Online learning offers so much flexibility that many K-12 students find themselves wishing they still went to traditional school to keep them on track with schoolwork. Well maybe not, but it is true that class schedules are important, no matter what type of school a student attends.
Schedules not only keep students on track for finishing lessons, but they also help plan time for other activities like homework, chores, jobs, and other weekly activities. By knowing what time is dedicated to schoolwork, a student can set that "block" of time to focusing on the subject at hand. A schedule prevents multitasking or procrastination, which are both killers to a successful student, online or otherwise.
Most of the time, an online school won't just hand you a daily class schedule because they don't know a particular student's activities outside of school; nor do they want to dictate learning times as the joy of choosing when to learn is a major benefit of online school. It's better if you make a daily class schedule yourself for your student.
Where do you begin? Start with the most important things to get done, namely classes! For example, you might have an 8th grader taking five online classes of English, pre-algebra, general science, Bible, and health. OK, start with number of lessons in each subject divided by the number of days in the school year. Outline what a typical school day would look like:
Monday
8 – 9 AM: Bible (2 lessons)
9 – 10 AM: English (1 lesson)
10:30 – 11:30 AM: Health (1 lesson)
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM: Lunch Break
12:30 – 1:30 PM: Pre-algebra (1 lesson)
1:30 – 3 PM: General science (2 lessons)
3 – 4 PM: Chores
4 – 5 PM: Free time
5- 8 PM: Supper and relaxing/exercise/part-time job/or extracurricular activities
8- 9 PM: Study time
9 PM: Bed time
Now you have a basic outline, look at the entire week and ask yourself if your student is really able to follow this schedule. For example you might want to not do lessons on a certain weekday and do school on a weekend instead. Or you might need to shift lessons for a vacation or group activity.
Without a basic idea of what your student should be working on, it's very easy to get behind in homework and put off lessons. Many students start falling so far behind they can't make up lessons in what time is left in the school year. This is often the cause of students dropping out of online school, as they can't keep on pace.
Because no teacher is physically present in an online school, you as the parent must be the enforcer of completed school work. The more and more you can hand over this responsibility to your student (especially in high school grades), the more responsible your student will be at pacing his own lessons, an invaluable skill for succeeding in college!
When making a schedule, remember the joy of attending an online school is the flexibility. You can switch subjects from morning to night or afternoon, switch days of the week, work ahead, or catch up. You can go through subjects faster or focus on areas where your student needs more help. Enjoy this individualized approach not available in traditional school.
Does your online student have a daily class schedule? How did you make it?