The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has upended family life around the world. Schools closing, working remote, social distancing — it’s a lot to navigate for anyone, but especially for parents.Learning should not stop when your child is staying at home due to the COVID-19. Parents are children’s first and most important teacher, and this is a good opportunity for you to get involved in children’s learning.
We reached out to Funmilola Lawore and Ruth Adekoya of Pampers Private School to offer suggestions for parents to help make the most of their child’s time off from school, while keeping in mind child development and children’s reactions to stressful and changing situations.
Create a routine
Since changes in routine can be stressful, it will be helpful to talk with your kids about why they are staying home and what your daily structure will be during this time. Let them help create a daily schedule that can hang on the refrigerator or somewhere they can see it each day. Be sure to include breaks from tele-work or schoolwork to relax and connect with each other.
Taking Education Online
While schools are shuttered, Pampers has moved its lessons online by providing virtual instruction or assignments. “Make sure your child keeps up with the assignments and can engage in any virtual instruction,” Funmilola Lawore says. If your child’s school is not providing these options, turn to sources from reputable home-school organizations and websites, as many of these organizations provide lessons and materials for every grade level.
Kids Indoor Gym
Transform your living room into a kid’s gym and create some fun and age-appropriate sports stations. You can put a trail of paper sheets on the floor which the kids have to walk over without touching anything else but the paper. Time jumping on the spot, which can be made more difficult for older kids
To make it more competitive you can use the stopwatch to time the duration of each exercise. But make sure to stick to age-appropriate duration. It’s about the
fun and switching back and forth between the stations rather than aiming for the next world record.
Play in the compound:
As of now, experts say you are fine to be outside as long as you keep social distancing in mind. Games like hurling, basketball, soccer or tennis can provide great fun and exercise.
Baking classes:
Get your kids into baking classes during this period allowing them to experiment with ingredients like butter, flour, eggs, marshmallows, chocolate etc . Cooking is an essential life skill for children – both boys & girls
Movie night:
Movie nights are very entertaining and something for all the kids can look forward to. You can even make some popcorn. To avoid arguments you can put everyone’s name on a bowl and pick out one – the person whose name is pulled out gets to pick a movie first and so on until everyone has had a turn to pick a movie.
Try your best to spend as much time with your kids and discover things you didn’t know about them during this period. You can take the time to go for walks or switch up your exercise routine while ensuring good measure of social distancing.
“Taking care of you and your child’s mental health during this period is a priority and It’s important to let them know at an appropriate developmental level the reality of COVID-19. Children overhear conversations and it can be frightening to them if their questions and concerns are not clarified. Let them know how important it is to protect themselves as well as the rules for social distancing, hygiene and how this affects their new routine” – Ruth Adekoya, Pampers Private School.
