5 Ways Parents Can Improve Home Schooling Outcomes
The adventure starts today.
Starting this morning, many high school students find themselves in a radically new academic environment.
While some students will enjoy highly interactive online programs with multiple levels of built-in accountability, others will not be so lucky. Likewise, some teens have already developed the necessary self-discipline, while others will need extra structure.
No matter the specifics of your child's situation, here are five things we as parents can do to ensure our children's continued success.
Find the *Right* Space for Schooling.
It's not in their bedroom. If possible, formalize schoolwork by situating your teen in the dining room, office or den. Placing a student where he or she is too comfortable can undermine concentration. Similarly, making a bedroom "school" can compromise what should be a place of relaxation.
Minimize Reasons to Get Up. Having water, paper, pencils, calculator and snacks assembled and at the ready can prevent roving 'supply expeditions.'
Insist on a chair. Lounging on couches or sprawled out on the floor are suboptimal postures for learning. Sitting upright is critical to maintaining focus.
Coordinate Quiet Times.
Most likely, you, too, will be working from home, so coordinating quiet times and mutually beneficial 'work blocks' is crucial to maintaining everyone's productivity.
Therefore knowing the specific flow of your child's school day -- when she is listening to lectures vs doing independent work -- has new relevance.
Prepare for potential resistance to this conversation. No teenager likes feeling over-monitored. But the goal isn't surveillance; it's creating conditions wherein everyone can work effectively.
No Pajamas.
In Admiral McRaven's commencement address (which inspired his book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life), the Admiral argues that completing small actions at the beginning of the day prepares young people for larger accomplishments later on.
Making sure your teen is up, dressed and breakfasted before logging-on is not over-parenting. These habits create the conditions for doing meaningful work.
Routines can safeguard all of us from the depression that can result from confinement.
Encourage Reading.
As they move through high school, teens read less and less for pleasure, decreasing their exposure to literature at the very moment they need it.
Fostering reading-as-entertainment is more important than how 'complex' the text is. Establish reading as escapist entertainment today, reap the benefits of a better vocabulary and greater powers of focus tomorrow.
Order used books targeted to your child's interests and sprinkle them around the house. Want a kid to look at a book? Leave it in the bathroom.
Establish Outside Accountability.
Is your child responsible to someone (who is not you) for getting her work done? Or is he sending his assignments off into a digital void?
Establishing personal check-ins and accountability fail-safes today can go a long way in avoiding academic disaster in the future. Ensure that your child takes full advantage of online 'office hours' with his or her teachers.
As an additional resource, MightyPrep will soon offer Quarantine Coaching, general education tutoring for middle- and high-school students tailored to this moment: 100% online with same-day scheduling, shorter session times and value pricing.
We are all in the same boat. As parents and educators, we will continue to find solutions that help students learn wherever they are (and for however long they need to be there). In the meantime, don't hesitate to call us with questions, concerns or discoveries of your own. Ready or not, we are entering an age of innovation.