Thousands of schools across states have closed due to the coronavirus situation. Reopening schools will be an expensive and challenging task. And with the pandemic not showing signs of slowing down, it’s uncertain when kids can resume their classes.
Until the country finds a way to reopen schools safely, children continue to lose valuable learning time and vital social-emotional support.
While families are quarantined to their houses, parents are scrambling to figure out how to continue their children’s education at home.
Below are ways to make homeschooling fun and productive for your kids.
1. Plan and prioritize.
If teaching isn’t one of your skills, prioritize the core subjects instead of trying to tackle the entire curriculum. It includes math, science, writing and reading comprehension, and social studies.
Tackle the other subjects in creative ways if you don’t know how to teach them traditionally. You can watch educational but fun movies, videos, and documentaries, play game show-type quizzes, perform skits, and do other engaging activities.
If your child is taking up an extracurricular activity, such as karate or piano lessons, don’t forget to allocate time for this as well. There are a lot of piano teachers and martial arts instructors that offer online tutorials and coaching sessions.
2. Make use of online materials.
It’s difficult to teach a lesson you’re not familiar with. Luckily, there are plenty of resources online that can help you. Khan Academy, Udemy, and ReadWriteThink are some of the popular online education platforms for kids. These provide age-appropriate lessons with supplementary quizzes that your child can easily follow.
Using these online platforms means making use of tech devices. Be sure to accommodate different learning styles. Pay attention to your child’s studying habits. They may be more comfortable with using a tablet instead of a computer, or they may prefer taking notes with a pen and paper than using digital notes.
3. Establish a “school” schedule.
Set a schedule similar to what they have in school. This routine will help your child get into the right headspace for studying. If they’re used to tackling heavier subjects in the morning, then have the Math and Science lessons before lunch.
Be firm on break times to reinforce the value of learning time. Bedtime and waking time should also remain the same.
Allocate a specific space in the house for the “classroom.” Clear the area of potential distractions to help them focus. All the studying should occur here, so your child will immediately associate this space with learning, helping them get into the right mindset.
4. Be easy on your child and yourself.
Finally, be easy on your child. It’s easy for them to get discouraged and think that they can stop since it’s not a real school environment.
Don’t reprimand them for not quickly understanding a lesson, but be sure you’re keeping pace with the lesson plan. Praise them for their efforts and achievements, but be sure to point out where they went wrong to give them a chance to correct it.
And be easy on yourself. It is a stressful time for both you and your child. So, if you need to take an afternoon off, take the time to relax and bond with your kid without having to pass anything.
Remember that the most important thing right now is to keep your child safe, healthy, and happy. You’re doing your best, and that should be enough.
