In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, schools all over the world are closing down. While this is a great way of preventing the virus from spreading, it has posed a new level of challenge to parents, guardians, and teachers. How to make kids study at home
As parents and guardians, you’re probably wondering how to make sure the children are following their study plan and crushing piles of homework, especially if you’re also working from home. As teachers, while you feel the nagging responsibility to ensure your pupils don’t waste their time at home, you do not want to bore or overburden them with tasks they don’t enjoy.
In this article, we’ll be going over seven things you can do to help kids have fun and stay motivated while studying from home.
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Teachers’ Corner: How to Make Kids Study from Home
Sometimes, especially now, when studying from home hits a new level of toughness, it may not be enough to create learning schedules and maintain close communication with parents and guardians. You may need to put in a little more work!
Here are some recommendations you can use to get things right. Some of these tips are already being implemented by other teachers, with excellent results.
1. Take Study Skills More Seriously
While you will agree that study skills are essential for academic success, it is something that is not often taught in schools. A lack of study skills can pose a hindrance to learners at all levels. In a poll by Elearning, one-fourth of all surveyed students said that they had never learned study skills in their school.
One-fourth of all surveyed students said that they had never learned study skills in their school.
Now is the best time to teach the kids some basic study skills so that they can maximize their time at home. This is because it is going to be a little difficult for kids to handle learning without close supervision from their teachers. You can create a video recording of yourself explaining basic study skills to them, or you can hand them some reading material. It is advisable to let them go through this basic training, before jumping on their study plans.
At this level, the training should last from a few minutes to a couple of hours, max.
2. Engage them with Tasks
To ensure they’re actually learning, it is advisable to give them a set of tasks at strategic points within the week. These tasks can be related to their topic, or completely just for fun!
If it’s related to the topic, it will give you the ability to assess how well they’re doing. Fun tasks can take the steam off their body for a moment, so they don’t get bored.
For example, you can walk them through making a simple slideshow for their best memories and follow it up with a fun, easy task.
Also, to foster a better knowledge about the pandemic, you can ask them to make a short video on how to stay safe from the virus.
If you need a video editing software, Animotica, is an easy-to-use video editor, and it is free for schools! Also, you can take advantage of Animotica’s new healthcare stickers for making educational videos about the pandemic! ?
3. Connect Digitally
This is more about leveraging the power of the internet in times like this. While you cannot meet up with your pupils physically, you can always link up with them digitally. Whether you want to dish out assessments, make an announcement, or just have a chit chat with the kids, there are several Learning Management Systems available to help you achieve this.
The leaders in this space include Edmodo, Schoology, Moodle, and Google Classroom. You can find which is the best fit for you, then utilize it in making sure you stay connected to your pupils!
4. Make Video Explanations
While live classes are superb, some pupils may need to re-experience the lectures to be able to fully understand the topic.
A smart way to do this is to record your live classes. After that, you can edit the video clip to trim off unnecessary parts. This will leave you with a shorter, straight-to-the-point version of your tutorial.
Fortunately, editing your video for this purpose is something you can do under five minutes using a decent video editor!
See an example of how teachers from Haslingden Primary School make it work with Animotica here.
Animotica PRO is free for educational institutions, and teachers or school administrators can apply for it here.
Parents and Guardians: How to Make Kids Study from Home
With the Covid-19 pandemic running riot across the world and forcing kids to study from home, parents have a huge role to play.
With so much pressure already mounting on your heads, you can easily run out of clues.
Thus, here are some ideas you may find useful.
1. Regulate TV, Game, and Social Media Time
Since they’re at home, they’ll be surrounded by several fun gadgets, such as TVs, game consoles, mobile phones, and PCs. While these things are necessary for fun and relaxation, they can be distracting if not regulated.
Just ensure they prioritize their study. For example, you can allow them to watch their favorite cartoon or play their favorite video game, only if they study for a certain amount of time—say, two hours. This will motivate them to study.
2. Pay Attention to their Eye Health
Because they’re studying from home, they will be making a lot of contact with screens of their PCs and mobile phones. Teach them about taking care of the eye, and get them a pair of photochromic glasses if necessary.
3. Encourage the Kids, Let them Know they’re Trying
Studying from home is something they’re not so used it, so they’re going to have some serious adjusting to do. At this point, they need all the motivation they can get. Let them know that every effort they make is essential. Encourage them to do more when necessary, but don’t make them feel like they’re being nonchalant.
Also, ensure you assist them with tasks and follow them up on their progress with their learning schedule. Reward them from time to time, it lightens up the mood.
Ultimately, educate them about the virus and how to stay safe, but don’t let them panic.
Your positivity will go a long way for them.
How to Make Kids Study from Home: Conclusion
Handling kids at home or school has never been an easy task. At this time, all hands are needed on deck to see that the kids continue to feel the same learning ambiance around their homes.
We hope the tips we discussed above are helpful to you as you continue to be a hero to your kids and the entire world.
Remember that Animotica is completely free for schools! Sign up here to begin right away!
