Even before the pandemic, most working parents (including Arcanytes) were already at full tilt trying to juggle work and parenting—and sometimes struggling to find balance. So with schools closed for several months at the moment and homeschooling becoming the only option, how do they cope?
Determined to help Arcanytes’ children continue their education while easing the homeschooling burden on their parents, the Arcanys Foundation decided to actively support remote learning with private online classes for these kiddies. Here are their stories.
Coached by: Teachers Sheng & Jona
"Both of my kids have learned a lot. My daughter is a bit stubborn, especially with letters, as she doesn’t want to be taught. After a couple of sessions though, she learned to recite her ABCs, same with the numbers. My son improved as well, and as I’ve observed, he really gets exhausted with the lessons he’s getting, which is really good.
I’ve learned to be patient, that's for sure. The lessons are always the basics and with repetitions, getting the kid to familiarize things. Sometimes the teachers try to dig in deep, to let the kids understand concepts before diving into actual lessons
Until now, we don’t have a printer at home and we’re using phones. It can be quite challenging to write/prepare the activities manually and the internet connection is not always good."
Coached by: Teacher Jona
"Thanks to the coaching, Markus has become more attentive and a believer in online studies. He’s doing online schooling now. Before the quarantine, we were already learning new things together, reading together, etc.
Online coaching is both difficult for the student and the teacher, mainly because of our service limitations here in the country, and the internet could be better.
My tip is to have patience and let go of your child sometimes. True learning will come when you let your children jump, then fly."
Coached by: Teacher Cristine
"We were a bit hesitant to enroll him since we know that he’s a very active boy who can barely sit still. We thought his 5-minute attention span would be challenging. In fact, during the 1st session, he said goodbye to his teacher 15 minutes after the class started. In the 2nd and 3rd classes, we saw a great improvement on his attention span. He was able to finish a 45-minute class on the 2nd session and an hour-long class on the 3rd. We were really happy about this development. With the assignments provided by the teacher, we were able to have quality time together to answer or do the activities that were given to him.
Because of the assignments, our patience and understanding for our child has improved. We have also learned to value the efforts of the teacher."
Coached by: Teacher Mae
"Now my son seems to have more patience. Sometimes when the screen freezes, he just waits until it is back on and checks if teacher Mae can hear him. At first, I was hesitant that this could work, now I'm extremely happy with the outcome. Alexys can be independent most of the time, especially when I have work to do and could not help him. The online coaching has given us more topics to talk about, especially Math. I realized that Math is fun to learn with the proper tools and guidance.
I remember, in the beginning, it was really tough. As the days went by, we established morning routines, and I have noticed that it is better to plan the lessons ahead. As they say, failing to plan is planning to fail. Lessons may not always be followed the way we wanted it, but it's okay. It is also teaching us to be more flexible."
Coached by: Teacher Sherlyn
"My daughter is really not good with numbers, ever since she started schooling. And I really have a hard time teaching her because I'm not good at teaching, unfortunately.
Now, she's learning the techniques in multiplication. I didn't expect her progress to be that smooth given that the coaching is through online. Thanks to teacher Sheng for being smart and patient at the same time. I went from being a grumpy mama to being a relaxed mama real quick. In fact, reviewing her activities has become our bonding time.
Teaching is not for everyone. We should appreciate all the teachers that really put so much effort into helping our children acquire the knowledge they need. And we can appreciate them by supporting our children, to prepare them before the coaching session starts and give them what they need.
Forbearance is the key in the new normal way of teaching and learning because our children could be distracted most of the time. If it's not easy for us parents, how much more for the teachers. So let's be helpful in whatever way we can by being cooperative and supportive."
Here at Arcanys, learning is highly valued, for adults and even more so, for children. And so it only fits that we put much significance in the education of the next generation. As the late Whitney Houston crooned, "I believe that children are our future. Teach them well, and let them lead the way."
Perhaps it's a bit corny, but very true. And Arcanys, along with the AELF teachers, are quite eager and very happy to help out the next generation of Arcanytes.
Content Writer
Content Writer
Line is a Content Writer at Arcanys. She's also an editor, a bibliophile, a collector of pretty knickknacks, and a versatile doer with serious OC tendencies. She loves the written word undoubtedly, reads creepy stories by Poe, and shows great enthusiasm for every project like an eager beaver.
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