Back to “home”school?!

COVID-19 cases increase day after day, masks are mandatory in some places and now the school’s about to start. Through all the uncertainty, parents around the world are trying to cope with everything and figure out how to keep their kids safe and mentally sane. Whether your kids will go to school again, or just carry on with their online classes, here’s a list with tips we gathered to help you make this process smooth and effective.

Tip 1 – Grab a cup of coffee

Wake up 30 minutes earlier than your kids, and grab yourself a cup of coffee. Yes, we do recommend that you start your day by taking just half an hour for yourself to wake up, do some yoga, meditate or just to prepare for the day before those cute, little “energy bombs” wake up and take 100% of your time.

Tip 2 - Plan and structure

If your kids are actually going to school, check out our in depth guide that we created specifically to help you and your kids stay safe. Otherwise, hello homeschooling!  

If you are the “researcher” type, you can simply look around for homeschooling tips from parents who have been doing it for years, and then connect with them and ask for advice.  There are thousands of parents out there who share their success stories.

If you’re the more pragmatic type, get yourself a daily planner and start planning your kids’ schedule from the moment they wake up, until they are back in bed. While you’re doing that, make sure to keep a few things in mind:

• Be flexible
• Don’t mimic regular school
• Allow time to rest and play

Not the DYI parent? Take a quick look online for a ready-to-use homeschooling daily planner, or simply get one created by a former teacher, so you’ll be sure it’s effective and thoughtfully created. Click here to download your free version.

Tip 3 – Gather supplies

It’s difficult for children to adapt to their new home/school learning environment so prepare a learning area of your home where they will need to do their lessons, and make sure that they have all the tools they need at hand: laptops, internet connectivity, pencils, and so on.

Tip 4 – Make sure they are focused and comfortable

We know that you probably have a tight budget, but when it comes to your kids, a small investment now can result in a lifelong benefit. If you’ve been putting of the purchase of a new, comfortable desk chair, now it’s time to really go ahead and do it. Until the world returns to “normal”, your kids will be using that chair for at least 5 days a week.

If you haven’t hear about active sitting until now, take a quick look at our article “The many wonders active sitting can have on your kid’s health”, and make sense of the concept of sitting and exercise at the same time.

Tip 5 – Take it slow

Times are challenging for parents, children and grandparents alike. Don’t let this overwhelm you, take it one day at a time and adjust as you’re travelling on this road of uncertainty. Stay calm and make sure that the time spent at home with your family is time well spent.