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Here are some ways you can help your student(s) prepare to do school from home:
Set up a consistent daily schedule. Routine helps children focus for learning. Have your children get up and go to bed at a consistent time each day, and have a schedule for daily activities. This will include the daily learning schedule sent to you by your classroom teacher. This also includes routines like dressing for the day (no pajamas all day!) that help students transition into "learning mode," "playing mode," or "resting mode." The more children stick to a schedule, the more secure they feel.
Create designated "learning spaces" in your home. Find spaces in your home that can be set aside for specific activities. An example could be a desk or a table that is specifically for school work. A corner of a room could become an arts and crafts station. Children will respond to these spatial cues and become used to the routine of doing certain activities in certain places in the home. Prepare a small basket or plastic box with pens, pencils, crayons, erasers, scissors and glue.
Involve everyone in the house. Some of us may still required to go to work each day due to the nature of the jobs we do. Involve other people in your house (the house helpers, nannies, older siblings, grandparents for example) in your child's learning. Inform them about your schedule for your student and about the daily learning plan from Discovery. If your student is doing online work, let everyone in your house know which websites are appropriate and how much time the child should spend on the digital device. Many of the activities, that will be set for your child, can be explained in any language. Confidence, and character development, underpins all learning; this can be developed in any language and supported by any trusted, caring and responsive adult in the household. Older siblings can play a role in this too.
Plan a specific start date (launch) for at-home learning: Share with children (and key adults) about the new stage in their learning journey that they are embarking on and discuss how best to make it work. Over the weekend, or in the evenings, hold a briefing meeting where you go over the learning plan and how it will work in your home.
Explain the situation as clearly as you can to your children. Take time to explain to your children why they are staying at home and why staying at home is important for helping them stay safe. The more they know about the situation, the more secure they will feel. It may seem challenging to share, but it will help them!
If you feel stuck, look it up! If you feel like you are at a loss for what to do with your children, don't hesitate to look up information on the internet to help you. It is likely that someone else had the same feelings as you and found a solution with their children. Of course, be careful when you look up parenting advice/information to check the source of the information, but there is a vast ocean of helpful information available to you as a parent.
Physical activity and movement are critical for success during this season - children's bodies and brains need daily physical activity. Click here for videos and ideas
Make memories and have fun as a family! The bright side of this situation is that children get some more time to connect with their parents. Even as you work from home, it is wise to be intentional about family fun and connection during such an unprecedented and potentially stressful time. Children may also experience ripple effects of family stress and anxiety. Beyond that, children need our connection and friendship every single day.
If children are stressed and defiant, and things seem to be going wrong, this may be inevitable in this period that we're going through. We encourage parents to remember that it is just as hard for the children to be confined as it is for us as adults. Reflect on your child's actions and dispositions and respond appropriately. Sometimes turning off all stimuli and focusing face to face quality time allows adults to be more attuned to the needs of children. Limits and boundaries and consequences are a part of life, however children respond best when we are attuned to their needs and meet them. Tantrums and meltdowns will happen, especially when on lock down. Read the letter below for more inspiration.
More on how to build structure in your home - click here
Dear parents with school-aged children,
You might be inclined to create a minute by minute schedule for your kids. You have high hopes of hours of learning, including online activities, science experiments, and book reports. You’ll limit technology until everything is done! But here’s the thing...
Our kids are just as scared as we are right now. Our kids not only can hear everything that is going on around them, but they feel our constant tension and anxiety. They have never experienced anything like this before. Although the idea of being off of school for weeks sounds awesome, they are probably picturing a fun time like holidays, not the reality of being trapped at home and not seeing their friends.
Over the coming weeks, you will see an increase in behavior issues with your kids. Whether it’s anxiety, or anger, or protest that they can’t do things normally - it will happen. You’ll see more meltdowns, tantrums, and defiant behavior in the coming weeks. This is normal and expected under these circumstances.
What kids need right now is to feel comforted and loved. To feel like it’s all going to be ok. And that might mean that you tear up your perfect schedule and love on your kids a bit more. Play outside and go on walks. Bake cookies and paint pictures. Play board games and watch movies. Do a science experiment together or find virtual field trips of the zoo. Start a book and read together as a family. Snuggle under warm blankets and do nothing.
Don’t worry about them regressing in school. Every single kid is in this boat and they all will be ok. When we are back in the classroom, we will of course correct and meet them where they are. Teachers are experts at this! Don’t pick fights with your kids because they don’t want to do math. Don’t scream at your kids for not following the schedule. Don’t mandate 2 hours of learning time if they are resisting it.
At the end of all of this, your kids’ mental health will be more important than their academic skills. And how they felt during this time will stay with them long after the memory of what they did during those 4 weeks is long gone. So keep that in mind, every single day.
Stay safe.
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