Six Tips To Make Online Learning Easier For Your Child Over Lockdown

After the news that the UK will be heading into its second lockdown of the year, lots of families will return to a seemingly familiar scenario of their children working from home again. Whilst schools and universities still remain open, many children will be working from home undergoing online learning.

In the eyes of many, public safety is the main concern followed by keeping children educated for parents. This is why parents need to create a learning environment that allows online education to flourish. 

That’s why we’ve created this list to help prevent gaps in children's education and keep them on the right track.

1. Create a healthy learning space
2. Schedule their days
3. Keep children's screen habits to a minimum
4. Keep an eye on their mental health
5. Create an online support network
6. Find online learning resources

1. Create a healthy learning space

This tip runs in accordance with the saying ‘clear space, clean mind’. According to a study conducted by Princeton Neuroscience, having many visual stimuli present in one's workspace will result in those stimuli competing for neutral representation. In other words, the more clutter present, the more easily you’ll get distracted. 

So, organise a nice, quiet room in the house free of mess. Create an effective learning environment. Within this space, set up your child's learning resources like their laptop, textbooks and notes. If your child is trying to revise, be sure to have the necessary revision tools at the ready like flashcards and exercise books.

2. Schedule their days

Without the structure of school days in your children's lives, both work motivation and energy levels can plummet. In order to prevent this, try to create a schedule similar to that of a normal school day to maintain a normal habit for them.

Divide periods of work and study with breaks and activities. Make sure your child is physically active, going outside periodically and undergoing exercise.

3. Keep children's screen habits to a minimum 

It’s natural that when we undergo this second lockdown, people, especially teens, will seek the desire to communicate socially with one another. Whilst a lot of communication can only benefit mental health, too much engagement may actually have a negative impact on their mental health as social media can help fuel the feeling of isolation and loneliness. 

Keep this in mind when trying to cultivate teaching and learning in a homeschooled environment.  

4. Keep an eye on their mental health

This is probably one of the biggest and most under looked factors to be mindful of during the first lockdown. Therefore, it is important to always monitor everyone's mental health in times of isolation. Always keep an eye out for your child coping mentally in a homeschool environment.

Look out for withdrawal of social connection, despondency and anger. These tend to be initial signs that something is not quite right. There are a lot of support networks that can help with this like Imagine Health that can administer help online.

5. Create an online support network

Self-study is a necessary skill to master for adulthood but also one of the hardest. Secondary school pupils, and primary school students alike, will find learning new concepts challenging when tackled in a solitary manner. This is why it’s so worthwhile finding an online tutor who can help nurture successful academic attainment of knowledge. 

At Sherpa, we offer an outstanding interactive learning environment. Our online platform offers the most expert subject specialists for one-to-one tuition at all levels including GCSE, A-level and IB. With over 200 experienced online tutors teaching in a range of subjects from online Maths lessons to online English lessons, Sherpa has you covered.

Our online lessons include face-to-face interactions, similar to that of Zoom and Skype. As well as including an interactive whiteboard with screen share functions allowing students to proactively engage with the lessons. After each lesson takes place, the notes on the whiteboard are automatically sent to the student so that they never miss any information.

6. Find online learning resources 

While isolating at home, you’re likely to encounter the scenario where your child doesn’t understand some course content. In these circumstances, having online learning resources is handy for help. Locate exam boards and past papers your child will be studying to aid them in their struggles. Gain help on online platforms like Quora or Sherpa to insight knowledge on a given subject area.

If you’d like to support your child this lockdown and home educate them, meet with a tutor free for a 20-minute introduction. Locate the perfect tutor and put your child in trusted and expert hands whilst building confidence within them.