Managing the Remote

Managing the Remote Learning Challenge

Bell avista School has solu tions remo for paren te school ts battl ing . ing the ch allenges of in the house free from distractions like the TV, with good light and fresh air, and it should be reserved for homework. If you can set this up alongside your own workspace, so much the better – this will allow you to check in on how your child is progressing from time to time. • Make use of the online resources at your disposal. After all, you’re not a teacher and don’t, therefore, have the requisite skills. Luckily for you, the people who do are just a phone call away – most teachers have made themselves available via Zoom or WhatsApp. And if they haven’t, a YouTube tutorial is just a click away. T he number of memes joking about parents’ new-found appreciation for teach• Accept that some rules may have to be relaxed. This isn’t the time to be draconian about screen time, for example – when ers disguises a real truth: already facing you’re doing your best to juggle your own the challenge of their own anxieties in the work responsibilities with housework and wake of the coronavirus crisis, many mothhomework, a little extra time on a device ers and fathers are battling with the juggle may give you an extra hour. What you can between maintaining their own deadlines do, though, is make your children ‘earn’ and ensuring their children don’t fall behind those hours; for example, by completing with schoolwork. Bellavista School’s team chores or an hour of schooling. And, as of psychologists, therapists and teachers always, make sure that the platforms your offer this expert advice to help you stay on children are accessing are appropriate. track. • Address anxiety. You can be sure that • Keep a routine as far as possible. We your children have picked up on the stress often undervalue the structure and calm you’re experiencing, but try to minimise that routine brings our lives – so, tempting this by limiting their exposure to TV and though it may be to sleep in, you’ll all feel social media content they won’t underfar less anxious if you set a regular wakeup stand. Encourage them to voice their contime, shower, dress and brush teeth. cerns so that you can talk through them, Children thrive on routine, and with all the and be open and honest about what’s uncertainty and anxiety that surrounds us happening, but keep these explanations at the moment, all the more reason to keep age appropriate. a routine. Bellavista School is a private remedial school in Johannesburg. • Create a conducive workspace for your For more information and to access support tools, visit www. child. Ideally, this should be in a quiet space bellavistashare.org.za.