Hey parents, what are the latest parenting challenges you’re facing working at home while schooling your children?
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools for over 168 million children around the world have been closed completely for almost a full year as shown in a new report released by UNICEF. Besides, approximately 14 countries globally have remained closed from March 2020 to Feb 2021.
Many companies were forced to allow their employees to work remotely. For many parents, this translates to working from home with children around you all the time.
For those who are completely new to remote work, this has brought about a lot of parenting challenges.
Here are handy tips to help you cope up with the latest parenting challenges of working at home while schooling your children.
Keep You Tech on Check
First off, when it comes to working at home whole schooling your children, it means you’re going to use more tech than when working from a physical office.
For that reason, you need to ensure your internet is strong and reliable to allow you to handle your work and your children’s school lessons.
Get in touch with your internet service provider for advice about the best internet package that will support you and your children. The Wi-Fi and other tech equipment you will be using should be reliable to avoid unwanted downtimes. Ensure you understand how you will access your child’s school instructions so that your child stays at par with others.
Understand the Virtual School Calendar and Other Apps
Depending on where you live, virtual schooling will either be asynchronous or synchronous learning.
Synchronous learning requires the child to be logged into a virtual class session together with the teacher and other children. In this case, you will need a scheduling app so that your child doesn’t miss any class sessions.
You can install and set up Google Calendar on your child’s computer and connect to online class sessions they are required to attend. Since sometimes you will not be available to supervise your child, Google Calendar can help you to schedule time so that your child is encouraged to refer to the calendar at all times. This will help to build your child’s time management skills as well.
Ensure to review the school schedule with your children at the start of the day and set realistic goals.
Create a Workspace That Mimics Your Office Space at Home
Truly, you can’t be productive when working at home when surrounded by your children. You must therefore set up separate workspaces for you and your children.
Chances are that you already have an established workspace where you work from without distractions. However, you need to consider creating a workspace for your children as well since they also spend most of their time indoors.
Remember that children are easily distracted. Allowing them to stay near the TV or other distractors could keep them from studying.
Even if you will have them study near you, ensure they don’t distract you. Keep all the materials and resources they will need at one place like they normally are when studying in a classroom.
When setting up workspaces for you and your children, you don’t need to use a lot of expensive items. You can have a desk or table in your bedroom or the living room. Besides, you can use the equipment and items you already have inside your house.
Have a Daily Routine
Having a routine when working at home while schooling your children can help to make things run smoothly.
Make it a habit to do certain things at certain times. For instance, you could decide to take meals at certain times. You also need to take consistent breaks while avoiding being overly rigid.
Be Willing to Change Up Your Routine
When you have a daily routine, you shouldn’t stick to certain patterns. In other words, you should avoid being overly rigid with your routine.
Chances are that you already had a routine even before the COVID-19 pandemic came. For instance, perhaps you routinely started your day with a shower or coffee. You can determine which part of your routine is suitable for your new situation then integrate them into your daily plans.
If you used to take coffee outside, make it at home.
Don’t Assume the Duties of Your Children’s School Teacher
Even though you’re schooling your children at home, the last mistake you want to make is to assume their schoolteacher’s duties. You just need to understand how educators conduct their school day while ensuring your children have access to the school resources. In most cases, everything your children are expected to do as suggested in the resources. A good rule of thumb is to have your children’s schoolteacher’s contacts so that you can seek assistance in case your children are stuck.
Take Regular Breaks
When working from home while schooling your children, it’s easy to forego breaks. You shouldn’t fall for the temptations to go the whole day without taking frequent breaks. Not going for breaks can make you less productive at work.
Take breaks from work and parenting. You could go out for a short walk or read a few books.
Support The Teachers as Well
Your children’s educators are also going through the same situation as you are while making sure they are attending to your children’s education. You should support them as well since they also have children.
Mind Your Health
When working at home while schooling your children, it’s easy to forget about your health. And this could be detrimental to your physical and mental health. Integrate some regular exercises into your daily routine and make sure you eat well.
There are many work-from-home friendly exercises you can do that don’t cost you time or money. For instance, you could do a few leg lifts, have a dance party, and more. Incorporate mindfulness and meditation into your daily routine as well.
Keep In Touch With Your Co-workers
Social distancing and lockdowns have tried to keep people apart but technology has kept the connection strong.
These days, there are tens of thousands of platforms that allow people to stay connected and in constant communication 24/7. Chances are that your company is already using Zoom, Skype, and other video conferencing platforms.
Even though people are advised to observe social distancing, you can use video chat apps to stay in touch with your co-workers. You can also use messaging apps to exchange instant messages and stay updated about everything that works.
Use Lunchtime to Check on Your Children
Spend your lunchtime to check in with your child to see whether they are on schedule for the day. This is the right time to see whether they are having a difficult assignment so you can see how to help them.
Spend this time discussing with your children what resources they need to study well. You could also schedule some time to help them tackle difficult assignments.
After spending some time indoors tackling difficult assignments with your children go outside with them to have them refresh their minds. You can take a walk around the house or in the field.
Some schools incorporate physical education into online learning that allows students to live a healthy life. Use your lunchtime to keep your children physically fit.
Set up Virtual Playdates for Your Children
When it comes to online learning, students miss the social aspect of school that’s vital for their mental well-being. Staying connected with their friend gives them a sense of belonging and helps to alleviate stress and anxiety.
To keep your children connected with their friends, schedule some time for some virtual playdates where your children can play virtual games and interact with each other virtually. This could also be the best time for your children to discuss certain topics or have funny jokes.
Even though working at home while schooling children have a lot of challenges, they can sometimes be good for everyone. Your children can learn some time management skills, independence, and free play.
Author Bio:
Charlie Swenson is a professional educator and a parent who works with the best essay writing service UK firm. He loves to share useful pieces of advice to parents who are working remotely on how to school their children while taking care of their daily work.
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