Remote Learning

The impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to be felt in our everyday life. When it comes to parenting, the last few weeks may have been challenging. Some things are continuing as normal and some things are new to us.

In the event of school closure and remote learning, it is worth considering what this will mean for you and your family.

Normalise Anxiety

Validate your child’s stressful emotions. There are many “normal” emotional responses to a crisis, including fear, confusion, anger, guilt and sorrow. Children may feel these at different times, and that’s okay. Remind them that others, including their teachers and parents, may be feeling some of that. It’s a good time for self-compassion and compassion for others - a lesson that will hopefully stick with them long after this particular crisis has passed. Remind your children that it is important and valuable for them to talk about how they are feeling. Try to respond to your child’s fears with understanding and respect.

Manage Your Own Anxiety

Be mindful that you are the role model to your children. The way you react to uncertainty will shape your child’s response. If you manage to keep calm and realistic, this will directly influence your child’s level of anxiety and stress. Afterall, children learn how to respond to situations from their direct environment. Be aware of your own emotions. If you experience excessive worry about COVID-19, it might be better for another adult to talk to your children about this topic.

Offer Perspective

A commitment by the College has been made to take a measured approach in response to COVID-19. Parents can support the College’s efforts by promoting a calm and realistic perspective. Let’s remind ourselves and our children that:

• “Right now, the health risk is very low for most people.”
• “We help the community by staying at home to protect vulnerable people, e.g. the elderly or sick”
• “We can stay healthy by washing our hands regularly”
• Responding to your child’s questions about people wearing face masks: “Because they feel it’s their best way to stay healthy, and every family has different strategies. That’s why we are doing a great job washing our hands.’”

If your children are unconcerned, respect that indifference and update them as you feel necessary. Let your children know that if they have any questions or want to talk about it again, they’re welcome to come to you.

Encourage mindful media consumption

The news updates and social media feeds can have an impact on our mental health and the anxiety levels of our children - especially with fake news and fear provoking headlines. Be mindful when you or your child’s media consumption is becoming more than just “being informed”. It is important to consider context and educate yourself and your children about COVID-19 from reliable sources e.g. https://www.health.gov.au/

Encourage Distraction

Try to see and highlight the positive aspects of this special time. Make a to-do list of all the things you and your children can or want to do together. When was the last time the whole family got together for a movie night, indoor picnic or board game evening? When was the last time anyone in the house did a jigsaw puzzle? This period in time might be a chance to create new family rituals that will continue once the pandemic passes. See this as an opportunity for the whole family to spend quality time together and reconnect in our normally fast paced lives.

Managing a Home-Schooling Environment

Please be reassured that the College has made significant effort in preparing remote learning for our students. We understand that this situation is new to all of us and it will change the daily routine. Everyone is at home for an unspecified period of time without the structure of the school day and various afterschool activities. This can be daunting for parents and you might feel overwhelmed by the thought of it. You won’t be alone!

Beyond the timetabled experience of online school each day, it is worth discussing as a family how you will approach the following:

Structure and Limits

Routines provide structure and a sense of safety, which helps our students to be ready to learn and take intellectual risks. Try to maintain your child’s standard school sleeping schedule by enforcing a regular bed and wake up time. Simple things like getting dressed in regular school clothes instead of lounging around in pyjamas can help to normalize a non-normal situation.

Overall screen time

Online learning and recreational screen time add up to a lot of hours in front of the screen! Binging on Netflix may seem like fun at first. However, agreeing on a certain amount of recreational screen time per day helps to avoid arguments, when you try to limit your child’s technology use. A break from social media doesn’t hurt anyone!

Think about off-line activities to entertain your children. Get your children on board when brainstorming and planning out those activities.

Involving the family in household duties

When children and parents are at home for extended periods of time, more housework accumulates. Some families already share the responsibility, but it is always worth having a conversation about potentially resetting some well-established habits. Sharing chores helps to keep children busy and reduces your own workload.

Let’s put this into action

Over dinner tonight talk with your family about the points above and review what you as a family find worrying about this situation, what might be exciting and what the family may need in order to feel prepared. Write down some commitments about how you hope to support each other. Review the steps each family member will take during a time of self-isolation and school closure.

Above all else be kind to yourself and those around you.

Helpful Links

Indoor Family Fun Cardio Workout : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5if4cjO5nxo