As online learning continues, how can schools and parents help kids keep their spirits high

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Children resisting school after a long summer break isn't new for any generation, but this academic year has been plagued with the added anxiety of returning to screens. Add to that the distress of losing classmates to the annual reshuffle, and having to build a rapport with new teachers and new subjects [if any], and all of it in a virtual environment, isn't appealing. This writer's seven-year-old has been finding ways to dodge school - waiting for the WiFi to be down or for there to be a power outage. Of all the things, he misses the school playground the most.

Clinical psychologist Manasi Bhatt says, "Every year, kids are excited to return to school not just to finish the syllabus and give exams but to meet friends, share tiffin, play in the corridors, scuffle on the playground - all of this is missing in online schooling. In a school, apart from academics, there is so much more learning that happens and they are missing all the excitement. Among younger children, they miss the interaction and rewards they get from teachers and peers. This is crucial for their understanding of the environment and making sense of each other's behaviour, which is an important milestone in their development."

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Early Childhood Association director Dr Swati Popat Vats adds further, "Many children are feeling a sense of being let down as they thought that they would be back in a regular school this academic year. With virtual learning, the excitement sometimes is low as they still cannot ‘go' to school. Owing to the lack of social contact, virtual classes can get quite boring for some."

Stop policing, find solutions

The monotony of virtual classrooms can easily bog down some students. In such scenarios, Vats thinks it is advisable for parents to listen to the complaints and try and motivate children and if required, discuss with the teacher to find solutions. "Don't complain about online learning as your emotions can be contagious and kids can sense it among family members. Help your child look forward to the new learnings in the new syllabus. Help them understand that this may be the ‘new normal' for some time, and just as they attended physical school, it is important to attend the virtual classes." She recommends having ‘buddy parties' - virtual calls with five-six close friends from the same class for children to share a bond.

Developmental paediatrician Sameer Dalwai says, "School is a place for development beyond academics. Children miss buddies, fun and games, sports, events and teachers. They have been exhausted with the dry online school all of last year. Therefore, don't make it a big thing. Change the study routine - it can't be six hours of online school followed by four hours of homework. Keep it light and fun, incorporate household chores into daily lives, and introduce projects that help bind the child to society, beginning with the neighbourhood." Bhatt also reiterates Vats' point about kids being able to soak parental anxiety and how it can get transferred to them.

Dr Manasi Bhatt and Dr Sameer Dalwai

Changing academia

Vats thinks it's important that teachers stop focusing on boring PowerPoint presentations and videos during online learning. "It's time to adopt the ‘flipped classroom' concept. So, let children view them at their own time and use the virtual learning time for discussion. Always take the name of each child during the session as personalisation helps to engage children." She recommends teacher strategies like ‘popcorn' where you pop a question suddenly to someone, select two children to ‘pop the corn' for the day and they will pop a question to anyone during the session, limited to learning or quizzes and not personal information.

She also suggests involving children in strategies like PPP - pose, pause, pounce - wherein you pose a question to the group, let them pause to think of the reply, and then pounce on a name to answer the question. If they get it right, that child poses the next question and pounces on who will answer.

Dalwai adds, "Going ahead, academics must innovate to make online education a wholesome experience. Greater participation from parents and more cooperation between children is required. It should go beyond books and lessons and be about a post-Covid world, about things to make life better. Don't start the new academic year with studies. Let children take a few days off in a week to chat, sing, play virtual group games and let them lose the stress." For younger kids, Bhatt feels schools have to introduce more engaging ways into usual teaching methods. She advises, "Instead of just reading out a story, enacting it would be more exciting. Similarly with older kids, conducting a short play from literature would be more effective and exciting. Young children require parental monitoring or sometimes, actual participation, which means additional duties for working parents."

Dr Swati Popat Vats

She suggests going slow since it is pointless to pressure young ones and disturb the harmony. "We don't want them to hate school. With older children, teach them autonomy. It is their work and their responsibility. Online education leads to less monitoring by teachers, but at the same time, this is a huge opportunity to make children understand their responsibility. In this process of learning to be responsible, it's okay if they score less. The learning is for a lifetime. Parents should use their availability to discuss basic concepts or practical implications of certain academic ideas rather than constantly policing them. Encourage them to get ready with their school uniform, and if the network allows for their cameras to be on, it helps them get a feel of a virtual classroom. Take regular breaks with physical activity. Stick to a routine that gives them a sense of control."

Warning signs
>> Excessive clinginess is a symptom of separation anxiety that wasn't there before the pandemic
>> Irritability and restlessness. Picking fights on small issues
>> Disturbed sleep and irregular appetite
>> Regression in achieving developmental milestones