Back to school at home for Falkirk youngsters

In normal times, after an initial burst of activity – mainly yelling ‘shoes’ and ‘teeth’ on repeat while frantically serving breakfast, filling water bottles and packing snacks – the mums and dads could slope off to work.

On a good day, that might mean the chance of a hot cup of tea and a change from conversations revolving round Minecraft or Henry Danger.

But these are not normal times – it looks as though our children won’t be heading back to school any time soon – and if there is one phrase that’s almost as chilling to parents than ‘suspected Covid-19’, it’s ‘home schooling’.

Rather like the coronavirus itself, there’s no shortage of information to help you along the way – if anything it’s all a bit overwhelming.

But the most important thing to remember is that you have to do what’s right for you and your family.

So if you are working from home you are never going to be able to stick to that colour-coded timetable; if you’re worried about money then now is not the time for elaborate and expensive projects; and if your child is anxious then the main focus will absolutely be on keeping them calm.

Falkirk Council’s education team has some guidance on what we should be trying to do for not-back-to-school week.

1.Don’t forget that most teachers are still working and providing support from a distance. Falkirk Council uses Glow and Microsoft Teams. Now, these may look as though they’ve been designed solely to raise stress levels in already over-wrought parents but you’ll almost certainly find that your children are fairly comfortable with the technology. All schools and most teachers also have their own Twitter account which is a good way to keep in touch.

2.Children learn from you so this is an ideal time to polish up – literally – some life skills that could make your life a bit easier too. Cooking and baking are enjoyable but they also use maths skills to weigh and measure and get the timings right as well as literacy skills to read the recipe. They also encourage good hygiene and risk awareness. Your home school pupils could also shine as they learn how to clean the car, put a washing on or maybe even do some ironing.

3.Remember, you’re also teaching them things such as how to handle stress and difficult situations. Your child will be learning from your response to this situation. Seeing you staying calm and resilient will be crucial to helping them cope with the circumstances. If they have questions, try to answer them factually and don’t be afraid to say you don’t know but you’ll find out. And if tempers fray, that’s okay too. Teach them how to overcome arguments and resolve differences.

4.Okay, so the colour-coded timetable got thrown out in a rage on day two – but that doesn’t mean you can’t have some structure to the day. Keeping set times for getting up and going to bed and eating meals can be really helpful in allowing children to feel safe through this difficult time. But don’t get hung up on it if you find it’s adding to your stress – do whatever is right for you and your family.

5.Try to build in time for fresh air and exercise as far as this is possible. Joe Wicks’ daily keep fit is excellent and there are other online resources. But this is not the time to worry too much about limiting children’s screen time. Whether it’s using excellent websites such as BBC Bitesize for lessons; video calls to keep in touch with family; or CBeebies/XBox (delete as appropriate to your children’s age) as the ultimate babysitter, technology is proving a saviour to many of us. As always, talk to your child about what they do online and make sure that whatever devices they use they do so safely.

6.One of the reasons schools are keen for children to keep learning is they don’t lose skills. So keeping up the basics such as times tables can be really helpful. There are lots of websites that offer fun ways to do this including www.sumdog.com, www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/ and www.mathplayground.com.

7.Look for positives. For once, there’s no chance your child is going back to school after an Easter holiday full of visits to parks, castles and museums only to write a report for his teacher on how he got to level 320 of Dragonball Z. Take that as a win.

8.Remember that this will pass and children will return to school – and perhaps we’ll have a round of applause for the teachers and school support staff who we now appreciate more than ever.