Now that most schools are doing their schools online, you need to coach your kids in their learning from home. Below are some suggestions that can help improve the learning attitude of children. Some of these are helpful even beyond the current situation.
Establish a routine for the child
Children of school age are naturally free-spirited. When in school, they have defined schedules. Toddlers have nap time, playtime, snack time. As they grow older, the time is scheduled according to their subjects. And they still have the break time to eat and to play. Now that they are being schooled at home, the need for a routine is greater because their learning environment is too casual.
Establishing a routine is easier for those homeschooling arrangements that still hold online classes daily as opposed to those that simply provide learning modules.
Set up a learning space for them. When they need to ‘be in school’ they have to go to the space to get the instructions from the teachers or go through their learning modules. When it’s their break time, they could freely go around the house, but they should keep their breaks strict.
Enroll them in music lessons
For their free time, encourage them to learn a musical instrument. Music, and making music is a good exercise for the brain. Coaxing a melody from an inanimate object requires good motor skills and focus. If your child is not into any instrument, you can also try voice lessons. What’s important is your child is exposed daily to music and its creation. This learning, however, should not be forced. But if the child will not feel the pressure to excel in this, they would be curious enough to take interest in music.
Have playtime learning
This is not the same as the free play you would allow your child to have. This is learning time still, but in a more fun way. There are now different educational toys available so it should not be difficult to find one. It could be a puzzle, clay dough, rubrics, anything that would challenge your child. It could also be fun home experiments. You would need to guide them with this, however, as it could get dangerous. Several online videos show scientific principles in-home experiments designed for children.
Kids yoga
Yoga not only helps strengthen your child’s body and train it for flexibility. It also is good training for the mind as it teaches your child to clear their minds and focus. Note however that your child shouldn’t be enrolled in an adult yoga session as there is extra care needed for children to eliminate risks of injury. Yoga, which is the alignment of the mind and body, will have a long-lasting effect on your child later in life. It will teach grounding, patience, and discipline.
Limit screen time
Limiting screen time right now may be tricky since most of the children’s learning modules would be given online. Still, try to limit your kid’s use of the computer or gadgets to only doing their schoolwork. Encourage the child to do some exercises with a pencil or pen and paper. The very least harmful effect of the backlight of these gadgets could affect your child’s brain, make it more active in the night, and could cause a lack of sleep and fatigue.
Accompaniment
It could be difficult learning without a teacher guiding the children at home. You can’t expect your children to understand the lessons on their own. Spend an hour or two augmenting whatever your child understands from the online lessons. Arrange schedules with your partner so that you aren’t too burdened. If you feel safe, you could hire home tuition online. There are tutorial centers as well that do home visits, but you will have to follow health safety precautions.
Family time and free time
Just like adults need to delineate work from personal time, kids also need to have a time when they wouldn’t think about schoolwork Free time would refer to the child’s playtime when he or she would be free to do anything. Family time could augment the child’s cravings to belong to a group which is what they satisfy with having friends in school. Assumel the role of their friends for now and bond with them. You could bake with your kids, watch a movie of them, read stories to them.
It’s challenging to have the study from home arrangement. The time you will have while your children are at school is gone, and you need to spend more time to guide their learning. Perhaps before you had been very occupied with your work, assured that you are already providing for them materially. Now is the time to actively take on the role of being a parent again.
