Learning at home without tears
| Published date | 22 January 2021 |
| Date | 22 January 2021 |
"I understand why parents are concerned," she says. "I'm a parent myself. My kids are 12 and 17. My son is in the middle of his A-levels and is hopefully due to be off to university in September. Thankfully he'd already really worked for his mocks. But now he's a bit like, 'Well, I'm not doing my exams', so I have to remind him to keep working."
Emma lists resilience as one of the key things young people need as they navigate this tricky time - and her school provides structure as well as practical help in terms of technology. "We're making sure we build their resilience, so some of the skills we're now looking at honing could be
We're kids to important practical technology. resilience, life skills important life skills in away that perhaps the more traditional curriculum doesn't address," she says. "Resilience is really important. We launched our 'Havelock important.
helping hone
Hive' which is built on a beehive idea, with everybody working together. It supports team spirit - it's something we dreamt up in lockdown one and now it's become a big part of our curriculum. "All of us are learning something new at the moment. For me it's technology - I mean, wow! I couldn't do what I'm doing now without it. That's the same for all of us. I think if we'd have told the kids in lockdown one that they'd be doing their lessons all day on their Play- Station they would have laughed at us! But they're doing it and it's amazing."
Structure, downtime and Joe Wicks - how to make remote learning work for your kids
A visual timetable, a good routine and plenty of exercise will all help your children, says clinical psychologist Dr Kate Mason.
"Younger children especially are emotional sponges, so they take their lead from us," she explains. "It's good to come from a place of calm - if children are calm they are more able to learn.
"Make a visual timetable so they can see what is going to happen during that day and that week. Kids thrive with structure; it helps them feel safe when they know what is coming next. Make the plan together with them and include lots of downtime and fun activities. It's important to keep them looking forward.
that will benefit your exercise and encouraging them to keep talking.
"If English, maths, science, projects and so on aren't going well, take a break and start to help their brains develop in other ways. Going...
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