‘How can I ensure my children don’t fall behind with schooling during lockdown?’- A teacher offers advice

As Coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, life, as we know it, has been greatly disturbed and adjusted. As our president, Cyril Ramaphosa has mentioned in his address to the nation, “We are currently in unchartered territory, which we have never had to navigate before”. There is no rule book or guideline to direct us on what to do during this time.

The pressure placed on parents at this difficult time is understandable and focus should really be made on developing connections with our children, spending quality time together and the learning focus should be handled in a fun and interactive way.  To support learning at home, you are not required to be an expert or trained educator. Your knowledge of your child’s strengths and interests will support creating reasonable expectations. The advantage of having a child currently in our schools’ Foundation Phase, is that the curriculum allows for repetition and consolidation of work that has been taught previously.

This is a major benefit to those children, who need extra time to develop skills that are not on par. At this age, children are learning to read, write, talk and listen. They explore mathematical ideas to solve everyday problems. Their learning is supported by providing opportunities for play and hands on activities.

Majority of all schools would have sent out worksheets, online resources and term 1 revision booklets to the parents.

Below are some ideas on how you as a parent can assist in your child’s learning at home

• Routines are important. Develop and keep a set routine for your child’s day. This will create a sense of security for your child during this unsettling time.
• Establish screen time guidelines. Create boundaries ahead of time so that your child knows what is expected of them. Screen time should be focused on educational concepts more so than that of entertainment aspects.
• Keep up skills, with an accent on fun Cooking offers abundant opportunities to apply basic addition and subtraction problems. Using basic Mathematics language of more/less etc.. It never hurts to practice basic skills, but allow for children to do this creatively. Playing cards and using dice can be a wonderful tool for reviewing math skills.
• Make time for literacy. Reading is the single most important aspect of the basis for all education. Practise your child’s reading vocabulary by playing flashcard games. Children can read directions to a game, read a book to a younger sibling, read a comic, read a newspaper story, read a biography, cut up a newspaper and arrange the words into a poem. They can write a letter to a far-off friend or a nearby neighbour who might need support, or draw a picture of what happens next in a story or movie. Help your child to process information by asking your child about what they notice, or see, or wonder about, or what they think might happen in a story. Listen to a book online. Watch a video of a favourite author or illustrator talking about their work. Have your child film a stop-motion movie scene with toys or act out a story with their siblings or stuffed animals.
• If you can, have fun. Build a fort. Have an indoor picnic. Bake a cake. Create playlists. Have a dance party in the kitchen? Write funny poems about how hard this is.

In a world where children often feel over-scheduled and overwhelmed, try to frame this time as a break from the stresses and pressures children face. Offering children experiences of unstructured play are valuable opportunities for the foundation of learning.

About Lauren:

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.