Six Tips for Online School

Hey everyone! With a new school year recently started, I've got some more tips for homeschool/online school that I'd like to share. I am doing an online school this year that is self-paced, but I know that there are many different types of homeschool/online school around the world right now. These tips should be helpful for most, and a lot of them can be applied to working on homework from traditional school as well!

- Reward yourself. This is one of the strategies I use without even realizing it! I find myself saying "just finish this page of math problems and you can ______". You can reward yourself with snacks, playing with a pet, checking your phone, or maybe even taking a (very quick) power nap!

- Stretch! I have definitely underestimated how important stretching is for daily life. I stretch when I take a break in between subjects or even if I'm just not feeling great with the work I'm doing. It makes me feel so much better physically but also refreshes me mentally before I get back to work.

- Hydrate! Some people (my family) may say that I drink too much water, but it is extremely important to stay hydrated while you're working, especially if the majority of your work is on the computer. Dehydration combined with staring at a screen (even if you're working) can give you some massive headaches, and make it hard for you to work anymore.

- Write things out. I take notes from my textbook and write down key words & people because the act of writing things down helps me remember things.

- Figure out what works for you! Many people love the Pomodoro method, and that might work for you, but that style of working doesn't necessarily work for everyone (including me!). I have found that I do my best work when I can work for a long time straight- not interrupting my thought processes with breaks works a lot better for me. I also learn better reading from a textbook than by creating a song to remember math facts or making a physical representation of the ocean. Everyone learns differently, so it's good to find out what works for you and how you can utilize that.

- Noise! Something that works better for me is working with noise; it's hard for me to concentrate if it's extremely quiet. I usually listen to music while I do school, but white noise works for me at well. While this may not be the case for everyone, it's important to find out how well you can work with and adjust/change your setting based on that.