We are facing a world crisis and the many changes in our lives can get overwhelming. Each day is a new day and feeling anxious is the new normal. So the next question is – how do we expect our children to adapt to online learning so quickly or for schools to adapt to this form of learning without any glitches so quickly.
Parents – we understand your plight and I know many of you are thinking, is this safe environment for my child to learn? Is my child going to regress in school? How are we going to match up the standards of school when homeschooling and more. Every house is a school, every parent is a teacher and COVID-19 is going to impact on education and students.
We spoke to Fatema Agarkar, an educationist and she talks to us about the impact of online learning on kids and how parents fill the gap. Scroll down and find out!
How kids should adapt to online learning?
- Routines are all over the place and children need more emotional support from parents than only online learning.
- Children are finding it hard to cope with this but they need to understand that for a little while, this is the new normal.
- Early childhood learning (that is kids under 6 years old) don’t need online learning. You should focus more on reading, life-skills, introduce another language.
- Middle schools and high school children need to find a balance of online and offline learning.
- Life skills will also teach your children critical thinking, mathematical skills from cooking, sequencing, increase their attention, which will teach them independence.
- If children are unable to cope, parents need to work harder and make them understand.
- Parents can also research for curated content online to teach their children.
- Parents need to find a balance between screen and offline learning/entertainment.
How are schools and educators dealing with online learning?
- A lot of schools rushed in without knowing their capabilities and are now struggling to fix it.
- It is a safe environment, but parents need to give schools time to adapt to this form to learning.
- Teachers are adapting to this and they are able to record their sessions and work on their skills – as per feedback from kids. (especially when kids lose their attention).
- CBSE has announced alternative studies. A lot of schools are adding mental health as a subject as well.
- Parents, schools, and teachers have to look way beyond academics and grades.
- Schools are taking a step back from expectations on what a “should know”.
- Schools are adressing how the kids are coping emotionally.
Rati Ramadas Girish
