Most parents are now doing home-schooling as a result of worldwide lockdowns and fears for safety. It may be your first time home-schooling, or you may have helped your children a lot prior to the lockdown. Some of you may even be teachers. However, theory and practice are very different things. Some children will listen to the teacher’s instructions but struggle to focus at home, frustrating the parents. Additionally, there is now a lot of screen time involved with the learning process, on top of children watching the television and using their devices in their free time. To help combat this, I’ve provided and updated list of tips to help parents on their home-schooling journey.
- Take a walk. Children, especially young children are used to playing in the playground, or school play area. Many of these have been sectioned off since the spread of COVID. Break up the day by going for a walk during lunch time or break times. This is extremely beneficial for mental health, breaks up the day, and gives the child some separation. Obviously take notice of your country’s social distancing policy when outside.
- Utilise resources you already have. While digital resources are great, children can learn so much from what is in the home. Baking ingredients can provide interesting science experiment opportunities. Art materials allow your child to be creative. Books can be dusted off to enhance literacy skills. I hope all children will have some reading material in their home, and let them chose the story to read to you. For older children, suggest they find a news article or podcast to tell you about.
- Let your child teach you. Without putting the child under to much pressure, allow your child to be the teacher. This is the “Flipped Classroom Approach” and allows learners the opportunity to have autonomy in their learning and demonstrate their knowledge. As families have to become flexible with home-schooling during these uncertain times, we can certainly be flexible in our approach.
- Discuss the world around you. Discuss with your child what you can see when you are in the car, in the shop, going for a walk etc. Talk about current affairs by showing them the newspaper or perhaps articles from the BBC (age appropriacy applies). If your child is taking general studies, this is a great way to discuss and raise awareness of various topics.
- Home theatre. For dramatic children, shy children and children with too much energy, task them with the opportunity to put on a play or do show and tell. Allow them time to prepare and help them to find props from around the home. Then assemble willing family members, or teddy bears to be the audience. You could even have relatives on zoom watch the performance to encourage your child and maintain social connections with friends and family.
I hope you found these tips useful. If you have any additional suggestions, please leave them in the comments below. Thank you for reading!
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