Bellavista School has solutions for parents battling the challenges of remote schooling.
The number of memes joking about parents’ new-found appreciation for teachers disguises a real truth: already facing the challenge of their own anxieties in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, many mothers and fathers are battling with the juggle between maintaining their own deadlines and ensuring their children don’t fall behind with schoolwork. Bellavista School’s team of psychologists, therapists and teachers offer this expert advice to help you stay on track.
• Keep a routine as far as possible. We often undervalue the structure and calm that routine brings our lives – so, tempting though it may be to sleep in, you’ll all feel far less anxious if you set a regular wakeup time, shower, dress and brush teeth. Children thrive on routine, and with all the uncertainty and anxiety that surrounds us at the moment, all the more reason to keep a routine.
• Create a conducive workspace for your child. Ideally, this should be in a quiet space in the house free from distractions like the TV, with good light and fresh air, and it should be reserved for homework. If you can set this up alongside your own workspace, so much the better – this will allow you to check in on how your child is progressing from time to time.
• Make use of the online resources at your disposal. After all, you’re not a teacher and don’t, therefore, have the requisite skills. Luckily for you, the people who do are just a phone call away – most teachers have made themselves available via Zoom or WhatsApp. And if they haven’t, a YouTube tutorial is just a click away.
• Accept that some rules may have to be relaxed. This isn’t the time to be draconian about screen time, for example – when you’re doing your best to juggle your own work responsibilities with housework and homework, a little extra time on a device may give you an extra hour. What you can do, though, is make your children ‘earn’ those hours; for example, by completing chores or an hour of schooling. And, as always, make sure that the platforms your children are accessing are appropriate.
• Address anxiety. You can be sure that your children have picked up on the stress you’re experiencing, but try to minimise this by limiting their exposure to TV and social media content they won’t understand. Encourage them to voice their concerns so that you can talk through them, and be open and honest about what’s happening, but keep these explanations age appropriate.
Bellavista School is a private remedial school in Johannesburg. For more information and to access support tools, visit www.bellavistashare.org.za.