5 Strategies for Parents to be Active in the Learning Process

Hello! My name is Travis Scott, and I teach Personal Health and Physical Education courses with VirtualSC. Parental/guardian support is a key factor in helping students stay on track, remain highly motivated, and achieve academic success. Whether this is your first experience helping your child in virtual courses or you are a veteran, here are some keys that will help you stay informed and support your child through the learning process.

1. Create a parent/guardian account (Click to get started!)

All you need is your student’s name, date of birth, VirtualSC username, and VirtualSC ID (Ex. ABC-1234) to get started with your parent account. When you create a parent/guardian account, you can check on the most current overall grade for your student and you can update all of your contact information. Teachers will contact parents/guardians through the information listed in OpenSIS. If contact information is entered incorrectly, teachers can try, but will not be able to reach parent/guardians. The parent/guardian account gives you the ability to ensure all your information is correct and your child’s teacher can contact you with valuable information.

2. Contact the teacher.
Teachers at VirtualSC love to hear from parent/guardians. Each teacher at VirtualSC holds office hours that are listed in their Skype profiles, course information, and welcome letters. This is the best time to reach out to VirtualSC teachers, but if you can’t reach them, please leave a detailed email or message with your name, student’s name, course, and how and when to reach you. You can ask for a pacing guide (also under Course Information within Moodle) so you know what your child should be completing each week; with this information you and your child can sit down to create a schedule of which assignments to complete each day. When parent/guardians know what is due each week, students are more likely to meet due dates.

3. Let VirtualSC teachers know how to best support your child.
We experience many successes with our students at VirtualSC, but there are students that struggle with some content in our courses. When VirtualSC teachers reach out, it can be difficult to get students to tell us exactly where they need the most support. Parent/guardians are the most trusted individual in a child’s life and if you see your student struggling or they tell you that they are having difficulties, please let us know how we can offer more support. We are willing to discuss coursework with student and parent/guardian together over the phone, through Skype, or can meet live through our web conferencing system to explain concepts. VirtualSC teachers encourage two-way communication and know that you are the most important advocate for your student.

4. Sit down with your child each week to discuss grades and upcoming due dates.
VirtualSC teachers can send parent/guardians various types of information to help in the learning process. A parent/guardian should sit down with their student to discuss the pacing guide to make sure both parent/guardians and students are aware of what is due to help the student be prepared to meet upcoming due dates. It is also beneficial for parent/guardians to review grades with their child through Moodle using the student view. This will allow the parent/guardian to see grades on individual assignments with their student.Here is the latest video tutorial on accessing the student gradebook.
By using the pacing guide, parent/guardians can see if individual assignments are past due. All past due assignments go into the gradebook as a zero until it is completed, if late work submissions are permitted. A student that meets all due dates will increase their chances of successfully completing a VirtualSC course.

5. The parent, student, teacher trifecta.
Triangles are the strongest shape because force is evenly spread through all three sides. It is important that parents, students, and teachers connect to create the best support for the student. We must be able to lean on each other throughout the course to meet deadlines, understand content, and communicate effectively. All three components are important to the success of the student. If you have a question, ask. If there is a concern, let us know as soon as possible. If the parent, student, and teacher work together, the rate of success in the student’s VirtualSC course will be higher.

Teachers at VirtualSC understand that increased parental support helps students be more successful. We want to get feedback from you. This consists of ways we can support your child and the positive experiences they have. It is important that we work together to ensure your child has a positive experience and successfully completes each course taken through VirtualSC!