How to Teach Young Students Remotely Without Losing their Attention, Part 2
For the first part of this series, we covered the first two tips on how to teach young students online without losing their attention. As promised, here are a few more:
Take frequent breaks without stopping the learning process
A child’s attention span is shorter, and they also get tired much quicker. But this doesn’t mean that we need to make our lessons short. What we can do instead is to learn to pace the lessons that will include more opportunities to switch tasks. Example, starting with a verbal exercise, then moving on to something that involves writing or drawing that will help the child take a mental break without pausing the lesson. Allocate only 5-10 minutes per activity, and have a few on reserve in case the planned activities isn’t a hit with the kids. This will make each lesson feel fun and exciting.
Engage with the senses and their imagination
Switch among verbal, visual, written and kinesthetic learning styles to make the lessons more fun. This will engage more than one way of thinking in our students, and also improve their information retention.
Incorporate them or their lives in the lesson
Using examples from their lives, or incorporating their life context into the learning material will make the lessons more relevant and memorable. Connecting them to an everyday experience makes it easier for the children to also integrate the material in their worldview. When we use familiar objects, places, and concerns, they are able to create vivid emotional connections to the material, and they are able to also retain this information longer.
Keep in mind that when we teach children online, we are competing with so many distractions - from the child’s home environment to distractions available online such as Youtube videos. By heeding the tips above and in the first part of this two-parter, we are helping them learn key skills like self-control and focus. Showing them ways to cope and deal with distraction helps set them up for a greater level of success that will help them throughout their lives.