Tips on Preparing Your Home for Your Child’s Early Online Learning – Parents of very young children usually trust teachers and educational institutions for their children’s academic, social, and cultural development. But due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, the situation left them with no choice but to take over the roles of the educators and start early learning at home. While it can help protect your kids against the virus, you might have to endure the daunting responsibility of being the primary educator of your children.

Since teaching is not everyone’s forte, you need to learn all the tips you can get to ensure that you do the job properly. Here are some of the most reliable tips to help you prepare for early learning at home.

1. Minimise Distractions

Unlike the typical classroom setting where students are in a controlled environment meant for studying, learning at home can be more challenging due to the number of distractions usually lying around all over the place. You must remove all the distractions before the online class begins.

Some of the most common distractions you have at home include all the electronic devices that could easily capture their attention. It includes your TV, smartphone, tablets, laptops and others that could create noise and divert their focus. Toys and other items that your child often plays with should also be away from the study room to keep your child’s concentration.

2. Allow Kids to Take Short Breaks During Online Classes

Experts advise against letting very young children spend plenty of time on screen. The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network posted a study recently which recommended children aged two to five to have a limited screen exposure of up to two hours.

Aside from the adverse effects on the child’s health, prolonged time in front of the screen could be difficult for active young children. Focusing in class for hours could be a challenge, so always include short “brain breaks” in your schedule for early learning at home. Ideally, you need to take a break after spending time in front of the screen for up to 25 minutes. You may ask your child to do some short physical activities to lessen the stress and anxiety that your child may feel due to their online classes.

3. Follow a Consistent Schedule

With the help of a consistent schedule, you will have more time to have a gameplan in your child’s online school time. It will allow you to make a feasible schedule so you can supervise your child’s classes, work, and other important household chores.

You must create a schedule based on your early learner’s usual schedule in school as much as possible. It means they will have the same wake-up schedule, same preparation schedule, and a similar class schedule to help them adjust faster once they return to the classroom. You may also ask your child to have a say regarding the schedule that they want to follow.

4. Offer Positive Feedback Regularly

Plenty of children miss getting positive reassurances and reinforcements from their teachers in the classroom. You may adopt that rewards system at home to keep your child motivated while learning online.

Once your kid completes a required task or completes a class, you may offer them some praises and give them small rewards like a star or sticker. You may also reward them with their favourite snack after a good day in school.

Preparing your home for an efficient early learning online class could significantly affect your child’s education. As a parent, it is your duty and responsibility to ensure that your kid will have the best education possible. Even during these trying times, you need to ensure that they will have an ideal learning setup until they can go back to their classrooms again.