A psychologist at Russian International School tells how parents can organize home-based education for their child and help their child cope with the new format.
Distance learning has its own nuances. One of the most important success factors will be the student’s motivation. A concentration of attention and volitional efforts on the part of the student are necessary, because at home there are a lot of distracting incentives and affordable entertainment. However, if over time the child reaches a nevertheless high level of self-control and self-discipline, then this will positively affect his success not only in educational, but also in further professional activities.
For many children, online learning in the walls of a house may not be quite familiar. It is very important for parents to help their children adapt to the new education system.
You should not limit communication with classmates even in a quarantine situation.
Children, starting from the youngest adolescence, may feel a lack of live interpersonal communication with their peers, since the development of communication is the most important task of age. For example, after completed tasks or mastered topics open access to the general children's chat. This can serve as a motivating factor for the development of the material.
The difficulty of parental control in distance learning is that it is necessary to act wisely and without undue pressure and hyper-custody (except, of course, in cases of outright laziness and disobedience). Constant coercion and quarrels over the training regime will not only spoil relations in the family, but also form a student’s sense of helplessness and passivity. Do not forget that the main task is to teach independence and responsibility.
First of all, be interested in what your child learned and what he learned in the lesson, and not in grades or the final score.
Tell him how to apply the acquired knowledge, discuss possible issues, ask the child to argue his position and express your point of view. So you maintain a trusting relationship between you, consolidate the knowledge gained by the child and stimulate him to gain new knowledge. Listen and show interest if your child shares his impressions and new information with you.
Encourage the child, praise, say that you believe in his strength.
An emotional attitude is very important. However, you should not express the award in monetary form: such motivation is short-term and ineffective, and one day the child will ask for a large fee for his work. Even verbal praise and support must be inversely proportional to the complexity of the assignment. That is, at the beginning of the development of a skill or a new topic, praise more for successes, and as tasks become more complex and praise progresses, praise should be more restrained for specific actions, and not the personality as a whole: “you worked hard today!”, “It was difficult task, but you did it, I'm happy for you! " Critics that are not related to educational activities (did not clean the room, etc.) should be expressed later so as not to discount the words of praise.
Younger teens should be praised for the good, for their achievements and successes. The elders should speak constructive criticism based on the results of the actions, and not a personal assessment.
Explain the importance of the daily routine and learning plan to your child.
Successful people always use diaries for setting and fulfilling goals! Make a plan together, later on your help may be reduced. Set feasible goals for the day and break them into blocks so that the student does not lose motivation in front of a huge list. Types of load should alternate - not only intellectual with physical (warm-up, household chores, sports), but also the types of training activities throughout the day should be varied: watching presentation of videos, various types of tasks: written and interactive.