Becoming the teacher: Many parents told us in the Blackboard survey earlier this year that e-learning forced them to take a more active role in their kids’ education. Here’s how you can better facilitate your children’s learning while they study at home.

A schedule is everything: Children work better when they have a routine, so set an alarm for your kid to wake up to every morning and maintain recess and break times, experts suggest. A schedule will help children know that they have work to do and make the time at home seem less like a vacation. However, don’t make the routine too rigorous and make some time for fun activities they can do alone or with the family.

Speaking of activities: Make sure your child isn’t stuck on the couch all day. Encourage them to get some fresh air or do some exercise throughout the day. This holds for the parents as well, for their physical — and mental — health.

Customize the space they work in: Dedicate a specific quiet place for your child to work in everyday and remove as many distractions as possible. It could be a desk, the dining room table, or just somewhere in your living room, but it should be a place where they don’t normally play games or watch TV. You can add classroom-esque decor or tools to really give it that extra work feel and make sure that they’re not always on their screens and can still remember how to use a pencil.

Give them both time and positivity: Children take more time to process questions than adults, so be patient and encourage thinking to boost their confidence. At the same time, positive reinforcement is the way to go when dealing with hiccups throughout the day. Praise them before nailing down mistakes in their homework and don’t get all hung up if their handwriting is messy at points.

Finally, have some faith in teachers: Teachers are doing their best to find new methods to teach and engage students of all age groups. Many also have office hours in case students need specific help. Don’t hesitate to take advantage of these office hours to ask teachers for help if you’re facing problems, whether it’s a math problem or a ‘my kid won’t sit still’ problem.

You can read up on these tips and more at KQED and The Ladders.

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