Lockdown Homeschooling Tips

We all thought that homeschooling was behind us as 2020 drew to a close - and yet we find ourselves in another lockdown, trying our best to support our children in learning from home.

This time around feels different for many of us - the colder, darker weather is not helping moods and many are both fed up and concerned about the current situation. Coronavirus has changed the way millions of us live, work and study, and we still don’t know how long this “new normal” will continue. Many people are finding home learning difficult. Here are a few tips to help:

Create a routine.

It sounds boring, but a daily routine similar to the normal school day can really help. If your child has online classes with teachers, this will help. It is also important to ensure they have a proper lunch break, rather than just sitting at their desk all day. By sticking to a routine you allow yourself and your child the predictability and comfort this provides.

Keep them reading.

Reading is not just about English lessons - you need good reading ability for science, maths, history, geography - and of course for life in general. Ensure your child is reading every day, and if possible make this a part of your daily routine so that it is predictable and they know ahead of time what is expected of them.

Avoid working in the bedroom.

Since your child is not now leaving the house to go to school, it’s important for them to have a space for themselves, to retreat to when the school day is done. This means not having “school” in their bedroom. Instead, set up a work space elsewhere in the house to allow them to have that distance between school work and home life.

Scale back if it’s not working.

This is an incredibly stressful time for all concerned. Don’t feel that you have to be a faultless teacher of maths, English, science and everything else. If you and/or your child are struggling, scale back to the basics and only do English and Maths. Mental health is the most important thing at this time, so don’t sacrifice that in the name of “keeping up.”