their lunch break, b/c what if I made too much noise? My girls had to be in sitting positions while at home; no laying down or on the floor (per the teachers) and they had to be dressed in school appropriate clothing. We had a charter school not far from my house where an eighth grader decided it would be hilarious to login using a fake name and show porn...needless to say, parents were pissed! The school was using Google Hangouts for instructions which was a HUGE no-no...but whatever. They totally downplayed the situation, saying no kids were harmed. So basically, don't have your child wearing ears so you can, at the very least HEAR everything that is being said in the event someone hacks into the system you can act ASAP!!
I'll be watching this for tips. Thankfully, Megan did well with remote online learning during the spring with very little motivating from us, so here's hoping it'll be good when we start next week. Our district is doing a hybrid schedule for the in-person learning. A-K go to school on Monday and Wednesday and L-Z go to school on Tuesday and Thursday. They will have remote learning online on their home days and everyone is allowed to message/meet online with the teachers on Fridays. We haven't gotten specifics on how the remote days will work yet but it'll be interesting to see how it works.
I just want to say that I feel for you all that have younger ones in this time. And I am not a fan at all of little ones sitting in front of a computer for hours and having to be "on" all the time! In the spring, my kiddo started out wanting to sleep all day and do his assignments at night. He figured out pretty quickly that it wasn't working very well. And I told him that once it was dinner time my help would be cut off lol. That remote stuff was taking a toll on me and I needed to have my evenings for myself. He started getting up and getting it done on his own. We are doing a hybrid schedule with students attending either Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday. Chance attends on M/W, but I will be at work all the rest of the days including Friday for teacher planning purposes, so he will be on his own 3 days a week to do what he needs to do. I've told him that he needs a designated spot for school work, away from where he typically relaxes or plays games so that he can be more focused. On remote days, our kids will basically be on their own other than having to check in to their classes and get their assignments. Some teachers will be having designated meeting times with classes, some won't. It's kind of been left up to each one of us, and there's still a lot to figure out. I think there needs to be A LOT of grace given to both parents and teachers right now.
Yeah, this one I feel like I got. I've enjoyed homeschool, but I've really excited that someone else is in charge of the main teaching this year! LOL! Thanks for the other thoughts! They are using Canvas and google Meet. I didn't think about writing down the code for him. That's a good idea.
I put his schedule up on one of those giant post it notes that teachers use. I color coded it with the live classes versus non-live times. A white board is a great idea! This sounds like a new post to me! Mine won't ask me. He'll ask google. Because that's what he always does. LOL!
That's a great tip! It's not an option with our distance learning though. The teachers have specific live times. Well, I guess we could do that, but it makes it more complicated with attendance and 'catching up'. But I'll totally keep it in mind in case it's not working for us at the times scheduled!
We'll see how it goes next week. Right now, he has 30ish minute live classes, followed by 40-60 minutes (depending on the class) of independent work or small group work. So, his teacher said that she'll be online the whole time, expect for lunch. They will do the live lessons, and then kids can jump off to work on the assignments, or they can stay on to get more help and ask questions, etc. It sounds good, because they are welcome to stretch, move around, etc, during those independent times. And she said they shouldn't have any homework, as long as they get stuff done during the day. She isn't assigning extra - I'm so excited about that concept! Especially for 4th grade! We did this. We are blessed to be in a position that we are using different computers for each task too. The Chromebook is only school. No games. And the laptop with games is finding a new place in our house. Not sure where yet, lol!
This sounds really good, at least as good as can be expected. I plan to stay live online most of the day so that if my virtual kids have any questions they can just hop on and yell at me lol, and I will have a designated virtual time that I will be planted at the computer. Yay for no homework!!
I have some kids coming M/W, others T/TH, some totally virtual, and one that is coming 4 days a week because of her IEP.
I'm so sorry. I think having a mix of students virtual and in person has to be one of the most difficult challenges.
Daniel is actually going back to school on Monday. The final weeks of the last school year were hard for both of us, and with me having surgery and then having to go through radiation treatments, I knew that I needed to focus on my health and being his at-home teacher wasn't going to be a good part of my healing plan. Of course, I'll still be monitoring his activity, but that's different than keeping him on task. He's VERY excited about returning to school. I'm keeping all of our students in my prayers, as well as our TLP family members who are teachers and trying to navigate through these uncertain times. I'm so glad we have each other to share ideas!
Most of my teenagers and pre-teen's distance learning in the spring and summer was online. We have a dedicated internet cable to the laptop they were using with the wifi turned off. It is safety thing. If anything weird happens or they see something they are unsure of or don't like they are to pull the cable out of the laptop and shut the lid then come and get me/hubby. Pulling out the internet cable prevents viruses or bots downloading or transmitting if they've accidentally triggered one. They have a a box of papers and exercise books under the desk at the back, and a pen and pencils tidy that we made together a few years ago. It's a small cardboard box that something was delivered in, with the top flaps folded inside for extra strength. We then filled it with the tubes from inside toilet rolls. Colouring pens, crayons, pencils, short rulers, writing pens etc stand inside the different tubes. I half filled some tubes with newspaper to make them shallower for storing rubbers and pencil sharpeners. We have a colourful clock next to the desk, and the timetable for the week colour coded and on the wall for easy viewing.
When we did distance learning when they were small due to medical conditions the school would set a topic each 1/2 term. We decorated the room per the topic over the weeks with posters, charts, drawings, artwork, and models. We would have a special shelf on the bookcase for books relevant to the topic being studied. In the corner we put a selection of toys or games that were relevant to the topic too for more fun focused learning. On one wall I had maps and letter/number charts that stayed there for years.
I'm not sure how old your son is but mine is 6 and we just had our first full week of virtual learning so here's what we've learned: We practiced using his headphones, turning on his Chromebook, logging in, & opening up Canvas a couple times before his first day. We also discussed the kind of questions that it's okay to ask during class and what should wait until class is over... although I didn't think to cover "Can I give my mom a hug?" Having everything organized AND laid out where he can see it is important. Eliminating some of his choices (so not all of the dry erase markers but only 2 or 3) is helpful, too. Making sure he wakes up in enough time to eat breakfast, have a drink, get dressed, pee, & set up his desk is important. With my son's height/age, he uses 1 or 2 pillows against the back of the chair to be comfortable and reach forward enough to touch the Chromebook. He also has a special blankie that he likes to put on his legs sometimes so that's within reach and water (with a lid!). Since he is in his bedroom during school, I help him make his bed and pull the curtains back so it is bright & cheerful in there and looks nice in the background of his Google Meet. Although I am close by & able to hear everything he's saying during class, I don't sit in the same room because I want to encourage him to do everything on his own. I only come in if he calls out for me and I can tell it's something urgent. I told him that ahead of time so he wouldn't be surprised or panic when I didn't immediately rush in. Can you tell I'm an overthinker & a planner???
