These are strange times that we are all struggling through. The constant news updates bring to the fore worrying statistics about death, illness and economic downturn. In the midst of all of this, many of us have had a complete overhaul of our daily lives. Some are working from home, some are on furlough or temporary redundancy (me!), and some are finding a profound admiration for the teachers and care givers in our children’s lives whilst trying our best to 'home school' our children (also me!)
Since the lockdown started, I've been at home with my wonderful 2 young daughters, who are 6 and 3 respectively. Initially I was rather excited at the prospect of 'teaching' my daughters by emulating a school like routine. We even did a mini register on the first day of 'home school'. As the days passed however, I quickly realised that as hard as I try, I cannot emulate school at home. Simply because, school is school and home is just that, HOME.
3 weeks on, I now feel that we have settled into a good routine, one which incorporates some elements of their school day but also consists of new things we can do at home that will aid their learning. We've baked a few cakes, discovered a love of jigsaws and I've found that my 6-year-old is really quite good at word searches and scootering around the block. All these activities have provided my girls with ample opportunity for 'learning', just not in the traditional pencil and paper way.
So my advice to parents reading is, go easy on yourself and your precious children. They are undoubtedly missing their little routines as well as their friends and teachers. My daughters have often expressed this since being at home. Try to use this time to explore their strengths and to gain new skills alongside them. And remember, this too shall pass!
