With the NSW Government extending the state-wide lockdown until 10 September, that means more home-schooling for Hunter parents.
So, the Newcastle Weekly, with the assistance of retired educator Louise Clayton-Jones, is providing some handy tips to help mums, dads and carers get through this, often, stressful period.
What is the best way to manage this new addition to your role as parent?
The same way you would eat an elephant – one bite at a time.
As your child’s home teacher, I want you to separate this mammoth challenge into two areas:
Context
- Home setting or environment
- Learner personality
- Task content
Learning
- Learner motivation and expectation
- Feedback impact
- Thinking complexity required by different tasks
- Let’s tackle the setting of your home classroom and make it as routine as possible.
You will have other calls on your time and perhaps you share this home teaching role with others.
Tip # One
Try to make the time and place as regular as possible. Try to allocate enough time to successfully complete each learning task free from distractions – both yours and theirs. This can be helped by using a timer (microwave clock?) so everyone is aware of an endpoint.
Tip # Two
Avoid the “You’ll stay there until it’s finished!” attitude. Be flexible and negotiate a time-length with the child at the outset of the task. Children can be quite good at this, though you should be prepared to lose the odd battle so you can win the war.
Tip # Three
If others are sharing the home-schooling role, try to ensure you are all operating by the same rules.
Tip # Four
Make sure all the resources you need (pens, paper, books, laptop) are tidily at hand to head off time wasting. Children can be very good at legitimising task avoidance (“I have to go get my favourite pencil”).
Above all, make home-schooling a really important part of your day.
There is ample research showing that the biggest factor in a child’s learning is the family.
Louise Clayton-Jones
Retired educator
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