Accessing learning from home is undoubtedly an insurmountable task for so many children and families – we need to be creative!
Our experience of teachers is that they are working tirelessly to make learning as fun and interactive as possible. Our experience of parents and carers is that they are are working tirelessly to help their children to access what is being offered. We’ve put together just a few ideas for things that might help during this time!
Tip #1 ? Make a plan for your day
…and write it down/ draw it out with your children so you all agree on what your day will look like. Be kind and don’t put too much pressure on yourself! Some useful categories to think about might be;
- Playtime – such as creative games, play doh, imaginary play
- Learning – such as school work or learning to make a new lunch
- Outside time- such as playing in the garden or going for a walk
- Snacktime – consider regulating snacks described by our colleague here
- Lunchtime – you might want to go for something simple, or push the boat out and have a special lunch!
- Funtime – such as PE with Joe workouts or Cosmic Kids Yoga. You can also make a Zoom call with your friends, and share these videos on the screen so you can complete them with your friends at the same time!
Your focus doesn’t have to be on your ‘educational’ parts of the day, and it will help the whole household if you have your fun and play parts of the day mapped out. Make sure you schedule time for you to participate too and play as a family, and also try to create time when your children have something scheduled and you can perhaps have some time to yourself.
Tip #2 ⚖️ Figure out your ‘Just Right State’ balance
You and your children will each have your own sensory profiles, and your own thresholds for focused working. Embrace what you notice, and build it into your day.
Can you only work for 20 minutes before you need a move around and a drink? Then only plan to work for 20 minutes, walk around the house and get a cuppa. Can your child only do 10 minutes concentrating and then slumps into the table? Then do 10 minutes and discover something fun he can do for a few minutes to get his energy back up again (remember you can use our Resources for ideas of games to play to help to regulate). Don’t try to put yourself into a mould that doesn’t fit!
Tip #3 ✏️ Sensory Writing
If you are doing any writing or drawing, practicing doing this away from the table can be really helpful to give lots of sensory feedback. Use an easel (or sellotape your paper to a window), or you could even tape paper underneath a coffee table and have your child laying on their back! Writing with the paper upright, or above you, can give you lots of muscle feedback which might help to concentrate – though do be aware, it may be too tiring for some children. You could also use different ‘sensory rich’ mediums- sugar paper, writing in shaving foam, finger painting!
Give these ideas a go and see if they make a difference to your day – we would love to hear your feedback!
