The pandemic has touched nearly every aspect of our lives. Our workplaces have changed, our governments have changed, media and the news have changed—the list goes on and on. In particular, many people are struggling with this new era of schooling. Their children are experiencing more stress than ever before, are meeting difficult sanitation criteria, and are likely trying to learn in an ever-changing system where sometimes they’re at home learning online and sometimes they’re in school, awkwardly distanced from their classmates and friends. The following will explore some of the things that parents can do to help their children succeed at school during the pandemic.
Mental Health Must Come First
If your child is overwhelmed, fearful, stressed, anxious, lonely, or otherwise emotionally struggling, these needs must be addressed first. Just like adults, kids can’t learn when they are occupied by feelings of dread or despair.
As well, children tend to absorb the feelings of the adults around them. This means that if you’re stressed about money or job security or food security or toilet paper, there’s a high chance your child has picked up on this and is feeling the stress as well.
Children need to be allowed to express their emotions without fear of being told their feelings are inappropriate. Do not under any circumstances brush off your child’s feelings right now. If they’re nervous, don’t say something like: there’s nothing to be nervous about because this invalidates their feelings resulting in suppression. This means the feeling will still be there, but they won’t understand why it’s there or how it’s wreaking havoc (the suppression of emotion is why so many adults today are self-destructive). Create a safe environment for feelings to come out. Repeat the feeling back to the child and validate it. You’re frustrated because learning online makes it harder to focus? I would feel that way too. If you don’t know how your child is feeling, ask.
Get In Contact With The School Or Teacher
In today’s digital world, we are more connected than ever. This connection can and should apply to you and your child’s teacher. If you and your child’s teacher are on the same page, there will be consistency in your child’s formal education; they will be given the same support and information both at school and at home, which can drastically limit confusion. Consider using a parent communication app like Klassy from Klassroom. It’s designed specifically for the purpose of keeping communication open between parents and teachers.
Explain The Why
One of the most common struggles children have when learning school subjects is that they don’t understand the why—they can’t connect this knowledge to other aspects of life and so have difficulty remembering it because it has no obvious value. If your child is challenged by a subject, spend some time relating it to their lives (now, not in fifteen years). If it doesn’t relate, come up with a fun project that can be done at home, which makes the information useful.
Incorporate Play
Children are, by nature, learning machines. The way they learn if not given any guidance is through play. This means that play makes for one of the fastest routes to learning as children’s brains are primed for it. At every opportunity, create a game or fun activity that can be done with the information the child is studying. The results will shock you.
The above four steps should help you facilitate high-quality learning for your child during the pandemic. In addition to the above, it is critical that you ask your child what could help them do better. They might have some fantastic ideas.
