In non-COVID period, parents drop our kids off at school, leave them there for a stretch, then reconvene without a crystal clear accounting of every minute or activity. With remote learning, of course, it is all going down at your kitchen table or in your living room. It can be easy to hover.

But fight the urge to micromanage. Your child’s teacher is their teacher. Let them do their job. Fiske noted that when parents go into classrooms and volunteer during non-COVID times, their child’s behavior often changes. You have to give them space to be who they are without you around.

“Some parents are definitely sitting there, trying to make their kid pay attention the whole time,” she said. (Instead, here are some tips that can actually help.)

Of course, how hands-on you have to be depends a lot on your child’s age. A kindergartner may need someone there in a way a 5th grader doesn’t. He said it’s helpful to just ask your child’s teacher how hands-on they’d like you to be — so long as that teacher understands it may not happen, because you also have your own work to deal with, other children to watch, etc.