8 Learning-at-Home Tips for Parents

Apr 13, 2020 • Online Learning

Supporting Children’s Learning at Home Isn’t Easy

With schools in Canada closed since March, learning at home is the new normal. For most parents, school responsibilities usually don’t require more than making sure that students get on the bus in time or occasionally helping with homework.

Taking charge of learning at home, meeting recommended guidelines, and guiding school lessons is challenging!

How much time should children spend learning each day?

 A question on many parents’ minds’ right now is how much time should children spend learning? 

The simplest answer is that your family will know best what learning expectations will be reasonable for your children based on your own circumstances. There is no single correct answer.

The Ministry of Education suggests the following guidelines for how much time should be spent on schoolwork each day, based on grades:
source

What should learning at home look like?

Whether at-home learning is focused on school work provided from the school or on other learning resources such as websites or workbooks, here are some of the overall learning-at-home guidelines to keep in mind:

1. Balance school work with learning activities 
2. Review guidelines and curriculum from the province 
3. Create a special place for learning
4. Follow a daily schedule read more
5. Use recommended learning support materials such as websites and workbooks
6. Get some activity every day
7. Spend time offline every day
8. Break the day up into learning and non-learning times

The most important message? Don’t stress. These are unusual times. Until things return to normal, do what you can. Emphasize the importance of maintaining learning momentum, and consider this time an opportunity to observe your child as a learner—a side of their children that many parents don’t get the opportunity to see.

If your child is having struggles adapting to the online learning environment, Oxford Learning can help. Our Virtual Table™ online tutoring program can help students with customized learning support that helps children learn at their own pace in the subjects that need the most support.