With the country amid another lockdown, we are confident that parents up and down the country have once again stepped in to become part-time teachers and to support their children through this incredibly challenging time. For most, this is not a role that they are used to taking and have to work it around the busy working-from-home schedule. If you are in the position where you have to be part-parent, part-teacher for your child, look no further! To help those like you, we have created a list of tips and tricks to assist you in helping your child. Take five minutes to yourself to read through and go forward with confidence that what you are doing is making a difference!
Eliminating Potential Distractions
We are confident that even the most seasoned learners struggle with it from time to time, and it is certainly something that has become a bit more difficult while learning from home. Within the school learning environment, there are very few distractions in comparison to the home environment. To give your child the best chance at not getting distracted, you must ensure there is as little around them as possible that could do just that. By providing that your child has a suitable area in the home to attend their online classes, you enable them to do as best as possible. Whether you create them their own designated space or pull up a desk next to your own in your home office, the choice is entirely yours. Furthermore, there are restrictions available on specific devices that can mute any notifications and limit the amount of time spent on particular apps; great if you want to monitor whether they are doing their work and not spending all the time playing a game!
Making Learning More Enjoyable
It is no surprise that some children find school and learning boring and become less motivated to do what they are supposed to. While teachers have ways of handling this in the classroom, it can be difficult to enforce at home. However, there are ways that you can tackle this issue head-on, including the notion of making learning more fun, and particularly, for those younger students, making it into a game. There are various tools out there that do just that and cover a wide variety of subjects, including that of Mysterious Mail. Providing gifts for 7-year-old boys and more, their immersive postal games make learning about history much more exciting and not screen-oriented; important in this current time when our lives seem to revolve entirely around technology. To find out more about purchasing one of these mystery games or browse the selection of personalised gifts for kids, head to their website for more. By incorporating things like this into your child’s day, you are sure to keep them focused and engaged in their schoolwork.
Rewarding Good Work and Enforcing Regular Breaks
Generally speaking, students worldwide are praised and commended when they do good work and achieve excellent results. Whether this is an award during a school assembly or receiving another gold star on their chart, these types of rewards encourage more hard work and keep students motivated to do well in their work. This type of rewards system should be present during home-schooling, too, especially as this is a difficult and challenging time for students, and motivation/productivity levels are sure to be low. By rewarding your child for their excellent work, you reinforce the habits that they would have in school and help them feel as normal as possible when things are far from ordinary.
What’s more, just like you need to take regular breaks from work to keep your productivity levels high, the same can be said for students and children. Within the school environment, they are provided with numerous short breaks, which should be continued while at home. Enforcing regular breaks for a drink of water, a short walk or stretch, and some down-time away from the screens and books will ensure that your child does not become overwhelmed with their tasks.
Maintaining Communication Levels
Communication is vital in all aspects of life and is extremely important in this isolating time we are experiencing as of late. Maintaining contact with other families – of which your child is friends with their child – ensures that there is some level of normality. What’s more, social interactions and communication are crucial for certain development levels in younger children; ensuring that they are still receiving adequate communication throughout their time at home is essential to enhancing and developing these skills. Encouraging your child to express their emotions during this time is also necessary. For some, this will be stressful and upsetting; encouraging them to talk about their feelings or even draw them as a picture will open up a conversation about the importance of maintaining good mental health and wellness and alleviating any of these negative emotions they might be experiencing.
Using Available Help and Resources
There will undoubtedly be some parents out there who have no available time to help with their child’s learning, and we are confident that there will be many of you out there who doubt your abilities if you can help with online school. If you are finding yourself in this position or discovering that your child requires a little extra help and guidance, don’t be afraid to reach out to your child’s teacher or use the services of a personal tutor. There are several tutoring services available, with many turning to the online world throughout lockdown, to continue providing these vital services to those who need them.
Finally, when wanting to help your child learn through this challenging time period, you will need to ensure that you are continually patient. This is a stressful time for you itself, and you can comprehend precisely what is going on. This is a confusing and upsetting time for a child who is still in the critical development stages. By attempting to create some sort of routine and normality for them, you will contribute to their education and learning abilities while enabling them to feel as calm as possible.
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