The Ultimate Parents Guide to Online Schooling: 10 Essential Tips for Success

As a parent, your role in helping your student decide if online learning is an effective way for them to learn. However, when it comes to switching to online homeschooling, parents find themselves overwhelmed with the number of factors they should consider as well.

Even in cases where a child shows initiative and asks their parents to switch to the K-12 online school on their own, responsible schools insist you must give permission for your child to take online classes, holding parents, not kids, responsible. Before you agree, you want to be confident your child is well-suited to learn online.

What is K-12 Online Education

K-12 online education is schooling from kindergarten through 12th grade delivered online. Students learn via digital platforms with teacher and parents guidance. Parents create a supportive environment for students and implement strategies to ensure their success in K-12 online learning.

First Things First: The Initial Research

A thorough research requires a stage of an initial filtering. We suggest you begin with your personal assessment of your kid’s willingness to switch to online education.

Ask your child if they are motivated enough to study online. Students choose to learn online for various reasons, which can be broadly categorized into:

• Academic needs
• Social-emotional health and safety considerations
• Personal interests and life circumstances

The child’s motivation for completing a course significantly impacts their choices and success. In general, children are more likely to succeed when they have a genuine desire to achieve specific goals, such as graduation, college acceptance, or entry into a desired occupation. Conversely, students may struggle if they lack motivation or do not see the relevance of the course to their goals.

Parents worldwide are happy with the online education from Legacy Online School. Check their reviews on the school’s website.

Assessing Student Readiness for Online Learning

Even the most motivated students may not be prepared for online learning. When adults supporting the child identify areas where the student may face challenges, they can determine what kind of support their child needs. Strategies for online success can assist a student in understanding how prepared they are for this learning option. Online courses require effort and are not easier than traditional classes.

Parents can make a big difference in their child’s education by being involved, asking questions, and supporting learning at home.

— National Education Association

They may be more time-consuming because students are using new and unfamiliar methods to access the course and materials and will experience different challenges than they have with face-to-face instruction. Using a readiness rubric, online learners can evaluate their skills and competencies in the following areas:

• Technology skills
• Work and study habits
• Learning style
• Technology and connectivity
• Time management
• Interest and motivation
• Reading and writing skills
• Support services

Discuss with your student those areas where they feel less prepared so you can both decide what support is available if needed. Staying on pace during the course is a key strategy for success.

Profile of a Successful Online Learner

Once you decide your student is likely to be successful, you have additional issues to consider. Instructors with years of online teaching experience agree that students who have a successful, satisfying experience learning online share several critical characteristics.

Good Time Management

Time management is one of the skills most critical to success. Students who cannot manage time and assignments without direct supervision usually struggle in online learning environments. Students should expect and be able to spend five to ten hours a week per course. All in all, evaluate whether your child can create and maintain a study schedule throughout the semester without face-to-face interaction with a teacher?

Effective Communication

Can your student ask for help, make contact with other students and the instructor online, and describe any problems they have with learning materials using email, text messaging, and/or the telephone? If you notice that this might be a challenge, be prepared to either support your child in gaining this skill or make sure you choose a school that has such training in its curriculum, such as Legacy online.

Continuous Motivation

While it has been mentioned earlier that your child should be interested in online education, you can make their interest continue. Allow your student to choose the specific online course(s) whenever possible. Attention to a student’s motivation for enrolling in an online course will likely excite them and contribute to success.

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Independent Study Habits

Your child should be ready to study and complete assignments without direct supervision and maintain the self-discipline to stick to a schedule. The good news is, it requires only slightly more independence than traditional K-12 school, but this factor should still be considered in case you have little time to help your child in the initial stages. As mentioned earlier, a proper school considers such struggles, so make sure you evaluate the curriculum and check if there are extra classes dedicated to self-discipline specific to online formats.

Technological Preparedness

Is your student ready to use evolving technology to learn? While most kids already use technologies on a daily basis, some of them might struggle when switching to certain devices. If you are doubting your child’s abilities to work online, you can suggest them to take online programs for technological skills development. Completing these programs will also have a psychological effect as your child will have a confirmation of their online success.

Short Term Goals and Support

Modern kids differ from adults and the previous generation in terms of information perception. They are much more used to short term rewards. While older generations were used to reading through plain texts and few book pages to find necessary information, nowadays kids can find answers on the internet in a fast, ready-to-consume manner. Set specific, attainable, short term goals for your child, such as mastering a particular topic, completing assignments on time, or maintaining regular attendance. Make sure to always reward them if they achieve these goals to trigger dopamine releases. This reinforcement will keep them motivated and focused on learning throughout the whole learning process.

Screen Time Limiting Policies

Increased screen time is an inevitable consequence of online schooling. While the internet has become a main learning resource, extended screen exposure negatively impacts a child’s physical and mental health. The consequences may include eye strain, disrupted sleep patterns, and a sedentary lifestyle.

To combat it, schedule regular breaks during study sessions. These intervals allow the eyes and brain to rest. These are also opportunities for quick physical exercises, keeping the body active. One of the latest major research on neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt and learn, have proved that physical exercises have a positive effect on cognitive mechanisms.

Encourage children to engage in offline activities after study hours. In addition to playing sports, they can also benefit from doing arts and crafts, especially if your child is more inclined to creative activities. These activities will reduce screen exposure and support overall development, with a positive impact on the child’s mental health.

The Research on the Role of Parents in K-12 Online Learning

As emotional anchors, parents provide essential emotional support to students and help them develop empathy.

The study “Parental Involvement in Online Learning: Impact on Student Success” by Nur Rohmatillah examines existing research on parental participation in online education.

“Online learning is helpful because it can create a clearer family relationship. Children will also be closer to their parents and many activities are carried out between parents and children during home or online learning. With online learning, parents will always motivate students in learning, and the sense of responsibility will be more visible”.

While the research fully confirms that parents play the key role in a child’s education online, it also highlights that there is one condition for the child’s success. The parent should be tech-savvy. Since parents will teach technology to their children, they must be creative and innovative in preparing online learning and teaching their children how to utilize current technology in the learning process, which will ultimately improve the quality of children.

Building Social Skills in an Online Environment

Online schooling, if done from home, will lead to feelings of isolation due to the lack of in-person interactions even in introverted kids. Even though students communicate with teachers and peers online, the most famous research on the issue has proven that the absence of face-to-face contact affects the development of social skills. The study included 1,751 participants out of 12,000 randomly selected residents.

To address this, organize virtual playdates or study groups with classmates to mimic the social environment of a physical classroom. If possible, find extracurricular online activities outside of school, such as team sports.

Monitoring Progress and Providing Feedback

Consistent monitoring and feedback are crucial for success in both traditional and online schooling as it helps children to keep their progress in check and avoid feeling lost in informational space. Without the physical presence of a teacher, students will definitely feel overwhelmed, especially younger children. Parents should fill this gap. Schedule weekly check-ins to discuss progress, address concerns, and plan upcoming tasks. Utilize assessment tools provided by online platforms to evaluate your children’s progress if necessary.

Ensuring Safety and Privacy Online

The Internet’s extensive reach poses safety challenges for children. They may encounter inappropriate content or face cyberbullying. To protect them, set up parental controls that filter content and monitor online interactions. While at first many children might perceive it as a limitation of their freedom and a lack of trust, they will understand online risks if you educate them about online etiquette and appropriate behavior. Make sure to explain that the online environment requires a cautious approach almost as much as the physical world around them.

Incorporating Extracurricular Activities

In addition to the necessity of eye-to-eye contact mentioned earlier, extracurricular activities offline also contribute to a child’s socialization. While offline extracurricular activities are a preferable addition to the K-12 online schooling, internet world provides many options as well. Encourage your child to join clubs or societies that match their interests or to participate in virtual field trips to museums and historical sites. These activities will make children’s experiences diverse and exciting.

Conclusion

Parents are an integral part of the team that can affect student success, even though their responsibilities may differ in online courses. Research involving interviews with online teachers and school-based mentors found that teachers and mentors believed that students are more likely to succeed in online courses when parents or guardians:

• Advise course on their course enrollments
• Monitor student performance and progress
• Motivate children to engage more fully in learning activities
• Organize and manage children learning at home
• Assist children as they work on assignments

Whether you are a parent or a mentor with an interest in online learning, your involvement and support are crucial to student success.