The Virtual Voice

Tips for Online Elementary School Success

Have you ever wondered if your child could be successful taking online courses? Maybe you have enrolled your son or daughter, but now what? Embarking on an online schooling journey can be, and probably is, life-changing.

If your child is currently enrolled with FLVS Flex Elementary or you’re considering online learning for his or her education, we have put together some must-know tips to get the most out of your FLVS experience.

Prepare for Success

This may seem obvious, but it is very important to make sure you have the right tools for your child to succeed when learning virtually. You will want to make sure you have the following:

A clean and organized workspace
It is beneficial to have a clean and organized workspace dedicated to school. This area should limit distractions and be conducive to learning.

A laptop or desktop
Chromebooks, iPads, tablets, and smartphones offer limited functionality in our program. While your child will be able to do minimal work using these devices, it is recommended that content be presented to a student on a laptop or desktop. A speaker (built-in or external), a headset, and a webcam may be additional computer accessories that will make Class Time and your child’s learning experience much more enjoyable.

Printer
It is highly suggested that your child has convenient access to a printer. There is no need to print everything; however, your child will greatly benefit from being able to print worksheets to complete that will be submitted for a grade.

Spiral notebook(s) for taking notes
We want to encourage good study habits and in doing so, we recommend your child have a spiral notebook to take notes in as they move through the lessons for each course.

Portfolio
Use a teacher crate, bin, or binder(s) to house all the work your child completes to document their progress. This may be provided to your school district depending upon your county’s homeschool evaluation requirements at the end of the year. A 3-hole punch is a good idea if you choose to house your child’s work in a binder.

Hit the Ground Running

Before being activated, your child’s teacher will reach out to complete a Welcome Call with you and your child by phone. This is the perfect time to ask any questions, give the teacher any pertinent information about your child, learn how to find your way around within the course, and set a successful pace. As soon as your child is placed in a course, he or she will be able to explore the curriculum and start submitting assignments.

Get Organized

Need help getting organized, planning your schedule, or setting goals for your student? Talk with your teacher if you are having difficulty finding a groove.

Remember, “no pace” is not a pace. Your child needs to make continual progress to master new concepts and material. Each student must submit work at least once every seven days. After seven days of not submitting work, your family may receive a concerned call from the teacher with suggestions and support for helping your child get back to work. Remember, our teachers are here to help and want your child to be successful. They can offer success plans and answer questions to help get your child back on track and working successfully.

Set a Schedule

If you or your child are feeling a bit overwhelmed, talking to your teacher should be your first course of action! Setting a schedule and sticking to it will also help. 

Following a daily schedule is a best practice for successful online education. If your child is a traditional school student who is taking individual courses, you should expect them to be working 1-2 hours per week per subject, depending on the course and weekly content.  

Below, you will see a sample weekly schedule for fifth grade students who are enrolled in multiple courses. If you are enrolled in segment 1, you will begin in lessons 1.01. Segment 2 students will start later in the courses. Please know that you can create an individualized schedule that fits your family’s needs.

Communicate with your Teacher

Partnership between you, your child, and your FLVS Flex Elementary teacher is imperative for success. Aside from parents, your child’s teacher is the biggest supporter for your student. Maintaining regular communication with them will greatly benefit your online educational experience and help to ensure your child’s success.

Online education is certainly not something to jump into without thought or planning.  As you know, there are many things to consider when beginning this journey, like how to structure your days, whether or not to find and join a local co-op for homeschooled students, and which courses to choose. We are very glad you have chosen FLVS Flex Elementary to serve your family’s educational goals. We can’t wait to continue serving each family to help all students reach their educational potential.

Post by Tiffany Ludwig, FLVS Elementary Teacher

This entry was posted in Full Time Edition, Homeschool Edition, Parent Edition and tagged , , , , , on by .

38 comments on “Tips for Online Elementary School Success”

  5. Heather

    Where do you go to print out all of the worksheets at the same time for the entire course? So that I can have a binder prepared for the year and don’t have to continuously keep printing every week.
    Thank you

    Reply ↓
    2. Sara

      In the Flipbook, just forward to the following weeks & print them all that way. It’s not as easy as pressing 1 button & printing all of them, BUT its still an option to be able to not physically *have* to wait until the entire next week to be able to print them. 🙂 I hope this helped! 🙂

      Reply ↓
  9. Eric Cruz

    Hello, very excited to FINALLY get started!! Question: We selected Option C when it was first provided. However, our son was placed into Brick & Mortar and we received no follow-up assistance, and only after months of calls were we able to finally get through. So, here is our question, we are now in week 9, thankfully we are on top of our child’s education and we have lot’s of practice work. ( He is in Kindergarten but doing work at a 1st-grade level) Can we submit this and have a Zoom / Call assessment so that he can receive credit? Seems very unfair to both the child and the parents to have to play catch up on 9 weeks of school work because of the incompetence of the school board to effectively communicate with us. Please advise, thanks!

    Reply ↓
  23. Bella-Rose

    I am really excited to started by flex classes. I did this before and had a hard time. This time will be better. Can’t wait until I meet my teacher tomorrow!

    Reply ↓
  24. Yenny

    Thank you very much for this program and your guidance! My son is starting kinder and we are all very excited! We wanted the full time program, but the registration closed too early: July 15, and we had to sign him up in the Flex program. Does it also give credits?
    Is there a waiting list for the Full Time Program, can we still have the chance to start?
    Are there meet-n-greets for students and teachers?
    Thank you for all your support!

    Reply ↓

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