Metro Family Magazine
https://www.metrofamilymagazine.com
If you’re like most Oklahoma parents, you’re at home wondering what you’re going to do with your children now that the Oklahoma State Department of Education has recommended that school closures extend throughout the remainder of the academic term. For parents with children that learn differently, this time where students are out of their routine can quickly become stressful and challenging.
According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, one in five children in the United States has learning differences including dyslexia, autism and ADHD. For children with learning disabilities, minimizing over-stimulation and maintaining routine are keys to success.
Trinity School at Edgemere, a private school in OKC providing research-based methods to help students with learning differences reach their fullest potentials, launched our remote learning program last week, providing continuity in the students’ educational plans and helping to ease anxiety under the current circumstances. Our students click on a link on their iPads and “arrive” to their virtual classrooms, enabling them to interact with their teachers and classmates. It also provides them the same classroom instruction that they would normally receive, allowing their intervention and educational plans to continue uninterrupted.
Based on our experience and knowing more schools will be offering remote teaching options for students not able to return to their physical classrooms, Trinity has a few key recommendations for parents to help ease students back into a frame of mind for learning:
- Virtual school starts at a specific time, just like typical school. When you decide on a time, stick with it and don’t be late!
- Encourage your children to sit at a flat work surface, table or desk with their iPad and WiFi connection to the internet while in class. No lounging in chairs or on the couch!
- For younger students, assistance may be needed to navigate the technology.
- Be patient! This is new and will take some time to figure out!
Acknowledging that times and routines have changed also allows parents to interact and teach their children in new ways. Learning through free exploration allows families to become closer and more aware of what types of activities interest their children. Trinity has several kid-friendly activity suggestions, plus you can check out some of our other free resources. Discuss with your children which ones they would like to try. Even though we know it might seem hard at first, we believe “You Got This!”
Trinity School at Edgemere is the only private school in the OKC metro that for almost a decade has solely provided research-based methods that help students with learning differences reach their fullest potentials.