Mama Miah!

When the pandemic started, all schools have been closed. It is unwise for kids to go out and have face-to-face classes, so most students have shifted to online learning at home. This experience is new and overwhelming for all educators, students, and parents. 

To make the best of their learning experience from home, here are some Online Learning Tips for Parents to consider:

1. Find a learning space where your child can study and learn

Having their own learning space with minimal distractions will help them concentrate. These might be challenging for some families like us who have a small house, but their designated learning space doesn't have to be huge and fancy. You can use whatever you already have at home as long as they are comfortable with the set-up.

2. Set-up a Schedule

Routines help children learn how to manage their tasks. Try to get your kids on the same schedule they had when they were going into school. Aside from their online class schedule, try to have the same itinerary for their sleeping and wake-up time, meal times, study time, playtime, break time, or snack time. 

Children need a break when things get too stressed for them, so let them play, and organize a  fun activity together. You can be flexible with your schedules and make adjustments if necessary. See what works best for your child. 

3. Reduce Distractions

Children get easily distracted. To keep them focused, remove the toys from their learning space and turn off your TVs or radio. If they have their cellphones or any gaming gadgets, keep them away to avoid distractions during their online class.

4. Set Rules on their Internet and Gadget Usage

These days, children have easy access to internet sites and have learned to use technology for educational and leisure purposes. As much as possible, parents want their kids to stay focused on learning and minimize their exposure to games, social media, and YouTube videos.

Establish a time when the kids can use their gadgets for non-school-related activities and how much time they must spend using them. For example, they can play games or watch their favorite movies/series after accomplishing their homework. Be firm on your rules and stick to them.

5. Be Patient and Supportive

Lastly, be patient with your child. Shifting from traditional school to online learning at home is not easy for them, and some kids are still adjusting. Just be there to support them and let them learn at their own pace. 

My daughter is interested in cooking, she's so curious and wants to get involved whenever we prepare and cook our food. She joined the Junior Chef's Club when she was in Grade 1 and they made a lot of no-bake and no-cook foods, most of which are desserts. Before, she would just watch us prepare our meal, and then later on she would volunteer to help prepare the ingredients. Since she's really interested to learn, we taught her how to prepare and cook simple foods like scrambled eggs and pancakes. 

For now, she only knows how to fry but there's this one-time where she got interested in how to cook the rice, so I taught her how to wash the rice first before cooking it. She just did it once and never did it again (LOL). I think she's more interested in making desserts because she enjoyed doing it.

I'm happy that she wants to learn how to cook, not all kids are interested in cooking. When I was her age, I am not interested in cooking that's why most of the food that I know is fried except for my favorite foods: adobo and pasta. Hahaha!

Cooking is a great activity for kids and one of the important life skills that they can learn. We just have to be patient in teaching them how to do it and supervise them during the cooking process for their safety, most especially in operating the stove and handling the knives. :)