Top tips for teachers supporting children while studying from home

The pandemic and social distancing means that school children have had to learn to adapt to remote learning and the role of teachers are key for children’s academic achievement while studying from home. Teachers should promote values of always trying their best to achieve and always listening to the child’s needs and worries. This article is especially relevant for teachers with younger children who rely more on them for help.

Here are elearnus’s top tips for teachers to support their students while studying from home:

Make sure that your students are keeping to a study schedule.

This schedule should be as similar as possible to the school schedule, obviously parents and guardians have different circumstances at home, but it should be at least reminiscent of the school schedule to help your students keep to a routine. Once you’ve found a schedule that works for both parents and their child, you should stick to it.

Identify what your students would normally be studying that day at school and then create a daily schedule with times as this helps them stay on track. Also factor in breaks as these are extremely important for your students’ concentration.

Ensure they are completing all their work.

This seems like a basic point, but it is extremely important, nonetheless. If your students aren’t completing their assignments that are being set, then they aren’t going to learn and progress with their studies. A way to check this is by emailing your student’s parents for clarification of activities that are needed to be handed in by a certain deadline. You can also make sure to post daily messages for your child’s parents and make sure to always reply to messages that require one.

Create goals for your students.

Make sure to set achievable and realistic goals for your students while they are studying from home and review these goals on a regular basis. These goals should be more about your students trying their best and reaching their full potential rather than perfection. Tell your students to make sure they take regular breaks, aim for 45 minutes studying and a 15-minute break so they maintain focus. You can even reward your students with online badges when they perform well.

Identify learning barriers.

Try to identify barriers that are preventing your students from learning, these could be, but are not limited to focus, motivation or lack of structure.

Educate parents about how to create a home environment suitable for learning.

It can be difficult to create a suitable learning environment for parents. Children shouldn’t be isolated in their room because they need to be able to reach out for help, but they also need to be in a space where they won’t be distracted too much. Some music in the background can help some children, if in doubt ask them.

Educate parents about healthy snacks and lunches.

During breaks students should be eating healthily and eating enough, especially at lunch and breakfast. A healthy breakfast and lunch are a great way to give children’s bodies the refuelling it needs. 

Make sure that parents are helping their child to learn through play.

Play helps children grow both emotionally and cognitively, so is an important part of learning, especially for younger children. Learning through play can build on younger children’s natural way of learning through their curiosity. Children can play with their family members and when the government allows it, with other children. Play doesn’t just help children learn, there are mental health advantages for parents and guardians too, like reducing stress and anxiety levels.

Some final thoughts…

Focusing on your student’s well-being and effective learning strategies are key to supporting them while they are studying at home. As time passes, parents and students will learn about what works and doesn’t work for their child, but for now we can continue to learn and help them along the way.

Remote learning is a new phenomenon for most parents and guardians and children and is most likely going to be a way of life for them for the foreseeable future, this is why schools should choose elearnus to deliver their online education. We are experts in education and currently have 35,000 registered users with services developed with the needs in mind of both learners and educators.