6 Ways To Make Virtual Learning Fun

How To Make Virtual Learning Fun

Virtual learning isn’t exactly how I envisioned school for my kids.

But, alas, here we are in the midst of what’s turning out to be one of the craziest, scariest, strangest (I could go on and on) years of our lifetime. Our decision to keep Grace and Josephine home and have them learn virtually – at least for the beginning half of the year – was not an easy one. Truth be told, it’s a decision we’re still struggling with. As there’s really no good answer to the conundrum of school amidst a pandemic. There were benefits and drawbacks for both in-person and virtual learning. But ultimately we made the decision that we felt was best for our family.

So, with that decision in mind and with Grace starting kindergarten and Josephine in 3’s preschool, we’re faced with a very interesting and tough question.

How do you make virtual learning fun for a 5 and 3 year old?!

It’ll be a tough feat, no doubt! As with many topics and issues this year, we’ll have to get really creative. Really, really creative. Unless it’s a cartoon on the screen, Grace and Joey lose interest faster than you can say, “ABC”. Though I know it’ll take some adjusting for them, I really hope that it’s not a fight every day to sit down in front of a screen to learn. It’ll take some expectation management, and a lot of collaboration with their teacher, to make it a positive experience for the kids!

With that in mind, I’ve been thinking a lot about ways that I can help to make virtual learning a positive experience for them. Below I’m sharing some of my ideas with you! But before I do that…

As with ALL of this crazy time amongst COVID in our world, can you imagine trying to tackle these topics and issues without internet?!

I mean, for real. I’m personally awarding the internet the MVP award for helping us get through this wild time.

As you guys know, at home we use Xfinity as our internet provider. I’m so proud to work with them as one of my long term partners. This may sound silly but I can’t imagine a world without modern day technology, especially during this time where connection is imperative for our communication, work, and now virtual schooling!

In today’s world, internet is an essential. So, let me tell you about a few amazing advantages that Xfinity provides! Xfinity xFi gives you the speed, coverage and, control you need for the ultimate in-home WiFi experience. It’s fast and reliable — two of the most important attributes of internet. And it’s also safe since it has online security included with your service. They’ve even got you covered when you’re on the go. Xfinity’s WiFi hotspots will be open to anyone – even non-customers – for unlimited access through 2020. Heyyoooo! Be sure to swing by this link to learn more about how Xfinity can help your home’s internet be the most reliable possible.

6 Ways To Make Virtual Learning Fun

Get Creative With A Dedicated Learning Space

For me personally, I have a hard time concentrating in a place where I usually do other things. For example, if I’m trying to work in my bed, I’ll often get tired. Or if I’m sitting at the kitchen counter, I’ll get distracted by the dishes or cooking. See what I mean? As I dive into work, it’s important for me to have some sort of physical separation from these types of rooms in order to mentally get into the zone.

When it comes to concentration and having your physical surroundings be important, I figure that the same mentality may be true for Grace and Joey! I can’t expect them to fully concentrate in, say, the living room, where they usually will watch television for fun. So, we’ve decided to create their own special “nook” where they can go and be excited about learning. It will have a desk and chair for them both, and be stocked with lots of school supplies such as coloring books, paper, markers, etc. As we put the space together over the next few weeks, I am excited to have the girls be active in how we decorate it, so they have a part in making their learning space unique to them.

Establish A Reward System

I’m anticipating a lot of “Nooooo! I don’t waaaant to!” situations when signing in to learn, especially if they’re having fun playing and we’re pivoting. So to help, I’m going to put together some sort of reward system. Every day I’ll have a new reward. Easy, simple things that they’ll get excited about, such as getting to choose a piece of candy after a class well done, getting to choose the playground we go to for that day’s outing, or even getting to choose the movie for a family movie night. (By the way, NO, I’m not above more screen time in this situation when leveraged selectively! None of this is normal so I feel like whatever is necessary to get through this time period is acceptable. The kiddos need brain breaks, too, and if that comes in the form of Ana and Elsa…so be it!)

Have Them Manage Their Own Devices

One of the things that is exciting Grace the most about virtual learning is that she gets her own iPad! (Josephine doesn’t have a formal virtual learning environment through school since she’s in preschool, and she’s still pretty young, so she won’t be getting the same.) Obviously we’ll have strict parent controls on her device and will keep it extremely minimal/educational based, but I do think that allowing her the flexibility to manage her own device will be a good learning opportunity. She feels like a “Big girl” since she’s getting her own device, and I think that’ll translate well into relaying that being a “Big girl” also means participating in her virtual lessons every day!

By the way, Xfinity has some really cool parental control options available through their service! You can pause WiFi to any connected device at any time, which is helpful for situations like bringing the family together at dinnertime or ensuring kids are off their devices at night with bedtime mode. All this can easily be done in the xFi app — you can do things like set up recurring scheduled “pauses” or “downtimes” during, say, dinnertime from 5-7 pm. Also, simple and powerful parental controls helps you protect your kids from inappropriate content while using your home WiFi network!

Go Device Free

Counter to the above, I think that device-free learning will be equally as important in this entire process. Though Grace in particular will be reliant on devices for her lessons, it’ll be vital to turn off the screens and practice what she just learned without technology. Particularly for learning things like learning to write her letters, or math, it’ll be imperative to have my home involvement in helping to teach her. There’s only so much that a teacher can do from a screen!

Incorporate Play Time As Much As Possible

Of course, social interaction is so important for kids and their development! My plan is to set up some regular play dates with others who are also doing virtual learning, and who we know are careful regarding COVID. Ideally, we’ll have play dates every week, primarily on playgrounds and in outdoor settings. A type of “Recess”, if you will! I think the simple act of having this will absolutely be the make-or-break between Grace and Josephine enjoying their virtual learning time at home. If the COVID situation gets worse and we have to revert back to total isolation, as we did during the first 3 months of quarantine, then so be it. But where possible, we’ll be outside, hopefully (safely!) enjoying other kids as well.

Pump. It. Up.

In general, this is going to be a huge adjustment, especially since both girls have been used to “school” being primarily play-based and in person. It really does make me sad that they won’t have this experience, but I also know that it’s what’s best for our family during this time. That said, there are still so many positives to this situation! Grace is still starting kindergarten. She’s getting live instruction from her teacher. She will be able to meet new friends, who will be actual in-person classmates in the future, via her virtual lessons. Likewise, Joey will have lots of 1:1 time and hopefully will really progress with her knowledge. It’s a very different experience, yes, and I hope it is all over soon. But it’s still important to underscore to both of them that this is exciting and we are so proud of them both.

Every day, I hope to approach the situation in a patient and enthusiastic manner. I want them to be excited to practice what they have learned, and to talk about that day’s lessons, and I think if we’re approaching the lessons in a positive light that’ll naturally start to flow! Attitude is everything in this case, so I want to teach them that even though it’s not our ideal situation, it’s still something that we can make the best of. I think this is perhaps the most important lesson of them all.

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What are your plans for school this fall? If you’ve decided to do virtual learning, do you have any ideas on how to make the best of it? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

This post was sponsored by Xfinity, however as always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that partner with Isn’t That Charming!

PS – Our Family’s Favorite At-Home Activities For Toddlers + Staying Connected While 6 Feet Apart. If you’re new here, check out our family’s experience with being quarantined in the midst of COVID.