Where can I find additional help with Maths and English?
We advocate the use of both BiteSize and Oak National Academy. For maths in particular, Khan Academy is also worth checking out. These online lessons allow children to feel like they are back at school being led by a teacher with the bonus of being able to learn at their own pace.
The majority of schools are setting work for their pupils remotely, but for children struggling to understand key concepts it’s useful to be able to search for specific help.
Are there any resources that will enable my child to learn independently?
There are some brilliant educational YouTube channels that as teachers, we utilised in schools to keep kids engaged. Examples of these are: Crash Course, National Geographic and SoulPancake.
Towards the end of the day, lots of children have been enjoying free audiobooks from Audible which are read out by professional narrators. Your child might be missing the wide range of literature they have available at school, but Audible offers the solution.
How can I keep my older children on task?
We suggest that you mutually agree on deadlines ahead of time. After the agreed time, you can return to check in with them and ask a variety of questions, such as: “What did you find interesting?”, “What have you learned?” and “What did you find challenging?”
To keep morale up we suggest using collective language such as ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘together’ when discussing homeschooling. For example, "How can we create the right conditions to learn at our best this week?"
What should my main focus be when homeschooling?
When we teach we repeat the same key messages encouraging children to ‘do their best’. Not all children love school, but during this period, all children have the chance to love learning. Your child won’t have to worry about the lessons being too fast-paced for them, directly comparing themselves to their peers or even having anxiety around exams or tests. They can just focus on being better than they were yesterday.
Our classroom experience has shown us the importance of reflection. Reflecting is equally important for both teacher and pupil. To do this, we suggest at the end of each week you have this discussion with your child answering the questions, “What went well?”, “What didn’t work?” and “What would we like to do next week?”
We have provided a template for the above on one of our previous blog posts.