February 05, 2021

Tips for Home Schooling

With the festive period over and the news that we will be home for a little while longer home schooling our kids, the January blues may now feel heavier than ever. So, we have put together five tips on how to wear all the hats, and help you manage Mum and teacher all the while WFH. Remember, this won’t last forever, and if 2020 taught us anything it is that we are above all adaptable beings. Which leads us nicely into our first tip…

Stay Positive.

Understandably, you may struggle to navigate some days, so take comfort in knowing you’re not alone. But negativity and stress only breeds the same and that can leave you and your child exhausted and fed up. If as adults, we are finding lockdown tricky, then it’s not hard to see why this might be tough on our little ones too. You will have good days, when the kids are attentive and eager and others where it won’t be so easy, and they will miraculously spill every drink you put in front of them for no reason. But keep at the front of your mind that each day is a new one, and don’t put too much pressure on yourself and your little family. As a pressurised environment isn’t an easy one to teach in let alone learn.

Establish Routines.

We are creatures of habit, and a large part of why we may have been susceptible to anxiety over lockdown is lack of routine and unpredictability. We take comfort in knowing what our day can hold while allows a certain amount of control which we all need to be proactive and achieve the best results for ourselves and our kids. Help yourself while helping your family by creating smaller achievable goals throughout the day with the help of a routine. Remember to build in downtime, playtime and be flexible.

Find an example of how to build your own schedule below:

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Short bursts early in the day.

Teaching is most definitely a skill, and not one we all possess. But research has shown short 15 minute lessons broken up in the earlier part of the day are the best format to aid concentration. Build in time for fresh air, as little as ten minutes does the world of good. The further into the afternoon you get, concentration wains. So interactive play and educational tv learning (Ofstead can’t say anything) are best suited to this time of day.

Create a space for learning.

Your child will often associate their bedroom with sleeping and play, so either create a dedicated desk space in their room or bring them down to the living space / kitchen with you. They will be easier to keep an eye on, and if like most the apples of your tired eyes they have three hundred questions a minute, you want to be close enough to supervise and help them through.
1. Make the most of resources.
  
  The fundamental thing to remember is that you are not a teacher. Unless you are, in which case… nevermind. SO. Use the plethora of online resources available to you to keep it interesting. While your child’s school will hopefully provide a guideline to your child’s learning while at home, there may be times where you need to have something to hand to fill in some time. So try and have a back up in case you’re in the middle of your own demands from WFH. Take a look on the BBC BITESIZE resource list below for some ideas:
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