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A healthy approach to

approach to Home- Schooling A Healthy Twelve Tips for learning at home Let’s look at some healthy ways to make home-schooling fun for everyone…

These our our tried and tested tips

Make space for learning Create a comfortable and quiet space dedicated to learning. This will ideally be a different set-up to where your children normally play games or watch TV.

Try to keep distractions to a minimum. Music is great for breaks, and telly for the time after work is done. Phones, apps and messaging features can be helpful but overall a quiet environment is best for learning.

Follow a routine Not going to school might feel like holidays and sleeping in and spending all day in pjs is tempting. But children need normality and structure so keeping a routine makes home-schooling easier. Save the pjs for the weekend and get up and dressed for the first session in the morning.

Schedule a regular study time. Some kids work best with a detailed timetable (and a timer), others prefer following their own pace.

Help them make a plan Good planning can relieve stress for both children and parents. Break up the work together into manageable chunks, write a schedule for every day or the week if the teachers do not provide one in a form that suits your child.

Help your child prioritise and agree on targets, tasks and timelines.

Don’t overdo it Psychologists warn that parents juggling home-schooling with their own workcommitments tend to force children to study too much. Especially as children in the primary grades differ in their learning levels and attention span. Experts recommend around two hours of learning in total a day for younger kids (reception to year 2). Older kids (year 3 through year 6) would be able to do more: about three to four hours. This should include arts and crafts, and hands-on activities.

Keep in mind that learning should be fun – so playing, baking, cooking, painting, gardening and other hands-on activities help to keep up the mood.

Endorse regular breaks Make sure your kids take plenty of breaks in order to get physical activity and time away from screens and books. Set alarms similar to those they would encounter at school or whenever they need a break and encourage them to get up, get some fresh air, play music or have a snack so that they are not tied to their chairs for the entire day.

Active breaks – such as dancing to music, kicking a ball, follow a PE or yoga video (in our house a juggling challenge and the skipping rope have been a hit), offer children a chance to reset. Find out what works for your child.

Online schooling already increases your child’s time with their devices, so keep additional use of screens to a minimum

Don’t forget the (brain) food This might seem like a no-brainer, but hard-working brains need food. Stick to regular mealtimes, especially breakfast and lunch and have some snacks ready before sugar levels (and the mood) drop. Healthy snacks like nuts, fruit, cereals or sandwiches would be ideal but chocolate and cookies can come in for survival.

Limit screen time Studies show that too much screen time has negative effects on physical and mental health and disrupts sleep patterns. The shift to online schooling already increases your child’s time with their devices. So keep additional use of screens to a minimum. (If possible, get textbooks from school as well as other printed materials to offset the amount of online learning the kids will be doing.)

Read books and listen to audios The best way to stimulate your child’s learning is to encourage reading every day. Whether it’s reading by themselves, to a parent, a sibling or the family pet, any reading counts.

Listening to audio-books or radio-plays is also a great way to stimulate a healthy imagination and avoid the kids staring at screens for hours on end. Let them play Play is the most underestimated way of learning. Open free play, role play or good old board games help promote cognitive, language, physical, social, and emotional development. This gives children a place and a time for learning that cannot be achieved through completing worksheets. Make sure they have as much time to play as possible during the day.

hard-working brains need healthy food

Get out and about (where possible) Make the most of any outdoor space. A little further afield now that restrictions are being relaxed, or closer to home. Being outside develops children´s appreciation of the world around them and increases their sensory skills. Maybe you could learn all about the plants and trees near your house, or walk, run, skate, cycle and just enjoy nature and fresh air. Prioritise your child’s wellbeing Great learning only happens when children feel safe and secure. Provide your children with reassurance and love. Interact with them while studying so that they won’t feel isolated.

Bond with your child and enjoy the extra time together. Snuggle up on the sofa and chill – and provide loads of hugs and cuddles!

Let your child get bored There is an overwhelming number of tips out how to home-school and entertain our children in order not to get bored. But periods of boredom are not necessarily bad, most children will find ways to entertain themselves. Allowing the mind time to wander rather than being focused on activities is also important for mental health. Having time to just “be” gives children the opportunity to think their own thoughts. It will build their sense of discovery, curiosity and creativity and help them explore what brings them joy.

Author: Katleen Decker

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