The risk of burnout is one of the primary threats of contemporary life. But it’s important to remember this isn’t an issue strictly limited to those of us of adult age. Kids are just as susceptible to the damaging effects of the stresses and expectations they’re faced with.  Among the contributors to burnout for kids in this way is their online behavior.

While the internet can be a positive tool, it is also one of the ways children are subjected to pressures and anxiety. While it is certainly a virtual environment, the threat is no less real. Indeed, with the prevalence of smart devices and online learning, your kids may find it somewhat inescapable, leaving them at greater risk of burnout.

Let’s take a look at how you can effectively teach your kids to mitigate the potential for online burnout.

Boundary Setting

One of the most important areas of knowledge you can pass onto kids regarding online burnout surrounds setting boundaries. Teach them about the various types of limits they should be setting for themselves throughout their online use. This can begin with something as simple as overall screen time. But it could also include keeping devices away from the bedroom at night so they’re not connected right up until bedtime. This helps to ensure good quality and quantity of sleep.

Another boundary can surround the safe use of social media platforms or online communities. This isn’t just about time spent on them. It’s also about the kind of content being consumed and the discussions they engage in. Peer pressure, trolling exposure, and even pop-cultural disagreements can get heated and stressful. Teach them to recognize the boundaries and when to separate from the negative influences.

Alongside recognizing and setting the boundaries, you should teach your kids how to respond to them effectively. It can be healthy to encourage a digital detox when social media use is becoming problematic in particular. Help them to make accurate assessments about how long this detox should be depending on the severity of the impact on their lives. This could be blocking social sites for a couple of hours each day, or even separating entirely for 24 hours.

Symptom Awareness

Burnout can sneak up and take the victim unawares. A key to mitigating burnout can be recognizing the symptoms early enough to make adjustments. By teaching your child what these are, you can work together to identify them before they get out of hand.

Some of the key signs of online burnout in kids include:

●     Slipping Grades

This can be especially prevalent when your child is experiencing the stress of remote learning. The relentless nature of performing their schooling online without casual interactions with their peers can make the situation especially difficult. When your child is unable to disconnect from this environment and struggles to cope with the stress, their schoolwork can start to suffer.

It’s important to encourage your child to speak up when they find their grades are slipping or they don’t enjoy the work as much as they would have in person. This allows you to make adjustments to their learning space or routine to better suit your child’s remote learning needs.

●     Isolating Behavior

It is not unusual for children to withdraw from the family space, particularly as they approach pre-teen years. But refusing to engage with family and friends can be a sign your child is experiencing online burnout. This is because the stress they’re living with is driving them to reduce the stimulus they’re exposed to in other areas of their life.

Talk to your child about recognizing when they feel they don’t want to spend time with other people in ways they would have otherwise enjoyed. Help them to see that feeling they’re too tired or too busy for social interactions can be a sign they’re burning out.

●     Anxiety

Online burnout creates a situation in which it becomes harder for your child to function comfortably each day. Sure, they may always have had challenges in their lives. But the constant stress and negative influences of their online spaces can result in them experiencing fear. Even their self-consciousness around their online presence or remote schoolwork may be more pronounced. As such, they can find themselves more emotionally distraught and crying more often. Even their sleep may begin to suffer.

Balance Maintenance

You should stress to your child that reducing and preventing online burnout can be about creating a balance in their life. Simply developing a positive attitude despite the difficulties they face isn’t enough. Rather, it’s about taking action to reduce the negative impact on their lives. With kids, this isn’t always an easy idea to get across, so it’s worth taking a practical and visual approach.

Work with them on a weekly basis to list all the essential online activities for each coming day. This may not be limited to schoolwork alone. A growing number of children are using online methods to stay close to their long-distance parents. This is a vital element to maintaining their wellbeing and forging strong bonds. Knowing clearly what these essential online activities are can help your child feel more in control and less overwhelmed.

You can then list all the non-essential online activities they can engage in. Don’t make them feel as though their gaming time or social media use isn’t important. It may be wise to create separate columns for online activities and offline activities each day. This gives a clear view of how successfully they’re achieving a balance. These columns don’t have to be equal each day. But it can be a good tool to help them recognize when their day is imbalanced to the point they’ll risk burnout.

Conclusion

It is important that you as a parent remain vigilant for when your child is displaying signs of online burnout. However, it can be more empowering for your child if you teach them about mitigating the risks themselves too. Talk them through the importance of setting boundaries and recognizing the symptoms of burnout. This, alongside activities to maintain a healthy balance, can help make sure your child approaches their online time in a healthy manner.

The best way to teach kids how to code is through an online coding for kids program that is self directed.  When you combine these teaching tools with games, kids don’t even realize how much they are learning.  The educational benefits expound to boost their confidence, creativity, problem solving and logical thinking skills.

There will continued to be a demand worldwide for students who are educated in IT (Information Technology).  This need is expected to only increase in coming years. That doesn’t mean that kids need to be thinking about a career in tech to truly benefit from an online coding class. You may have a child who is simply interested how computers work. You may have a family member that spends a lot of time playing video games and you want ensure some of that screen time is educational.

Coding for Kids – Online Learning

Get your child started today with online coding for kids.

Whether or not a child is gifted in science or STEM subjects in school, coding courses are designed for children of any skill level to discover whether learning to code is a path they want to explore.

Coding is also a great introduction for children to other educational focuses regarding computational thinking, which explores many aspects of problem solving and how both boys and girls can use these skills to understand how everything works in the world, not just computers and math.

How Kids can Learn Coding Easily while Having Fun

Whether teaching is live or a course where kids learn at their own pace, everything is designed to ensure any age group can grasp basic coding concepts. Any knowledge gained can only help kids succeed in school regardless of their chosen profession when they graduate.  There are also a variety of AP computer science books and courses online that guide a child through the basics of coding without a live teacher. Both experiences instruct kids how to code as they move through games they may already be playing normally.

Whether you are a teacher or a parent, there are coding activities that you can get your students or kids excited about.

Educators, learn how you to teach computer science and the foundations of computational thinking: codeSpark Ignite is an online professional development course designed to help preK-5 educators teach young students the basics of Computer Science and the foundations of computational thinking.

Why parents are encouraging their kids to learn coding.

• Coding through fun games is a great opportunity to see if your younger child is interested in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
• Classes and courses provide an educational process that can be enjoyed while kids are playing games online.
• Parents may want their kids to learn coding skills to supplement what they may not being getting in school.
• Coding lessons can be an excellent program addition for home schoolers or kids taking virtual classes.

Parents may have kids who enjoy playing a lot of video games. The challenge for any parent is limiting screen time when a child is only asking for more hours of play per day. Giving your son or daughter an extra hour of online play devoted to a coding game is the perfect compromise for many.

• Children doing very well in school may not be challenged enough with their current studies.
• Kids may have a keen interest in STEM already and are open to expanding their learning.

Something for Every Age: Self paced coding courses are provided for kids as early as 5 years old. Online coding classes can be taken as early as kindergarten.

Types of Coding Languages for Beginners

Block-based coding is an excellent ways for kids to get started.  It consists of dragging and dropping colorful components. This engaging method is fun for kids and helps them learn the basics without writing text.  After they are comfortable with blocks, instructors can introduce text-based coding.  This includes the basics of writing lines of code.

Together, block-based programming and text-based coding is more easily grasped as kids begin to understand how everything ties together to create something new.  With proper set-by step instruction, it’s possible for kids to learn more complex coding languages, such as;

• Python – the programming language that reads like normal speech.
• Ruby – the most readable syntax for beginner programmers.
• Scratch – when introduced to kids who have a proper foundation of the basics, Scratch is fairly easy for children to learn.  It’s important because it’s they will be more than likely be using this type of coding in some capacity for the rest of their lives.
• Java – while more difficult, teaching Java to beginners will make learning any language easier for kids.
• C++ – this language make turn off some beginners to the world of coding because it’s very similar to math.  While it can expand a new coders world, instruction on this type of coding might turn of some beginners off.  However, once the basic fundamentals of programming are understood, C++ is very beneficial to those who decide to progress in their programming knowledge.

There are many different coding languages. Equipping a young children and teens with multiple options as they expand their expertise and knowledge can only serve to help them find what they enjoy best.  Other languages include Blockly, Alice, Lua, Go,Twine, Swift Playgrounds and Ruby.

The Benefits of Online Coding for Kids

Learning how to code has many benefits.  You can sign you child up for small online classes or choose one on one training.  Both of these class options involve live teaching. Kids will learn creative coding, game design, Minecraft modelling, Javascript and Python. All classes begin by kids learning the basics of easy block-based coding.

There are plenty of things that kids can do when they learn to code.  Some of these avenues can be explored while they are young and still in school.  Other areas may be developed in adulthood.  In either case, learning how to coding now is an excellent building block for any career choice, especially if their chosen path involved computers.  Here are 5 few things kids can do with coding knowledge;

1. Create an Online Game or Website

If you’re looking for something more than just a website, consider creating an online game or app. There are lots of free tools available to help with this process.

2. Build Apps for Android and iOS Devices

If you’d rather build an app instead of a website, there are plenty of options out there. One popular option is Appy Pie, which allows users to build mobile apps using drag and drop technology. Another option is PhoneGap, which lets developers use HTML5 and other web technologies to develop native mobile applications.

3. Learn Programming Languages

There are lots of different programming languages available, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. A good place to start would be to learn one language well enough so that you can understand how others work. Once you feel comfortable with one language, you can move onto another.

4.  Start a Blog

If you’re looking for ways to earn money online, starting a blog might be a good option. In fact, there are tons of free blogging platforms out there where you can set up an account and start writing right away.

5 Design Websites

There’s no shortage of things you can do with coding. Whether you’re interested in building websites, creating mobile apps, or developing games, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to learn how to code. And once you’ve mastered one language, you can move onto another.

Is Coding Right for Your Kids?

No one can argue that any type of computer skill will offer a valuable educational benefit as kids advance through their grades. If your child loves spending time online, whether gaming or on social media, coding for kids education is an easy way to transition from online play time towards online learning time. The latter of which can be equality as fun as kids learn.

If your child is a book warm and doesn’t like computers much, it will be more of a challenge to engage them in the subjects associated with technology. Whether it’s part of a school curriculum or home schooling, live coding classes or monthly subscription based courses offer a way for educators and parents to make a child’s introduction to coding fun.

Create your account with a Free Trial of codeSpark Academy –  the online game kids can learn to code while playing.  It’s screen time you can feel good about.

For 60% of Americans, the traditional education system is not up to snuff.  When asked why, students and parents alike couple grim statistics with their own personal experiences.  More than 6 million students are “chronically absent” from school in the US each year. Teenagers are 5 times more likely to suffer from a mental illness now than in prior generations.

Furthermore, a whopping 86% of high school students believe their schools value grades more than learning, as they say most students end up cheating at some point.  Radical change needs to happen in the school system.  And it has, just not for the reasons reformers expected.

In an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, millions of students tried out online learning for the first time in 2020.  As as pandemic progressed, schools of all types were going in and out of the virtual format in an ad hoc manner.  Despite the frustration caused by switching around, 57% of students feel more positively about online learning than they did prior to the pandemic.  Imagine what a planned, professionally designed virtual school environment can do for children.

Could virtual schools be the future of education?  For some students, yes.  Families all over the nation are turning to online education because it offers more flexible schedules, a safer environment, and more chances for family involvement in their child’s education.  Flexibility is a great thing for students because it allows them to be treated like individuals, something large school districts struggle to do.  Online school has lower incidences of bullying than in-person school does.  Furthermore, online school is time effective.  Online learning can cover the same material in 40% to 60% less time than traditional school formats.  A virtual student in school for the same amount of time could potentially learn twice as much.

Moreover, virtual school is a chance to design education for the 21st century.  Traditional school settings value compliance and uniformity while the modern workforce wants to see people exhibit innovation, creativity, and initiative.  Individuals who take more initiative in their own learning are more successful in our rapidly changing technological world.  Online school is a chance to create better learning formats, such as a project based curriculum with greater focus on the student’s goals and needs.  Traditional grading scales can be replaced with self-evaluation and more descriptive forms of teacher feedback.  New options arise thanks to online schooling.

What will life be like in the future?  Read about technology of the future.

For kids, games come in all shapes and sizes; from video games to board games, it’s easy to get lost in the world of play. And who can blame them? Kids are born with an innate sense of curiosity that makes them eager for new experiences and learning opportunities.

The younger generation is already ahead when it comes to technology; they’re familiar with smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc., because these devices are now part of their daily lives. Smartphones make access to information possible at any moment or place, but this also means kids (and adults) spend more time indoors than ever before.

Storytelling and Technology

Technology is meant to be used as a tool for work and entertainment, but too much screen time has the opposite effect – one becomes less motivated and less willing to explore the great outdoors. Besides, the internet is a massive source of information, so why even leave the house when you have Google at your fingertips?

There are lots of articles out there about how technology is ruining our kids’ creativity, but here’s an important aside: it’s not just the internet’s fault. The world needs creative individuals who are motivated to create and share their ideas with others. Perhaps one of the most important contributions you can make is ensure internet safety for your young one.

It’s for the concerns surrounding technology that makes storytelling so powerful; it activates imagination, helps children make sense of the world, and encourages them to seek out new experiences. Storytelling can never be fully replaced by technology because words can capture the most profound imaginations through sensory immersion. According to the reviews of profs, who know how to motivate students during distance learning, the younger generation may not be playing board games with actual cards or chess pieces to learn, but they’re still able to become engaged in interactive storytelling through apps.

Structured Play and Online Games

Since storytelling has an influence on social development, kids who play online games tend to have greater cognitive skills than those who don’t – gamers excel at strategic thinking, problem-solving, imagining alternative endings and other creative abilities that build after a child begins to construct a more thorough understanding of the world around them.

Unstructured play allows children to learn by exploring, and storytelling which is an effective window into this type of self-expression. It encourages kids to investigate their surroundings from a different perspective, often becoming motivated by the desire to live vicariously through their favorite characters. However, it’s important not to underestimate the value of educational content in online games for younger audiences; it provides information on subjects like having greater cognitive skills and math skills, science facts while promoting logical thinking and creative problem-solving.

While parents may cringe at some mobile games that don’t offer much educational value, there are many apps that provide a balance between fun and fundamental learning principles that help young children grow into well-rounded adults. Kids are born with a desire to explore the world, so it’s up to us as parents and educators to encourage this tendency through storytelling produced by professional content creators.

What Parents Should Know about Telling Stories

Kids love to be entertained, which is why they go crazy for TV shows and video games. They want their eyes and ears to be stimulated, and it’s up to parents and educators to choose content that matches with educational goals and fosters healthy habits. Kids shouldn’t spend all their time with technology; it needs to be used as a tool for learning, just like books or any other form of storytelling. There are many benefits of telling stories instead of simply reading to them, such as:

• Interactive dialogue encourages kids not only to listen but also to respond in some way: Words have the ability to capture imaginations, but kids also need a voice to make sense of their thoughts and emotions.

• Interactive dialogue encourages problem-solving: When characters come across an obstacle in a story, kids are motivated by the desire to help them succeed. This is how a child begins to learn problem-solving skills at a young age.

• Interactive dialogue motivates kids to explore worlds beyond this one: Being able to explore new environments through stories allows children’s imaginations to run wild. Their physical surroundings no longer limit them; they become more willing to leave the comfort of home because it means learning about something special or discovering something hidden from plain view.

Storytelling about the child’s ancestors can also be a great way to engage connect them with their own past as they learn where they came from.

How to Use Online Games with Kids for Storytelling

Making up stories allows kids to explore their own creativity while learning about the world around them. On top of that, creating content themselves helps children find better ways to express themselves; this is why apps which provide interactive platforms for young writers are so popular. There are many benefits to collaborative storytelling, such as:

• Kids get a chance to publicly show off their work. This motivates them to write and share their stories with others in a safe and encouraging environment.

• Kids learn the importance of sharing ideas while building relationships with peers who have similar interests. Collaborative storytelling can be an excellent way for children to learn social skills at a young age, especially if they’re struggling with understanding how interacting with other people works.

• Collaborative storytelling is less intimidating since it provides more of an opportunity for kids to express themselves creatively without pressure from outside sources. In this case, parents shouldn’t feel the need to step in every so often because there’s no expectation of high standards or serious criticism.

• Kids learn about story arcs and character development while encouraging one another’s work. They help each other grow, which is why collaborative storytelling has the power to transform little writers into powerful communicators as they mature.

When it comes to choosing storytelling devices that encourage young children to use their imaginations and follow their creative impulses, parents should focus more on building a safe environment. The environments should allow the kids to thrive instead of analyzing every single detail of what their child creates with the app.

Parents Can Be Kid Content Creators Too

Since storytelling is an important part of childhood development, parents should feel encouraged to create content that helps cultivate life skills and develop ideas about science and math. This isn’t just for entertainment; stories come with valuable lessons that teach children how the world works, like:

• The idea is that everything they do has an impact on others (and vice versa). Stories help kids understand how their actions affect other people’s lives; this is why young children are encouraged to share their work with each other instead of keeping it all to themselves.

• Every single person has their own perspective on the world around them. Every story teaches kids there are multiple ways of seeing things depending on who’s looking at the situation. This helps them establish empathy for others by understanding where they’re coming from and what they experience on a daily basis.

• Being able to think critically about what they see in stories builds problem-solving skills as well as analytical thinking. Kids can consider alternate scenarios and explore the many ways of seeing a story from unique angles.

Final Thoughts

Parents should encourage their children to be creative, but it’s also important for parents not to stifle their kids’ imaginations by constantly questioning them about what they’re writing or drawing. For example, don’t ask why a child drew a certain picture because you might get an answer that triggers more questions until the original purpose has been completely forgotten. Never criticize or give your opinion unless it’s absolutely necessary; simply say something like, “I’m happy to help if you need any ideas,” and let your child do all the thinking while guiding conversation where necessary.