As we come into another month of home schooling, our children are still unable to return to their normal in-person activities or see their friends. Some children may find themselves unmotivated and feeling down about the current situation so it’s important for us as parents to find ways to keep their kids interested in online school.
Here are a few options for fun activities that may help keep your children excited for the month, even from home.
- Create a routine
One way to combat the online-school blues is through the creation of a daily routine. It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant, for example, you could make sure that every morning you make the effort to eat breakfast together or you could schedule a walk together every afternoon to talk about your day.
While it may not seem like much, having something consistent to look forward to daily can really help your children keep on track and reduce the stress surrounding the uncertainty of their schooling.
- Plan fun outdoor ‘field trips’
A major disappointment for many online students is all of the fun activities they are missing out on. The yearly field trips to the science museum or the zoo are just some of the unforgettable moments your children experience throughout their time at school.
So how can we make up for these missed moments? It obviously depends on the restrictions in your area at the time but whether it’s a Saturday or in the middle of the week (if you aren’t working from home yourselves), take your kids out somewhere new. There may also be available outdoor activities in your local area if you don’t feel comfortable being indoors around other people.
- Keep active
Students who have been working on the computer all day or at a desk may find themselves feeling stagnant and tired. They are missing out on daily PE classes or even break and lunch time run abouts with their friends.
A daily walk with the dog, a bike ride or just being outside in the fresh air can really help keep students from feeling bogged down after staying indoors and online all day. This can also be a great way to push a daily routine and increase serotonin levels in your children. By keeping active, you can encourage your student to stay healthy and happy during online school.
- Make time for art and music
Besides PE, students also miss out on many of the fun activities that come with art and music classes. To make up for this loss, parents can try to plan fun art and music activities with their students to help keep them interested in school. There a million DIY crafts that can be found online. You could pick out paint-by-numbers to work on together or decide on a specific musician to ‘study’ and listen to their music as a family and identifying what instruments that can be heard in each music piece.
It’s important as parents that we recognise the struggles children are facing and do our very best to find new ways to keep our children interested in school and invested in learning.