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Consider learning styles
Her son, who attends Montgomery County
Public Schools, is a kinesthetic learner,
she says, adding that he thrives academ-
ically while in an interactive learning
environment. After the quick transition
from in-person to Zoom instruction, he
struggled tremendously with his handwrit-
ing, spelling and writing.

To counter the shortcomings, Maier
learned to incorporate more hands-on activ-
ities for her son to take part in and stay
engaged. Baking, cooking and even making
ice cream are now interactive math, sci-
ence and reading comprehension lessons
for her son. Through these daily hands-on
learning activities, Maier is helping her son
strengthen his kinesthetic learning style
even when online classes can’t do the same.

Fellow MCPS parent Hava Anderson
says her 6-year-old daughter also struggled
with Zoom classes as a kinesthetic learner.

While Anderson’s 9-year-old son—a visual
learner—easily completed his daily online
lessons, her daughter found it difficult to sit
still for long hours.

The lack of incentives and fun activities
offered over Zoom were another setback for
Anderson’s daughter. For example, playing
with friends after completing classwork was
a small incentive that she no longer could
look forward to in the pandemic.

Now, to make her daughter’s online
learning both fun and engaging, Anderson
encourages her to recap her lessons by
teaching them to her family members.

“A lot of times after her math class, I’ll
have her be the teacher and she teaches me,”
Anderson says. “Or she’ll call her grandpa or
her grandma and she’ll teach them what she
learned, which she loves doing. That makes
it fun for her.”
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