VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Navigating the unknown of virtual learning can be overwhelming. In just a few short weeks, most Hampton Roads school divisions will start the year online.
Parents are taking on a big part of that and virtual teachers in the community want to help.
“Home learning isn't in school and it's not home school,” said parent Meghan Raftery. “It's some kind of new thing that didn't exist before."
Mom Meghan Raftery spent the last 15 years teaching in Pennsylvania and Virginia Beach. She has also written curriculums for the Virginia Beach School Division.
Now she works for a private virtual learning company and has a new side hustle. Raftery is coaching parents through online school this fall. Parents can sign up online through her website, Edjacent Remote Learning Coaching.
"What they are asking is, am I doing it right,” Raftery said. “Am I doing it good enough? Is my kid going to get behind?"
Raftery is also navigating what her sons Jude and Pete call 'Mom School'. They are both enrolled in the Virginia Beach School Division and will start virtually this fall.
"It's important for the parents to remember that they are not really expected to be a teacher, they are a facilitator,” Raftery said.
Raftery lets her kids lead and tells parents to do the same.
"I try to get my son to show it to me first so that he can do as much as he can before I intervene,” Raftery said.
She set up a work area to keep them focused. She said families looking to create a fall workspace don’t have to renovate. She said make sure students have a designated place, somewhere you won’t need to clean up at the end of the day.
Raftery turned her laundry room into the classroom. She didn’t have to buy a thing and used what she had.
“We realized what they needed most was blank counter space,” Raftery said.
The biggest obstacle with virtual learning can be logging on.
"I would recommend sitting near the router, so you do have the best reception,” said Academically Educating tutoring creator Jennifer Ingalls.
Ingalls had to start a virtual component to her Virginia Beach tutoring company in March.
She had to figure out what worked best for her students from behind a screen. She recommends headphones to limit distractions.
"Instead of looking at me while I’m talking for a short period of time, they would just be making faces,” Ingalls said.
She said it may be best to hide the student camera from the screen, so they only see the teacher during instruction. Also, set up computer programs before class starts.
"At least 10 minutes prior in case your Wi-Fi has a glitch,” Ingalls said. “Making sure everything is set up, so you are not trying to log in at that start time."
This year will consist of trial and error.
"If it starts to get confusing, there are too many things, don't struggle for very long,” Raftery said.
Above all Raftery said don't be afraid to ask for help.
"We reach out to the teacher regularly,” Raftery said. “They want to know what is going on."
She's ready to kick 'Mom School' back into high gear this fall.