As classes start back up after the holidays, many of our children are quickly closing in on a year of online learning. Like many adults working remotely, they may be finding it difficult to continue to be engaged. The Child Mind Institute, whose resources we’ve highlighted before in supporting learning at home and modifying your child’s IEP or 504 plan for this year’s unique challenges, has a new article to help you keep your kids engaged in remote learning.

There are a variety of reasons a child may be struggling with online learning, and finding out the source of the problem is critical to helping your child stay engaged. The best way to do that is to talk to them. The article offers three tips for this conversation:

  • Pick the right moment.
  • Validate their experience.
  • Ask open-ended questions.

The article also suggests letting your child know that you’re looking for what is going wrong for your child, not with your child, that the two of you are on the same team, and that you’re looking to help them, not blame them.

Once you’ve identified why they are struggling, the article offers four other suggestions to help them reengage with their school work.

  • Rethink motivation: Find a goal that your child is willing to work towards as an incentive.
  • Collaborate with teachers: Talk with your child’s teachers about their struggles to work out strategies to help your child and to ensure they are aware of the issues your child is facing.
  • Adjust your expectations: An online school year was never going to be the same as an in-person school year, so focusing on the key skills and goals can help reduce the pressure on your child (and on you).
  • Give yourself a break: Lots of parents are finding that managing their end of remote learning is challenging. Take time to relax and have fun with your kids so they can see that work isn’t everything, that it’s okay to not be perfect, and that you’re not the nagging task-master that online learning may have been turning you into.

Check out the full article for more information on how to help your child stay engaged in learning.

Photo courtesy of the US Army.