How to Help Your Child Be a Successful Online Learner

By Julie Diamond, OCT

The sudden change to remote learning last spring was a challenging transition for most students.  Here we are again almost a year later, and students are back online, and your child is still struggling with it. What can you do to help them be successful with remote learning? Here are some tips:

1. Compare Your Child to Your Child. Get them to compete with themselves. Encourage them to set weekly goals and chart their progress. It is a great way to motivate them, focus on the momentum and keep going on those tough school days. It is best to compete with yourself rather than compare yourself to a sibling or someone else in class. It only leads to feeling overwhelmed and defeated because no two learners are the same.
2. Get Organized. Successful remote learners are organized. Create a daily routine with a month- or week-at-a-glance calendar using one colour per subject. Daily to-do lists and timers (15-minute increments with scheduled breaks) are helpful to stay on track during the asynchronous periods.
3. Daily Check-in & Review. Online learning requires the student to be an independent learner and hold themselves accountable. If your child struggles with this, then a daily check-in and review of the day with you may be necessary to keep them accountable with schoolwork and not fall behind. A quick 15-30 minutes where they run over what they’ve learned, their homework, and if they have any questions or need help. If this suggestion creates some push back from your child, you may want to get an outside party to take over these check-ins at least until they can navigate things themselves. 
4. Stay Positive! Life changed so suddenly last year, and your child may be harbouring a lot of frustration not related to school. You may feel negative some days too. Negativity can lead to procrastination. Make the days at home fun and do some activities together to keep a positive mindset. For example, as a family recall 3 things you are thankful for at the end of each work/school day, schedule meditations to start each morning, and exercise breaks for walks as a family or YouTube workouts.
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What are you doing to help your child navigate remote learning? Comment below.