The Role of a Learning Coach for Online Students
What does a Learning Coach do?
With K12-powered personalized learning, you play an active and important role in your child’s education. As your child's Learning Coach, you'll:
- Provide academic support, motivation, and guidance throughout the school year
- Ensure your child is on track with assignments and coursework
- Communicate with teachers
- Report daily attendance if required by your school
If you or your child's legal guardian are unable to fill this role, you can choose a family member, friend, or another trusted adult to be the Learning Coach.
Learning Coach Support
Being a Learning Coach means you’re empowered to help your student achieve their academic goals, and K12 and your school will provide you with the resources to be successful. Supports include:
Tools in the Online School and K12 app
Lesson guides
Videos
Opportunities to connect with other parents
Specially designed programming and resources
For Learning Coaches of students with exceptional needs, your child’s IEP team will be there to help.
Learning Coach Involvement—What to Expect
The daily type of engagement and time commitment of a Learning Coach can vary. However, Learning Coaches for students of all grade levels share in the following responsibilities:
Ensure students attend live classes and complete work within the Online School (OLS)
Follow attendance policies and communicate directly with teachers and staff as needed
Build in healthy breaks throughout the day and identify ways for students to be social outside of the school experience
For additional, grade level-specific Learning Coach responsibilities, click on the grade level you’d like to know more about.
Grades K–2
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Spend 4 to 6 hours per day working with your student—at this early stage, it is important to be very hands-on and available |
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Help your young learner understand what to do each day and how to do it |
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Lead offline activities and help your child develop foundational reading and writing skills |
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Make sure your student attends all required Class Connect sessions |
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Gather and organize course materials as needed |
Grades 3–5
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Spend 4 to 6 hours per day working with your student |
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Be actively engaged and available throughout most of the school day |
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Lead offline activities and help your learner develop foundational reading and writing skills |
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Make sure your child attends all required Class Connect sessions |
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Keep your student motivated and on track, teaching them to manage their time and helping them become an independent learner |
Grades 6–8
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Spend 1 to 3 hours per day working with your student |
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Guide and support your child to help them become a more independent learner |
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Keep your learner motivated and on track, helping them redirect when they become distracted |
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Make sure your child attends all required Class Connect sessions |
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Work with your student to develop time-management skills |
Grades 9–12
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Spend 1 to 3 hours per day working with your student |
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Be available to guide and support your child throughout the week as they become an independent learner |
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Keep your learner motivated and on track, helping them redirect when they become distracted |
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Make sure your student attends all required Class Connect sessions |
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Work with your teen to develop time-management skills |
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Support your student in reaching the important milestone of graduating from high school |
Hear from K12-Powered Learning Coaches
To help support students participating in Stride Career Prep programming, view our Career Prep Learning Coach resources.
Socialization
What will the social side of online school look like? Hear from these K12-powered Learning Coaches about how they managed their child's social development.
Managing the Everyday
How do Learning Coaches get it all done? Listen to these stories from K12-powered Learning Coaches for practical tips and encouragement.
Helping Students Become Independent Learners
One benefit of online learning is the opportunity for your child to begin taking responsibility for their education early. Here are some insights and tips from Learning Coaches who have helped their children become more independent learners.
