HOUSTON – Like parents everywhere, Henrich and Ericka Perez want their two children, 13-year-old Brian and 16-year-old Abby, to thrive in school.

But with the deadly coronavirus shutting down schools all over the country, the only way they will be able to learn for the next few weeks is through “distance learning.”

Monday, Houston Independent School District launched its own at-home-learning program called H.O.M.E., which stands for home-based, ongoing, mobile, education.

When Henrich and his wife logged onto the site for the first time, they say they were lost.

“I’m confused. I am really confused. I don’t know how to use this," Ericka said.

“We as parents, I feel like we need to get more information, some help in using this website for our children. I feel like they need to create some video training for us so we will know how to use this program," Henrich said.

Starting Monday, HISD students can log on and interact with digital resources. On March 30, specific curriculum-based lessons and activities will go live. Webinars will be held to assist parents with accessing these digital instruction materials. The webinars will be scheduled later in the week.

HISD also says teachers will be contacting parents and students via email to notify them where and how to access their lesson plans online.

Before the cirriculum-based lessons and activities go live next week, HISD suggests parents:

Create a schedule for the day. Providing students with a structured environment will help establish a sense of normalcy and set clear expectations for the day.

Diversify activities throughout the day.

Include free time in their schedule.

Limit long periods of unnecessary screen time.

You can check out HISD’s H.O.M.E. distance learning plan here.