Educating at Home and Keeping Your Children Engaged – Being in lockdown with minimal interaction with outside friends and family, has undoubtedly been challenging. Not only on the social side but an educational side too.
Whist many are still adapting to a working from home routine, in addition, home schooling has been another new challenge which is important to keep on track.
Fortunately, help is at hand. Although It takes a little adapting from both parties, once you have found that happy medium educating and playing together can bring some newfound closeness, trust and communication skills between family members.
Women Talking have put together a masterplan including a selection of fun and educational activities to help inform and keep your children’s interests alive.
Technology seems to be in the forefront when it comes to educational resources, these can certainly contribute to lessons being more engaging and entertaining. The Government have brought together a list of initial online educational resources to help children to learn at home, the list includes subjects ranging from English, Science, Maths to physical education.
The Government recommended websites have been identified by some of the country’s leading educational experts and offer a wide range of support for pupils of all ages.
Educational Podcasts – Vurbl offer the best educational podcasts I have come across so far, bringing fresh ideas of online audio to listeners. The podcasts are suitable for a mixed age group ranging from stories about science and discoveries to ways to improve your grammar as well as stories of ideas and innovations that helped create the economic world.
For your downtime moments Vurbl have a huge selection of fascinating podcasts in comedy, sports, True Crime, Wellness, Self Help, also religion & Bible.
Art and Craft. If you are looking for motivational activities working from your kitchen table there are numerous sites with online courses. Art-k have a selection of art courses designed for youngsters right through to adults. I recently learned a new creative skill by making a wicker basket from Yodomo – this was productive, absorbing with a truly satisfying end result.
Fitness Online – Check out the numerous You Tube channels for fitness classes. You don’t need any equipment just a little space for stretching and movement in the comfort of your own home. My regular weekly Yoga class have been using zoom, a cloud-based video conferencing service for classes which you can view from your phone, iPad or computer.
Not everything has to be internet based., let’s go back to nature:
We know that nature is good for us for education as well as wellness and some time for relaxation, but it can be hard to know how to connect with wildlife at home.
Regular walks if you are without a garden may introduce your children to a wider range of wildlife, particularly the many birds that seem to be prolific at the moment. However, a window box or bird feeder will also give you a point of interest for your children. I recently downloaded a bird song identification App, on my phone which is a great educational tool to help grow your passion for birds.
It’s that time of year when our beautiful Butterflies are making more of an appearance. Most resident butterfly’s live in the UK all year round. But others, migrant butterflies can travel hundreds of miles from Africa and southern Europe to the UK looking for warm weather and somewhere to lay their eggs. So, when the sun is shining, with not too much wind, this is a particularly good way to start butterfly spotting.
#staysafe #stayhome
Poppy Watt