A Few Tips for Parenting in a Virtual Learning World

Here’s a quick guide on building a better virtual learning environment for your kids.

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If your kids are learning remotely this school year, here are five tips to help create a fun virtual learning environment:

1. Have a morning huddle to discuss each day’s goals. This is something we at Atlas Premier Realty do three days a week. These meetings last about 15 or 20 minutes, and we strive to establish action items and “wins” for the day (based on what’s planned that day). Obviously, the younger your children are, the simpler you’ll want to keep these meetings. One thing Nick’s been doing with his kids during their morning huddle is asking them three questions: 1) What are you going to do to make today great? 2) What are you going to do today to put a smile on someone’s face? 3) What are you going to do to put something good in your mind?

2. Focus on progress, not perfection. If you’re not a teacher, it might be difficult to see the progress you want your children to have. There are many hurdles to this process, but it’s important to make each day better than the one before it. As long as you’re making progress, celebrate that fact.

3. Be ready to move. In a learning environment, we believe it’s important to change your physical disposition. In between sitting at your desk, try taking frequent breaks and walking around a bit. Encourage your kids to do this too. Most schools have recess and gym periods, so you should try to have something similar. Even just encouraging your kids to get up between classes is enough to break up the monotony of the day.

"There are many hurdles to this process, but it’s important
to make each day better than the one before it."

4. Prepare for the day in advance. This means preparing your kids’ space and yours. It helps to time block on the weekends to prepare for the upcoming week and have a routine.

5. Be willing to let some things go. Some things won’t go according to plan, so occasionally you’ll have to ask yourself: What’s worth pursuing and what’s worth letting go? Your kids will follow your disposition; if you’re getting overly frustrated about certain things, so will they, which will only increase the level of anxiety. Kids are resilient, so they’ll adapt to this situation quickly. Whenever you find yourself concerned that they’ll fall behind, remember that everyone is dealing with this. We tend to expect things to be worse than they end up being, so this period of virtual learning might go smoother than you think.

As always, if you have questions about this or any real estate-related topic, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’re here to help.