How to rule the home-school

In this blog post I will be posting my top tips for a more tranquil (LOL), calm and organised home schooling environment. I know some children will be going back to school in June - but only select year groups and some of you may not choose to send your children back just yet anyway. I am aware these tips may not work for everybody, these are things that have just seemed to work for us. The boy I am helping is now 9 (his sister is 12 so she does her work independently.) Not every school works the same - Alexander's school uses an App called seesaw and his days start with a zoom call with his teachers and friends, his lessons are all set out on the app. Teachers are also usually available for a slot during the lesson so you can ask them any questions if needs be.

1. Make sure your child has a quiet room to work in - if possible in a separate room to siblings to allow them to concentrate solely on their own work.

2. Provide your child with a pair of headphones so they can listen to any audio messages/videos and zoom calls easily without distraction.

3. As we all know - children love routine. Get them into bed at the same time each evening & wake them at the same time. I feel it's very important for children to have enough time to eat breakfast, get dressed, have a drink and brush their teeth before lessons begin so they feel prepared to start their day and to stop them feeling sluggish. We work to the school timetable - so we work exactly the same at home as he would at school. We have a printed school timetable stuck on one of the cupboard doors so he can check it at the start of (and throughout the day).

4. Encourage the children to talk to friends & arrange zoom meetings for them to catch up - just like us we love to call our friends, it's so important for them too & their mental health.

5. Try to get outdoors during break times - whether it's kicking a ball in the garden, walking the dog round the block or just enjoying a snack in the sunshine - it's good to have a change of scenery and refresh your mind.

6. Keep news media to a minimum.

7. Create a rewards jar - if they've had a good day then let them pull a treat out of it. It could be things like; a special breakfast, fancy dress day, a movie day day on the weekend, camping in the garden at the weekend, games night, dinner with friends via zoom or to bake something yummy together.

8. Having worked in a primary school before I like to guide Alexander and help him understand the questions but I encourage him to think of his own answers, if he is finding something particularly tricky I'll often give him some examples to set him off.

9. If a child is finding something particularly tricky and stressful don't be too harsh on them - remember this is a really strange time - give them and yourself ten minutes to calm down and try again.

10. Check what work has been set for your child in the morning/night before they start the work so you can get any equipment ready if needs be and so you roughly know what's going on.

11. Encourage your children to do 30 mins+ exercise a day - we have enjoyed Joe Wicks exercise classes online, walking the dog, bike riding and running.

I hope these tips help. If you have any tips you'd like to add please add them in the comments section below. Good luck.