Looking at the world with everything going on around us can be quite scary. If you were to add working from home (and actually being productive doing so!) and looking after/home schooling primary aged children who aren’t at school, well you’re probably going to be even more stressed. I’m sure everyone loves spending time with their children, but we aren’t currently taking a holiday. Looking after children whilst trying to work is no easy task. Children still need to be learning and home-schooled. Of course waking up and having a cuddle on the sofa in the morning as per your normal routine is important and very much needed, but then the working day needs to be started.
There are hundreds of resources online for children to be educated from home. Most schools will have given parents a home learning pack, if they were prepared, full of worksheets and a list of online websites. The first thing parents should do is check the school website.
If you’re wanting to keep your child engaged in an activity for longer than 5 minutes, I would recommend making sure it is something that they are interested in. Don’t just find the first website or TV programme and sit your child down and expect them to enjoy learning from it. Spend a little time with them first and do a learning activity together. Afterwards try to slowly walk away. Especially with smaller children, they can become needy and want you to be there watching them. Try making things together such as playdough or construction before stepping away and leaving them to play alone for a while, whilst you sit in close proximity getting your work done. Children love these types of activities and they promote a whole range of learning and skill development. There are free downloadable learning resource packs full of ideas available here at tts-group.co.uk.
Author: Shannon Loder (Teacher)
