The pandemic has resulted in the ceased activity of schools and has coerced us to stay indoors. With schools being closed, most children are left with an academic deficit and may fall behind when classes are back in session. Parents can prevent this by preparing their children with scheduled homeschooling, but it may be a challenge for some, as many parents are required to work their jobs from home. Parents might feel overwhelming pressure to ensure their children stays on the academic track, but with this timeline that we’ve carefully crafted, homeschooling your children during the lockdown period will be a walk in the park.
Study on your children’s syllabus and be prepared to answer questions
Parents need to study up on their children’s syllabus and learning materials. As your children look to you for reliable information, it is crucial that you are prepared and well equipped with the knowledge to answer your children’s queries accurately. The last thing you want is for your children to think that you are incapable of understanding the syllabus made for children. It’s key to remember that your child looks up to you as a role model, and the image you portray will affect the way your child perceives the world around him. By doing this, you are expressing your interest in your children’s activities, and that would motivate them to push further. Parents can use the thousands of YouTube videos that are readily available as a reference should they require it.
Prepare a study area
Establishing a study area is proven to be highly beneficial for productivity. A living room with a Television, kitchen with snacks and beverages, are distractions to children; it can be counter-productive to make them study in these environments. Rather than having your child study in the living room or the dining table, an adequate space allocated with study materials and powerful motivational quotes, away from distractions, will instil the idea that the study room is a place for productivity in the mind of little ones. Parents must not use the same learning space, in any case, to punish their children; the goal is to encourage young children to believe that a study area is a fun and comfortable place rather than a place of punishment.
Structure a timetable
Scheduling a timetable with a routine is vital to meet educational goals. Planning according to the school’s syllabus and where they’ve left off in school or preschool will help your child quickly draw levels with the continued program when schools have reopened. By structuring a timetable, it will not only help the child be organized, but timetables also assist parents in understanding the academic structure. Schedule break-times into the timetable as they may need some time to process all they’ve learned and wind down. The schedule that you create should be in line with their schools so they can easily adapt when the quarantine period is over.
Prepare the necessary equipment
In most countries, schools are implementing e-learning during the quarantine. With that said, your child will require a suitable electronic device to uptake their daily lessons. It would be challenging for a child to maintain focus while holding their phones up to their face for a video conference with teachers. An Ipad, tablet or a laptop would be more suitable for the task, but do make sure to turn off any application notification to minimize the distractions and heighten the child’s learning experience. Most people would not have an extra laptop or tablet lying around, but it is a good investment to consider. There are numerous used laptops in the market for affordable prices. Children do not require computers with high specifications; thus, any working device will do.
Encourage self-learning (promotes independence), but be ready to assist your children
Homeschooling can train your children to be independent, as it requires some amount of self-learning. Parents should encourage self-learning for their children, allowing them to experiment and find solutions to their academic obstacles. With that said, parents should always be available to assist their children and provide suggestions in finding solutions rather than just giving them the answers. By doing so, you will be able to equip your children with essential life skills such as decision-making skills, problem-solving skills, critical thinking, resilience, and more. When your children approach you with something that they are not able to understand, monitor their work and make sure they have given it a fair amount of effort before providing them with any suggestions and assistance. Be careful not to offer advice that is too obvious; the goal ultimately is for the child to make sense of the solutions in his head.
Set goals and rewards
Be sure that your child proceeds at their own pace; however, it is essential to know what they need to accomplish before they return to school. The goals that should be set are daily or short term goals and long term goals, consider putting up a chart to track your child’s development. Children need some extra motivation or rewards when they have achieved said goals; here are some reward tracking systems that can be incorporated into homeschooling your child. Reward them with stickers, and if they have collected enough stickers from completing their goals, they are allowed a redemption such as getting to bake their favourite treats or receiving hugs for each redemption. The rewards should not be materialistic as it can pave a pathway to materialism when they get older. They will associate achieving goals with receiving something monetary or materialistic rather than embracing the journey.
Homeschooling is a viable option to keep children prepared for when school opens and to ensure they do not fall behind academically. Schools are expected to be closed for an extended period after the quarantine; it is crucial to start home-based educational learning for children as soon as possible. Homeschooling is a collective effort between parents and their children. Responsibility and commitment are very much needed in the process of homeschooling. Parents have to ensure that their children are intellectually equipped during these trying times.