Should You Be Present For Your Child's Online Classes?

Parenting can be difficult in the best of circumstances. Throw in online classes and it can feel like all bets are off! Parenting with children learning online takes things to a whole new level. But does it have to?

While you may feel that your child needs extra help for a variety of reasons with their online learning, should you be present for your child’s online classes? What is the role of parents in online classes, anyway?

It’s a whole new ballgame now, so there may be a few things you need to understand about online learning and how you can appropriately get involved as a parent. Here’s what you need to know.

Does A Parent Have to Be Present For Online School?
Whether or not you need to be present for online school really depends on your child. Younger children may need to you be there to keep them on task, while older students may simply need you to check in every once in a while to make sure they’re on schedule. Children with learning disorders or behavioral challenges may also need extra support.

There is no right or wrong answer here. This is where your expertise as a parent in knowing your child comes into play. You have a good idea of what they need, so try it out and see if it is the right thing. If you’re not sure, reach out to their teacher to get their opinion on whether you should be present for online lessons or not.

How Do Parents Get Involved In Virtual School?
If you want to get involved with your child’s education, even virtually, there are a few things you can do. One easy way is to work to familiarize yourself with the platform they’re learning from. Taking the time to do this can come in handy if your child needs help. It also helps you to understand what resources are available to your child and the best ways to support them.

Familiarizing yourself with the learning platform is pretty easy. All you need to do is go over any orientation materials the school has provided and test them in the platform, hopefully with your child so you can learn about it together. Don’t hesitate to reach out to the teacher if you have questions.

Speaking of contacting the teacher: that’s another thing you can do to get involved with the virtual school – build a relationship with your child’s teacher! Remember, online teachers are the same as teachers your child would have in face-to-face learning. Get to know them and let them get to know you so you can build a support system for your student and assist the teacher if they ever have questions or concerns. Be proactive and reach out to introduce yourself, then regularly maintain communication.

What Is The Role Of Parents In Online Classes?
You do not have to feel as if you’re earning your certificate in online teaching to help support your student. There are some easy things you can do to help your child with their online classes and act as their support system.

A parent’s role in online classes can be:

• General support – Children, whether they want to admit it or not, like to feel engaged by their parents. In fact, studies have shown they do better when they feel encouraged at home. You may not have to sit in on classes, but do take the time to ask your child about their schoolwork, discuss their answers, listen to what they have to say, read books with them, and generally just encourage them to pursue things that are interesting to them.
• Supporting online learning – There are many ways to support your child’s online learning at home. First, give them a dedicated space to have their school that is free from distractions. Provide regular times for study, meals, and exercise. Help them set up their tablets or computers when needed and ensure that when they are online learning, they are focusing on their work and not scrolling through social media or playing games.
• Helping, but not doing work for them – While sometimes it can be tempting to simply get their work done by taking over, resist the temptation to do your child’s work for them. Help them work through it instead, offering guidance and support only.

Online learning has its challenges, and one of those is the role a parent has to play in it. There’s no textbook right or wrong way to support your child while they’re learning online, but it’s important to make sure you’re doing things that are actually helping and not hurting your child’s learning experience so they can get the most out of it.

Your child’s online learning experience is a cooperation between themselves, their teacher, and you. You may do more than you normally would in a face-to-face school environment, but remember that this is a great opportunity to get to know how your child learns and provide insight into something you may never get to see: your child at school. You don’t have to be a helicopter parent to ensure they do their best, but your engagement is welcome and will help ensure their success.

Featured image by Carl Jorgensen on Unsplash