Five Useful Homeschool Tips During The COVID-19 Pandemic

As the outbreak of coronavirus shuts down our country’s schools, parents across the UK are scrambling to find any resources and help to keep their children’s education going. Here we have identified five top tips to keep your children learning as well as entertained in quarantine.

One. Address your natural routine

As the majority of parents across the UK won’t have a teaching degree, trying to follow a pre-made school schedule will prove more challenging than ever. To combat this, observe what routine naturally occurs for your family, and then build your timetable around that.

Whether this is having a lie in and then teaching in the afternoon, or waking up early and getting all the work done before lunch, find what suits your family the best. But don’t overlook the fact different age groups have different body clocks. An infant is more inclined to wake up early and have the most energy to play and learn than a teenager, who is more than likely going to want to sleep in later and crack on with work in the afternoon.

Two. Assess your resources

Many of us won’t have cupboards in our homes overflowing with maths textbooks and science kits. But remind yourself, you aren’t a teacher, and these are exceptional circumstances.

However, do make the most of the resources you do have, or even consider ordering equipment. Some children benefit through kinaesthetic learning, a method carried out that includes physical activities rather than listening or watching.

Edu-Lab are leaders in providing specialist scientific laboratory equipment for school and home learning purposes. With an extensive range of home school science products, we have now introduced Science Experiment Kits, which can be used from home to recreate the experiments your young ones are missing out on in school.

Three. Create a timetable – but be lenient

As difficult as this may be to apply, children have followed timetables at school, so why won’t you be able to try and recreate this at home? By setting hours for learning, playing, food breaks and more, it creates a structure to the day and establishes boundaries of how to approach your teaching efforts.

Make the most of your home space

Host lessons outside in the sunshine with fresh air. By not only increasing focus, children will also enjoy being in the outdoors around nature rather than being cooped up inside. Maybe even put on music to help create a relaxed and fun atmosphere.

Four. Look online for teaching materials

As TV personality and fitness coach Joe Wicks hosts live morning PE sessions and pop-star-turned-radio-host Myleene Klass begins music lessons via YouTube, our children have plenty of help from the experts in learning the subjects we might not be too knowledgeable on ourselves. Don’t be afraid to use Google and social media outlets to reach out for help or ask for advice, there are plenty of other parents in the same situation as you.

Five. Check on their mental health

Children who are unhappy or upset are not going to focus or learn, with teenagers especially being very good at masking their true feelings. Check-in and communicate with your young ones, don’t put pressure on them to stick to a strict timetable, it is as hard for them to adapt to being at home 24/7 as it is for you.

Stay calm and take every day as it comes, good luck!