The last thing I expected when the coronavirus pandemic hit was being tasked with helping my 12-year-old sister with her homework—from 3,000 miles away—but here I am.

As the daughter of immigrant parents whose first language isn’t English, my sister doesn’t have anyone in her household to help her with homework. That’s where I come in.

With limited access to her teacher, we’ve had to make do with scant resources. Her online workbook is riddled with mistakes, and I’m not always available to help when she needs me to (nor do I always know how). I’m trying, but I still wonder, am I doing enough?

I reached out to Elizabeth Greer, assistant professor in residence of English language learning at UNLV, for advice on how to help with a sibling/child/grandchild/etc., attempting to learn from home.

“Parents shouldn’t necessarily feel like they should be an expert,” Greer says. For little ones, she suggests focusing on problem-solving and autonomy. Asking “Can we Google this?” can be a good first step.

Greer says reaching out directly to students’ teachers can also be beneficial. “If schools can be up-front about [their expectations], that makes it even more clear to parents what types of efforts they should be focusing on at home.”

And Greer emphasizes the importance of recognizing each individual student’s learning environment and emotional and mental well-being.

“We know that this experience is having intense repercussions on how children are developing—as children and as students,” Greer says. “Educators need to be mindful of that and how that’s affecting people in such a short and abrupt time.”