EXPECTATIONS FOR ONLINE LEARNING

Parents need to establish routines and expectations

• Create an ambience for virtual classes, remove all distractions from the room.
• We suggest that students begin their studies at regular school hours.
• Do not let the children sleep late.
• Do set expectations around – blinking 15 times every minute, moving regularly and taking periodic breaks as they study.

Define the physical space for your child’s study – Your child may have a regular place for doing homework under normal circumstances, but this space may or may not be suitable for an extended period of time, as will be the case of virtual learning.

• We encourage families to establish a space/location where their children will learn most of the time. It should be a place that can be quiet at times and have a strong wireless internet signal, if possible.
• Ensure that no other device is placed in the same room. And multiple windows should not be open during virtual learning.
• Above all, it should be a space where parents are present and monitoring their children’s learning.

Monitor communications from your children’s teachers on Teamie. Teachers will communicate with parents through Teamie, as and when necessary. All communications from teachers regarding class schedule, timelines, zoom sessions and assessments will happen through Teamie. The frequency and detail of these communications will be determined by your children’s ages, maturity, and their degree of independence.

Parents are advised to contact their children’s teachers and emails are the preferred mode of communication. However, we ask parents to remember that teachers will be communicating with dozens of other families and hence the communication should be essential, succinct, and self-aware.

Parents are advised to use Parental Control softwares e.g. Qustodio, McAfee Total Protection, Norton Family Premier.

We also encourage parents to have their children explain the features of Learning Management System – Teamie teachers are using.

Begin and end each day with a check-in - Parents are encouraged to start and finish each day with a simple check-in and centering exercises.

• In the morning, ask your child
  • What are they learning today?
  • What are their learning targets or goals?
  • How will they spend their time?
  • What resources do they require?
  • What support do they need?

This brief grounding conversation matters. It allows children to process the instructions they’ve received from their teachers. It helps them organize themselves and set priorities.

• Older students may not want to have these check-ins but they should nevertheless. Parents are encouraged to establish these check-ins as a regular part of each day to help children navigate distance learning and create a much needed structure. These check-in routines are crucial for building the skills of self-discipline among children.

Establish times for pranayam and reflection. A challenge for some families with multiple children will be how to manage all of their children’s needs, especially when those children are of different ages and have different needs. There may be times when siblings need to work in different rooms to avoid distraction. A suggestion for parents would be to use noise-cancelling headphones to block out distractions.

Encourage physical activity and/or exercise. Make sure your children remember to move and exercise keeping in mind their health and well-being.

Remain mindful of your child’s stress and anxiety. Heritage is implementing virtual learning given the unique situation at the moment and will continue to work in collaboration with parents to ensure the well-being of all students.

Monitor how much time your child is spending online. Teachers are creating virtual learning lessons which will have a right balance between online and offline learning experiences.

Instructional coaches, programme leaders and principal will continue to monitor the quality of virtual transaction, resources, lesson plans and feedback shared by teachers with students periodically.

It is imperative to set rules around their social media interactions. Parents are expected to monitor their children’s use of social media. Help your children maintain contact with friends responsibly. Older students will rely more on social media to communicate with friends.

Please note that Social media apps such as SnapChat, Instagram, WhatsApp, or Facebook are not official, school-sanctioned channels of communication. Remind your children to be polite, respectful, and appropriate in their communications and to represent the school’s values in their interactions with others, this applies for written words and as well as tone of conversation.

Students must comply with the school’s Behaviour Management and Acceptable Usage policy while they are online. Students/ parents/ guardians are not permitted to take photos, screenshots, record videos/ audios of the virtual sessions. All material shared on teamie and zoom is the school’s intellectual property and downloading/ circulating/ sharing of content without permission is strictly prohibited.