home school and keep your cool part 2: 5 tips
Hi i am Jen, CEO of jenuine (haha).
I am a qualified teacher, as well as a psychotherapist.
I have a PGCE (post graduate certificate in education).
However my qualification is for adult education and never ever would I have wanted to be a primary school teacher. like never, ever. no way.
But here I am, just like you, having to do it.
I only have one child to school, a five year old. It is going to be harder with more than one child. be easy with yourself.
Please remember: When your child or children go back to school your teacher will get them back on track. This is why your child’s teacher chose to train to be a teacher. They didn’t hate it so they kept going until they were qualified. That’s four years of knowing what they were getting themselves in to! They do it cause they love it! It does not utterly stress them out. Do not worry about who is ahead or who is behind. It is all fine. Focus on getting through this without your stress levels over spilling. Share your joy, your kindness and fun with your child. What better things can a child learn than kindness, joy and smiling?
!. Make a time table for the week and stick it on the wall or kitchen cupboards. Our timetable lessons start 11am-12.30 and 2-3.30 Monday to Friday. This makes lots of space for relaxing and chilling in the morning. Teeth are brushed before “school”, all washed and ready, some children may want to wear their school clothes. You may want to even incorporate your daily exercise into the morning like doing a “school run”. We make a packed lunch at lunchtime. And then there is an “after school club” of fun activities like trampoline, games, tv, jigsaws, talking to friends.
2. Section off an area of your house as “school”. If you have a separate dining area, use this. But it could be a section of a bedroom, or even the garden.
3. Have a journal to keep all that you do at school in. An A4 pad will do. Keep a record of morning and afternoon session. Pictures can be taken and printed. Any art work can be stuck in. A covid chronicle will be interesting in the future. Recording it all will make you feel more teachery (i know that’s not an actual word).
4. Get your child to choose a subject for the whole week. If they are learning a subject they love then they will engage more. It is good to know this subject a week in advance so you can “lesson plan“. For the sake of this blog the weeks subject will be potatoes! I want to show you how easy it is, as easy as potatoes! But it could be fairies, mermaids, artists, football, lego. Last week we did a whole week about Beyoncé! It was so good! Teaching my mixed race child about a very powerful black woman was a powerful lesson (please see other blog).
4. When you have chosen your subject, think of several different lessons that could come from this. Mind map it. As an example for you, write “potatoes” in the middle of a piece of paper and draw a circle around it. Then write things that you could do around the circle, with lines connecting it to the circle. You could even do this mind map with your child. This is teaching super thinking and problem solving skills. Think of ten lessons if you can, that’s one for each AM and PM session. But if you can’t think of 10 it’s ok, you can do other stuff.
For example, use this model…
history class: (I always like to start with the history) of potatoes
gardening class: planting potatoes (this is where you may need to plan a week in advance, to get time to buy the seeds)
art class: potato printing
english class: potato in stories and film, or writing your own story
maths class: (half, quarter, fractions, etc)
cooking class x 2: make chips or wedges. Or mash. Or fritters. Rr check out my blog on how to make a super potato salad.
exercise class x 2: how not to turn into a couch potato, potato dancing ( the mashed potato)
fun classes (know in thee teaching world as “fillers”… no pun intended) : Mr Potato Head (originally made from an actual potato). Or watch Toy Story.
5. Make sure you reward not just your child, but yourself too. Maybe make a star chart for yourself. We have a “marble jar”. Whenever your child does something good at school they get a marble in the marble jar. When all the marbles are in the jar (maybe about 20) we have a “marble party” of singing and dancing.
let me know what you think, any ideas, and if you like this PLEASE SHARE!
We are all in this together. remember to do to the “staff room” and focus on your SELF CARE when in there breaks!
jen x
