Author Bio: Cristin Howard runs Smart Parent Advice, a site that provides parenting advice for moms and dads. Cristin writes about all of the different ups and downs of parenting, provides solutions to common challenges, and reviews products that parents need to purchase.
There are so many great resources out there these days that it’s almost impossible not to find something that will work for you and your children. However, supporting a child who is doing virtual learning isn’t always the easiest thing for a parent to do.
These tips should help pave the way for you to educate your child using e-learning tools and give them the support they need while using technology to supplement their other schoolwork or activities.
1. Branch out from core subjects
Even very young children can begin learning subjects they don’t teach in a traditional school setting. It’s important to get your child started early with STEM subjects, whether they show an aptitude for them later or not.
For instance, introducing your child to computer operations and coding languages now will give them the foundation they need for understanding how computers work, whether they ever take another computer science class or not. The reality is, they’ll be using a computer for the rest of their life.
Resources like Khan Academy, Scratch, ScratchJr, and Code Academy are fantastic places to get started. Many of these are free, and people in these professions advance more quickly than others and make more money.
2. Learn a second language
Schools don’t begin teaching another language until later in the elementary school years, if then. Every school is different, but you can start your child early. Learning another language is a great way for your child to learn the components of language and how it works.
Duolingo is a top rated app and encourages children to speak and read many different foreign languages, so you can take your pick. It’s the perfect way to compliment language immersion or get them started before their school does.
As an added bonus, Duolingo isn’t just for kids. You can learn a new language alongside your child. It’s a great way to demonstrate the importance of inclusion and learning about new cultures.
3. Support reading
Every child learns to read at some point, but getting them ready for kindergarten by giving them the tools they need to start reading at home is one of the best things you can do. They’ll be one step ahead of the other kids in their class, which helps them build confidence in their own ability and translates to excelling.
Things like Hooked on Phonics or Reading Eggs can give your child a head start and allow you to track their progress via a parent dashboard. They include fun activities that prompt your child to learn and engage them in the process.
They’re both very different, so make sure you read about them and make sure you choose the one that seems right for you and your child. They’re not free, so it’s important to get the best value out of the tool for which you sign up.
4. Play with design
Kids love art. That’s no mystery, but what if you brought them art on the computer? The principles of design are always fun to learn, but even if your child is too young to learn them, you can still offer them a fun way to color or draw on the computer.
For young children, you can set them up with a drawing or painting app like Doodle Buddy or Kids Doodle. For kids who know their colors and numbers, you can give them a color by number app to strengthen those recognition skills.
For older kids, Canva is a fantastic tool that allows them to experiment with images, shapes, lines, text, color, and plenty of other great design tools to get their feet wet and create awesome art.
It allows them to create posters, Facebook images, business cards, t-shirts, and so much more. It’s not as comprehensive of a tool as something like Photoshop, but it’s free, which means you can support their dreams without spending a dime!
5. Make it interactive
The last thing we want as parents is to have our child staring at a screen all day. Making your child’s e-learning interactive will ensure that they’re engaged in their learning (and actually learning something) rather than staring at something completely mind-numbing.
If you have more than one child, making online learning a social function is a lot easier than if you only have one child. But if you do only have one child, you can still ask for their feedback at the end of a lesson to make sure they were paying attention.
One of the best ways to make your child’s e-learning interactive is to bring it to life for them with a corresponding activity that they can do with their hands or their body. They can put their learning into action and get physical to engage both mind and body in their school.
Final Thoughts
If you’re using e-learning to help educate your kids, be sure to use these resources to make it easier and more effective for you and your child. They’re learning more, and they’ll learn better if you give them the right tools now.
