The closure of all schools in the UK earlier this month has meant parents have had to take it upon themselves to not only provide childcare for their youngsters, but also assist in their learning as well.
This is not an easy task for many mums and dads, especially if they have their own work schedule to juggle or they do not feel equipped to teach their youngsters things they might not fully understand themselves.
Here are some tips on how parents can get through this tricky time and make homeschooling that bit easier.
Print workbooks
Most schools have responded to the crisis quickly and set up ways to communicate and send work back to their students. In the majority of cases, this involves setting work online for children to complete at home.
However, while this is good at providing assignments appropriate to their age and ability, it does mean mums and dads are left printing lots of activity sheets on their home printer on a daily basis.
A solution to this could be to wait for the work to build up and send them for professional booklet printing instead. This would enable their children to work from the book without having to deal with lots of loose pieces of paper, and would save parents a lot of time, energy and ink printing every evening.
It also means all the children’s work can be kept in the right place, so teachers can have a look it quickly and easily when they do finally return to school.
Use free online sources
Due to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, a lot of online resources that normally charge for their service have allowed members of the public to access them for free.
This means parents can find activities, games and ideas to keep their children educated and stimulated without having to rack their brains.
In addition to online resources, parents can access plenty of videos on You Tube, including Horrible Histories, Blue Planet, PE with Joe Wicks, National Geographic Kids, and Science with Maddie to keep them interested in other school subjects.
Children’s book author David Walliams has also introduced his Elevenses, a free audio story every day for a month, while several museums are offering online virtual tours so students can learn about their different exhibits.
Outdoor learning
It is important that children get enough time to play outside. They will be missing out on the school run and breaktime in the playground, so make sure they are given enough opportunity to go for a walk or play in the garden.
Outdoor learning could also be a good option, as it gets children out of the house, allows them to get fresh air, and they are able to learn something new in an interactive and fun way.
Create a routine
Perhaps the most important thing about starting to homeschool is establishing a routine. This doesn’t have to be the same as they would have at school, but it is good for them to get used to having breaks, lunch, exercise and ‘classes’ at the same time every day.
Work out how this would fit in with your own schedule, particularly if you have to juggle work as well, so you do not feel as though you are chasing your tail, and do not forget to give them enough play time to recharge their batteries. Keeping lessons short to just 30 minutes is also a good idea to prevent boredom setting in.
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