Home Learning Challenges

Hello Reception class, both parents & children!

I hope you're all well and keeping busy at home. I am missing you all lots and can't wait to see all the fantastic things you have been up to with your families. Parents I hope you are all okay too! I have found a few tips to keep you going through your home learning and I will be posting new stories and activities to support you. Also Purple Mash activities are being set on a weekly basis (I hope everyone is finding purple mash useful). As you can imagine, this is all very new to me too so please be patient and I am doing my best to support and guide you. Thank you.

Top Tips for Home Learning:

1. Focus on connection  

Make your aim connecting with your child, rather than getting them to do things. 

This is a strange and unusual time for everyone. Make time to do special things together. Have a family movie night, turn the lights off, cuddle up under the duvet and watch it all together.  Bake a cake and have a tea party. Lay the table and dress up, make it an occasion. 

2. Join your child in their activities rather than trying to persuade them to do something else    

If they resist all your suggestions, stop making them. Instead, join them in doing what interests them. If that’s Lego, then you do Lego too. If it’s painting, have a go. If it’s video games, ask them if you can play too. Down tools and enjoy this time with your children.

3. Games, games, games 

Games are fun for everyone. If you have board games, go and explore your cupboard and pull out the games you haven’t tried for ages.  

If you don’t, there are multiplayer tablet versions of many favourite games, including Cluedo, Monopoly, and The Game of Life. 

4. Virtual play dates 

We’re all in this together.  Contact your child’s friends and ask them if they’d like to hang out over Zoom, WhatsApp or Skype but please ask parent’s permission before doing so. 

Younger children often find it hard to know what to say, so suggest an activity. Allow kids to draw, play games or sometimes just go about their lives with a friend to chat to. It doesn’t have to be long to make a difference to your day.

5. Read and Listen 

Start here with what interests them, not with what you think they should be learning. 

Find new books on the Kindle app if you’ve read your whole bookcase. Think about the books you loved as a child and try them out on your kids.  Audible has a library full of audio books for those who prefer to listen. If anyone hasn’t yet discovered Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter, now is the time. Hours and hours of listening joy.

6. Keep Moving 

Even if you can’t get out, keep active. Try Cosmic Kids Yoga on YouTube & PE with Joe every weekday at 9am followed by Dough Disco LIVE at 9.30am. Construct obstacle courses in your front room. Put on some music and dance to it. The neighbours will understand. 

Make time for activity every day. If they won’t get up off the sofa, you do the dancing and yoga instead.  

7. Sing like no one is listening  

Singing makes us feel good. Sing songs with your children, even if you think you can’t sing.

Musicals are a good place to start if you want to learn some new songs. You can find many of the songs on Youtube or you can subscribe to Spotify.  Songs from The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Annie and Aladdin are good for younger kids. 

8. Maintain healthy sleep habits

The negative impact of sleep disruption on mood is well-established. Without the structure of having to get to school, college or the workplace, it can be easy to fall into unhealthy sleep habits like going to bed later and getting up later. Changes to your sleep cycle now could go on to impact your mood in the weeks and months ahead. Scheduling a balanced range of activities in your day - including physical exercise, connecting with others and pleasant and relaxing activities - can also help with your sleep quality. If the uncertainty of the current situation is causing you to lose sleep, talk about your worries with others rather than ruminating on them alone. The Headspace App is great to help calm those anxious thoughts and sleepless nights.

9. Don’t overdo it

I’d recommend around two hours’ learning in total a day for children in key stage 1, which covers reception to year 2. That should include arts and crafts, and hands-on activities. Children in key stage 2, which covers year 3 through to year 6, would be able to do more: about three to four hours. But again, that should include PE activities and more creative tasks as well.

10. Look after yourself  

We don't know how long this is going to go on for. What do you need to keep yourself healthy and sane?  The BBC has some helpful ideas for looking after your mental health.  Don’t check the news constantly, make sure you cook food you like, and instigate some time when you are not available to your children.  Find an audio book for you, or dive into a novel which takes you far away from 2020.  

When home educating have some ‘non-interruption time’ after lunch each day when everyone did something quietly in their rooms and interruptions were only for emergencies, put on some relaxing music we use this in class a lot during reflection time.

And Finally 

Our kids will remember this for their whole lives! 

How do you want them to think about it? Feeling in control is hard when the world is so unpredictable, but it’s important for our well-being.  For our kids, helping them feel in control means starting with them and their interests. For adults, one of the only things we can control in this is our behaviour, and how we relate to our kids.  It’s the challenge of a lifetime. 

Most importantly have fun and stay safe! 

Love Miss Mallin xxx