Is home-schooling becoming a nightmare?

Lockdown home schooling

Many parents are finding the longer we remain in lockdown, the harder home-schooling becomes. You would have thought most of us would have got the hang of it by now and that it would be getting easier. Not surprisingly, boredom and exhaustion are starting to set in for most of us.

Here's some advice that could make home schooling a less stressful event for all of you.

Keep good habits in mind

It's only natural to feel concerned about the amount of school work your child might be missing out on - everyone else's child seems to be doing so much better right now, don't they? But a big part of going to school is learning ‘how to learn’, rather than acquiring more and more knowledge (which let's face it, most of us forget as we get older).  Keeping school-like habits in place are what's important right now. Catching up on knowledge and skills later, will be so much easier if your child hasn't forgotten ‘how to learn’.

Keep good bedtime routines in place from Monday to Friday - this includes waking up early in the morning and being washed, dressed and breakfasted ready to start the day on time. Being organised earlier might also mean having time for a short walk outside before the ‘school’ day starts.  I know it's tempting to let morning routines slip while everyone's at home, but if your child is struggling with motivation or concentration, a better start to the day might be the key to solving this. It will be easier to make the weekends feel different with lazy lie-ins too.

Create learning zones

Children who don’t have anywhere in particular for their school work and do it on the kitchen table one day, then on the floor in front of the TV the next and maybe up in the bedroom the day after that, will not do as well as those who have a dedicated space - or spaces. Think about what type of space will suit different types of school work. A lot of your child's learning will be done in front of a computer right now so having a few dedicated ‘break-out’ spaces will be important - a cushion on the floor in a quiet corner may be the perfect place for reading a book for example. 

Once you've established designated areas, try to stick to them, using the same ones each day - you could even put a sticker up on the wall labelling them. This will replicate your child's school classroom and they'll settle down quicker the more they use these areas. And even better, the more easily the relevant part of their brain will spark up in preparation for the task ahead.

Have a ‘stationery area’ too as this will give the feel of a more formal workspace. This might sound a bit obvious but having a plentiful supply of paper, pens, rulers, sharpeners in one designated place will give your child fewer excuses to avoid settling down.  Ensure that everything is neatly put away at the end of each day. Not only will this help to teach your child how to organise themselves, but will act as a marker for the end of the day, which is psychologically important when there's no ‘going home’ time.

Check anxiety levels first

If your child constantly jumps up and keeps running back to check their phone or wants another drink or biscuit, they're often not being ‘naughty’. It's more likely that they're struggling to carry out their work and need some extra help. Take a closer look at what the problem might be. The usual reasons might be hunger, thirst or needing a toilet break but don't forget too, that the reason for misbehaviour might also be caused by anxiety. When we don't feel confident about doing something, we'll do whatever we can to avoid it.  How many of us procrastinate when it's time to fill in our tax returns, for example and rush off to do a household chore instead?  Your child might need extra reassurance rather than a ticking off for misbehaving - remind them of other times in the past when homework has gone well and they’ve received good marks from the teacher as this will help to put them in a more resourceful state.

Identify your child's learning style

We use all our senses to absorb information from our environment and our senses form the basis of our learning preference or style. Take some time to observe your child at work to figure which methods suit them best as this may help avoid a whole lot of homework angst.

Your child may favour any of the following learning styles:

Visual. These children prefer to learn by seeing information. They like reading, pictures or diagrams, flashcards, demonstrations and watching videos. Colour coding and chunking down information that needs to be learned off by heart, such as a foreign language, will help them. One day they can learn the ‘red paragraph’ and the next day the ‘green one’.  Use whiteboards or large sheets of paper - rolls of wallpaper are good for this, but it is possible to buy giant-sized ‘post-it notes' to stick on the wall too.

Auditory. Some children prefer to learn by hearing or saying it.  They enjoy listening to downloads, audiobooks, lectures, debates, discussions and verbal instructions. They may ask you to repeat a set of instructions over and over again: they like hearing it being said.  These children would enjoy reading their homework out loud as they record themselves speaking on a phone or laptop - it's an ideal way to memorise information.

Kinaesthetic. Children with this preference learn by getting a ‘feel’ for things. They enjoy physical involvement, hands-on work, moving around and touching.  You could sprinkle flour into a baking tray and ask them to ‘write’ in it with their finger to practise spellings or their times tables, for example.  Or create a set of flashcards with the question on one card and the answer on another - then lay the cards on the floor with questions in one room and answers in another. Your child will then run between the two sets of cards to match them up. 

Children who struggle to sit still and look down at their work will find it easier to stand up and write on large sheets of paper stuck to the wall.  Don’t be surprised if they need to stand back on the other side of the room to think about things before writing anything down.  This is an ideal activity for children who fidget a lot - and once they’ve figured out their answers, they’ll be happy to sit back down at their desk and ‘copy’ the answers across.

NEED MORE HELP?

Discover the secret to using the ‘Language of Persuasion’ in my best-selling book ‘Words that Work: How to get kids to do almost anything’ HERE

About the Author

Alicia Eaton is a Harley Street based Psychotherapist and Clinical Hypnotherapist and the author of four best-selling books. She’s also a Winner in the latest ‘Global Health & Pharma’ Mental Health Awards 2023. For more details of appointments see here: Consultations.