Exercise Is Essential During the Pandemic!

Many student are spending a good portion of the day just sitting in front of a computer during this Pandemic. Because of the stress of online learning, children need something in order to activate their endorphins to keep them in a positive frame of mind. Many schools have stepped up and are providing online gym classes for their students. Some schools have even provided Fitbit devices for their students so that they can login their daily at home physical activities and receive gym credit for them. Unfortunately, not all schools offer gym classes to their students.

Your children really need to exercise for their well-being. If the school is not providing it, you need to ensure that they get sufficient exercise. Lucky families who live in warm climates should have their children participate in outside activities such as running, hiking, jogging, biking and so on. Families in cold climates will need to be a little more creative. The Internet, especially YouTube, offers classes in Yoga, Zumba, dance, aerobics and children’s workouts. Let your children choose the age-appropriate activity that they will most enjoy.

Benefits of Volunteering

You really should encourage your children to volunteer as it can give them so many benefits. Children can start volunteering at an early age. You might wish to introduce them to volunteering by choosing a family activity. It offers these perks:

• Helping them develop a pattern of being do-gooders.
• Giving them an opportunity to spend quality time together as a family.
• Introducing them to new interests and possible careers.
• Beefing up their college resumes.

Especially in this time of COVID-19 Pandemic, many organization are lacking volunteers. In this new virtual world, many of these opportunities are online. For example, older children can serve as tutors for younger children. They can also play game with both seniors and younger children online to break the monotony of social distancing. Your family can google volunteering opportunities in your community.

Big Changes in College Admission Tests

Life is definitely going to be easier for students applying to colleges. After June 2021, the SAT optional essay and individual subject tests will no longer be offered. This certainly reduces the amount of test preparation future college applicants will need to do. Every college will decide whether to consider subject test scores of students who have taken these tests.

Colleges that are interested in learning about students’ strengths in individual subjects may instead rely upon AP scores. Therefore, an increased emphasis may be placed on students taking AP courses in the future.

The College Board made the decision to eliminate these tests now because of the pandemic. However, it was being considered earlier. The next change that is being worked on is the digital delivery of the SAT in the future.

Tutoring to the Rescue!

Parents usually never look for a tutor unless they find that their children are having a real difficult time academically. Unfortunately, many children are now finding themselves in this situation because of online learning. And educators don’t really know how much students have failed to learn because very limited standardized testing has been done.

If you believe that your children are falling behind academically, a tutor may be the answer to improving your children’s academic skills. You don’t have to look far or spend much money to find a tutor. Many high school and college students in your own neighborhood could tutor your children successfully. Plus, do not overlook older children in your own family.

Research has clearly shown that tutoring is the most effective way to improve academic achievement. So don’t hesitate to get your children this additional support, if needed.

Persistence Is the Key.

It is not that your children are unable to persist. Almost all children will spend endless hours on electronic devices playing games or following social media. However, when it comes to online schooling children often become frustrated or discouraged and do not persist with their lessons. It is understandable that this happens. Unfortunately, this has caused many battles in households.

Here are our suggestions about possible ways to get your children to persist longer with their online lesson.

1. Make sure that they have a comfortable spot to work on their computers. Be sure that it is tailored to their size. A first grader and a high school senior should have totally different workspaces.

2. No matter their age, children should get up and move every 20 minutes. It could be as little as standing up and stretching.

3. Have a daily schedule, post it, and be sure to follow it. It should include definite times for meals and recess.

4. Incentivize your children to do their online work by rewarding them with something they truly value. Try to avoid giving them cash or toys. Younger children will respond to stickers and older ones to picking pizza or movies.

5. Acknowledge to your children that you appreciate that online learning is difficult.

6. Help your children to develop a “Can Do” mindset.

7. Make sure that your expectations about their online schooling are realistic.

Online Teaching Is Becoming Interactive

When teachers were suddenly thrust into the virtual world of teaching online, it was a shock to them! They were not prepared, and the initial platforms that teachers were using to present their online lessons just had the students as passive observers. As a result many students found it difficult to stay engaged with the lesson.

Fortunately, online learning is changing. New platforms are being developed that broaden and enrich online learning. These platforms allow the students to interact with the lesson and become active learners. No longer do virtual students have to sit and stare at a screen for hours.

At first many teachers were challenged with how to present their lessons online! Universities have now created online classes to show teachers how to present online lessons so that students become engaged and truly learn from them.

When students return to the classroom, it is entirely possible that some of their assignments will continue to be online as it broadens their educational experience.

What do you do?

Some children are getting short-changed because they have teachers who are not adapting well to presenting lessons online. Also many children have been assigned to classes with first-year teachers. New teachers need the support of experienced teachers to learn how to handle their students and the wide variety of learning levels within their classrooms.

What can parents do in this situation?

1. Go to your state’s Department of Education website and find out what your children should be learning at their grade level.
2. If your children are not learning what they should be learning, investigate using your state’s free online school. This established virtual curriculum meets state guidelines and has experienced online teachers.

Beyond Academics in the Pandemic

Most online sessions for students doing virtual schooling are composed of work in academic subjects. Fortunately, students are still able to participate in many elective classes and extracurricular activities. Here are some of the fun things that students are doing:

1. School Clubs: like the Harry Potter Book Club
2. Rehearsing and presenting school plays
3. Participating in band, orchestra, and choir practices and concerts
4. Speech and debate contests as well as trivia contests
5. Gym time with aerobics and dance
6. Attending school assemblies
7. Participating in Student Government
8. Art classes from painting to sculpturing
9. Online lunchtime with friends
10. Creating school newspapers and yearbooks

Inference Is an Essential Reading Skill

Did you know that inference is a crucial reading skill? On both standardized tests and college admission tests, students encounter questions after reading passages that require them to infer something that was expressed by the author but the answer can’t be found specifically in the printed passage. Inference involves using what you know from reading a passage to be able to make a prediction about something you don’t know. For example, look at the following sentence:
Sierra is on her way to Hayden’s birthday party. With no more information, the reader should be able to infer that Sierra is carrying a present.

Look what can be inferred from reading the following passage:
Mom packed our swimsuits, towels, pajamas and tooth brushes. Dad put the bag and picnic basket in the car.
Although it is not said, it can be inferred that a family is going on a trip, and it involves going swimming, eating a picnic and staying overnight.

From first grade on, inference is the skill that makes reading comprehension possible. When parents are reading with their children, ask a lot of questions to give children practice in using inference.

Your children can get additional practice using this skill by reading our 30 new Two Word Inference Tales on the teacherspayteachers.com website.

Early Grades Most Affected by COVID-19

The findings are now in. It is children in grades K-2 who are suffering the greatest learning loss due to interruptions in their education. Many children in these grades are academically working several months behind where they should be. Online learning just does not work for kindergarteners. They simply can not stay focused on their on-screen lessons. As a result, many parents have stopped their kindergarten children from doing schoolwork online. Since kindergarten is not required in most states, many parents will simply enroll the children in first grade next year. Others will redshirt their children and have them start kindergarten next year.

It is also very challenging for first and second grade students to learn online. When everyone returns to school, the curriculum is going to have to majorly be adjusted so that students are able to make up the learning gap.