While well all feel the sense of urgency to set up schools from home, create academic content and move forward with our children's educations we need to remember that we are not in an academic emergency. We are facing a health and economic crisis, and we are all stressed, worried, and tired. Stressed adults can not teach stressed children, our brains don't work that way, and from a neuro-biological standpoint, it's nearly impossible. Ou focus for now should be on connection, emotional wellness, feeling safe, and establishing new routines.
Routine and schedules provide children with a sense of calm and safety. At school each day, teachers go over what the student's day will look like so they know what to expect. The same can be done at home.
Schedule, routine, and predictability, will make your days at home run more smoothly and create greater opportunity for children to safe and connected. How you create you're daily routine and schedule is entirely up to you.
It's important to remember that in the beginning children may not be ready to learn at home. Children understand that traditionally learning happens at school, and play, video games, sports and family time are reserved for home. Making this shift from completing academics at school to now completing academics at home may feel uncomfortable and unusual at first. Baby steps are key, adding a little more each day, increasing the time spent on academics bit by bit.
Your home schooling set up will not look like a typical day at school. As you build the routine that works for your family, remember children learn through experience and play and those elements should be part of your routine.
We can reframe this time at home as time with our children and families, instead of something that's happening to us, it can be for us.
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