HOME SCHOOLING
Once upon a time when home became school for a while …. As a primary school teacher, and mother of two under-fives, Zoë Kornfeld gives us some food for thought as our schools close for the foreseeable future. At the time of writing, it is less than 24 hours since the Prime Minister announced the closure of UK schools in response to the coronavirus. We all knew it was coming, but every parent and teacher took a unified deep breath as the confirmation came. As someone prone to overwhelming feelings of anxiety, I have to regularly remind myself that, yes, there are things out of my control, but reassuringly, there are always those that I can. As we have no choice to wait patiently for the finer details to be unpicked, I decided to think about some things that we do have control over during our time in isolation.
Of course, there’s no better time than now to shelve the notion that screen time hinders our children’s development. Yes, it’s all about balance, but with each passing hour, I’m discovering more and more fantastic online opportunities to connect, engage and inspire us during the coming months. Not only those gems traditionally only found in a teacher’s toolkit such a Twinkl, Oxford Owls, Purple Mash, White Rose, or Phonics Play, but the flood of creative ways that people are reaching out to our youngsters at this time. Book readings by famous authors, live theatre shows, online cookery classes, music tutorials, dance parties, tours of famous galleries, museums, zoos, as well as an amazing array of ways to stay fit and healthy from the comfort of your own home – online resources such as Go Noodle and Cosmic Kids yoga. The Body Coach has committed to free P.E. session every morning at 9pm. Failing that, put some music on and work up a sweat dancing to Baby Shark! What a great opportunity for the whole family to enjoy staying active together, which might be something you’ve not done before, but could signal a shift in the way you spend your time together. I expect that their usual social interactions with friends, playing together, parties, family gatherings might be one of the biggest challenges for our children who must be at home in isolation for a long periods of time. We must find new ways to celebrate and connect, perhaps using Zoom/Skype to sing songs with classmates, or posting pictures in our windows for our neighbours to enjoy. Supporting those we know well, and those we do not, but who we think might be feeling lonely, will be so, so important. At a time when it feels like our freedom is being taken away, many of us will be gifted the chance to create our own way of doing things, carve out our own rhythms, and try out new approaches to how we do things in our own little family bubbles. For some of us, this may look quite structured, but to others, it may present a welcome change of pace, and the opportunity to slow down and be less routined. Children feel safe with structure, but the ability to deviate from the lesson plan for the day
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