School From Home Help For Parents
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| Photo by August de Richelieu from Pexels |
School From Home Help For Parents
Everyone is talking about the "new norm" as a result of this emergency
situation from COVID-19 and be that as it may, we need to really think that
this could be the "new norm" in any emergency situation from natural disasters to war. As a result most
countries are making adaptations to making sure the education system does not fail
and making special online class accommodations for children and adults alike.
Unfortunately, especially for the children in mind, it creates many
challenges. Hopefully, I can help with that from my experience with a child
who is doing their best to attend school from home.
First lets get comfortable (Your child's office) (Here comes the fluff. Click here to skip to an easy outline!)
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| Photo by Vlada Karpovich from Pexels |
It is strange and really not thought of, but your little one now needs office space. So, what do you do? The following is very important but, one point more
so than the other. Hopefully building an "office" for your child gets you both excited. I know it did for me and my child!
Desk (least important)
For starters luckily and hopefully your child will be using a smaller and more
portable device that is easier to work with than a PC or desktop computer. These devices also take up less space and an office can sprout up anywhere in the house!
If
you live as I do, in a small-ish apartment, a large office desk is just not
practical and cumbersome; a folding table, a simple desk (like this), or an upright desk (like this) should do just fine! You want to choose a place with as little distractions as possible like a TV or radio and where you'll have plenty of space to set up.
Chair (most important)
What I've learned recently, and by far I would have to say is the most
important, is getting your child a comfortable sized chair. What I mean and
what you should look for is something narrow, cushioned, and ergonomic.
If your child is sitting on something hard and wide it is a 100% guarantee
they will be distracted, uncomfortable, and drive you and I'm sure their
teacher CRAZY! In the end they'll be slouching like crazy or sitting their
bottom on one side and their head on the arm rest like they have some sort of physical disorder. Get something adjustable, with narrow
arm rests, and with lumbar support. Something like this child's
office chair (click) would be pretty ideal but if you are using a normal office chair and on a
budget, maybe cradling your child in something like, what I call a bed chair (Bed Chair), would keep them locked in!
The device (your child's workspace aka computer)
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Image by
StartupStockPhotos
from
Pixabay |
For smaller children to teens a lot of schools are handing out devices that
already have everything installed and ready to go for you. They may not be the
best, but they are the best efforts your school can provide. In the case that
you do not receive a device this can be very bothersome. It is hard to share
your personal or work devices or computers with young ones, for various reasons, I'm sure you can
imagine.
What do I do if I don't have a device?
Unfortunately this could be the case for many. Luckily most classes just
require a built in camera or web camera and an internet connection. I would
highly recommend a laptop as it has everything you need for around $300 at the
least. If you're really on a budget, and I wouldn't recommend it, you can get
a tablet ranging from about $50 (Amazon Fire) to around $100 (suggested) with
tablet keyboard (suggested) for an additional $30-ish.
Some tablet recommendations:
Affordable Bare Minimum Laptops:
- Education Laptop (not ideal for the long run but super affordable)
- Samsung Chromebook
- HP Laptop (most preferable and in it for the longer haul)
I hate to encourage
credit card
debt, but most of these can be purchased with
credit either through the desired store or a
credit card company. In the end, you really don't need anything too fancy and your child is
going to need a device! Also, think on the bright side, as in the long run, it
will be well worth it and needed for college 😉.
My recommended digital setup to make you and your child's life easier (setting up their computer for ease of access)
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| Photo by Shahadat Rahman on Unsplash |
We as adults take many of our online activities for granted and run on
auto-pilot ...a lot! Unfortunately, this is not a scenario your child is familiar with
(except for maybe teens). Hopefully, by reading ahead you can automate the
school process for ease of access for you and your child with these following
steps.
1. Auto-fill and saving passwords
Disclaimer: Auto-fill and saving passwords could cause
potential security risks. I would only advise to use it if you practice safe
computer practices,
set up security for your computer, avoid saving sensitive information like bank information, and have an
anti-virus installed.
Something that will make life so much easier is finding out your child's login
information and auto-saving/filling it in your browser. For popular browsers
like Google Chrome and Firefox you can simply type in the user name and
password and when it prompts you to save it, SAVE IT! Now, by doing this,
every time your child clicks on their class link or class websites. This will eliminate the need to type in their information every time.
2. Bookmarks
It may seem obvious, but right away make sure you find out all your child's
resources and bookmark them. Then immediately clear whatever is in the
bookmarks bar and add their sites. This way they can only click on what
is needed. You can do this in most modern day browsers by doing the following:
Click on the top right settings icon represented by three bars or dots
( ⠇) 🠊 hover over or click on bookmarks 🠊 then click on
bookmark manager or similar.
What if I don't want to erase my personal bookmarks?
If this is the case, I would strongly advise making your child a new profile. You can learn how by visiting my previous blog post HERE!
3. Setting up and pinning tabs
This is something super nifty that anyone can do for quick access to desired
sites. First, view the following image. 🠋
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This image! |
This is what we call tabs and it is just an example of what you would see on
most of the popular browsers out there.
What's the difference between a tab and a pin?
A tab is a temporary placeholder almost like a bookmark in a
book (not a computer bookmark) that you can easily take out of the "book" (close the tab) and start on a different page or you can just leave a bunch of
these "bookmarks" to your hearts content. The problem is, when you close "the
book" all those tabs disappear.
A pin, on the other hand, is pretty much
the same thing with it being semi permanent instead of temporary. A "dog ear" in a book opposed to a temporary "bookmark" in a book. As long as
you are using only one browser window or you close the browser window with the
pins last, the pins will remain there the next time you open the browser.
So how do I make pins?
It is super easy! First open the page you want to pin 🠊 right click on the tab
(refer to above for the example) 🠊 then click "pin". All set!
This step is a little tough, but if you are familiar with using Microsoft
Office (Word, Excel, Power Point) you will have no trouble at all as
everything Google offers for free is pretty much the same exact thing with
small differences. These tools do require a Google account which your child's
school will likely provide and if not, it's completely free to sign up and use.
Google Classroom is a platform most schools will probably be using. It is a
little different than what we're all used to but to be honest, unless you're on
the teacher's end of the game board, it is really easy to navigate and use. If
you've ever used Microsoft OneNote, it is pretty similar but even more basic
than that. All it is, is a place where teachers can separate themselves by
section and a place where they can provide you links to assignments, buttons
to turn in assignments, and a link to video meetings.
Final note to parents
- The best thing to keep in mind is that these children are probably learning something completely new. The best way for them to learn these tools and materials is to put them behind the wheel and point them to which direction they need to go. Would you trust your child to drive a car if all they did was watch you do it? I would sincerely hope not!
- Have faith in your child. Children are smarter than you think! Give them a chance to learn and explore!
- If all else fails, have you child ask the teacher for help. It is what they're there for. Not only should they ask the teacher, but your child's question can help other less assertive or shy students.
The moment you've been waiting for, the easy outline! (Click here to read the whole thing!)
1. Get comfortable. Desk and chair. (To Section)
A. We would
recommend a simple less
distracting desk. For apartments maybe a folding table or upright
desk.
a. Recommendations:
Little desk
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Upright desk
B. Get a comfortable narrow chair or adaptation for a regular
office chair. Avoid wide, deep, and hard chairs
2. The Device. Your child's school will likely
provide a device with everything pre-installed. Some of you may not
have a device provided by the school. Luckily, there are a lot of
affordable options out. For simple school work, most of the
time you just need any device, with a front facing camera and an internet
connection. (To Section)
A. Some recommendations:
Some tablet recommendations:
Affordable Bare Minimum Laptops:
- Education Laptop (not ideal for the long run but super affordable)
- Samsung Chromebook
- HP Laptop (most preferable and in it for the long haul)
3. Digital setup (Ease of access)
(To Section)
A. Use auto-fill liberally. Find out and save your school
passwords automatically.
B. Book mark all important sites and add them to your
bookmark bar .
C. Pin your tabs.
4. Get used to Google. Familiarize
yourself with Google online tools like Docs, Sheets, Draw.
Also, explore Google classroom.
(To Section)
5. Final notes to parents!
(To Section)
A. Put your child behind the wheel and let them
learn by doing. Just point them in the right direction.
B. Have some faith in them! They're smart,
trust me!
C. All else fails, make them ask the teacher.
Their question can help the shyer students.
Related blog posts!
School From Home: Helicopter Parenting Is Back!
Computer Safety For School From Home
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