How to embrace the home school summer term

Parents, you’ve got this! Here’s some advice on how you can keeping your home school up to scratch for the kids during their new summer term.

Easter is over, and for many around the world it’s now the start of the summer school term. While that used to mean packing your child off with a new pair of shoes, freshly hemmed trousers and a cute new lunch box, now it means heading ‘back’ to homeschooling in the dining room.

It might feel like groundhog day, especially if you’re simultaneously working from home yourself, but it’s important to remember that you’ve been here before – and you now have tools to try and embrace it.

Here are some tips and tricks to get you going today.

Try and keep to the routine

Yes, you probably tried this before and it will have come unstuck at times, but whatever you were doing before, it’s time to get back into it.

Did you do Joe Wicks’ PE first thing before the holidays? Get back on it! If you did a certain subject in the mornings with the kids and that worked, do that again.

That includes breaks and lunches

Breaks are so important, for everyone to have some time out. Remember to set an alarm if you need to, take breaks, and have a (healthy) lunch together, too.

Don’t forget the teachers are there to help!

Teachers are all online and available if you need them – you are not in this alone. Contact them if you have an issue with something on the homeschool syllabus, and check in with them if your child misses them.

Perhaps there’s time for a video catch up if they’ve not had one. Follow your children’s teachers on social media, too, for updates that will keep your confidence up.

Relying on the internet isn’t cheating (and you can outsource to the kids!)

Whether that’s looking up an answer you don’t know, to having some ‘quiet time’ on the iPad, using resources such as Google Classroom or anything the teachers have set up for you.

Hey, you can always ‘outsource’, too. More than one child means one can help the other, and your co-parent or spouse can help with a subject that’s tricky for you. Share the load, don’t feel like you have to do it all alone.

Getting physical

Sport or that PE ‘lesson’ is one thing, but homeschooling can also be physical through the day. Keeping the kids moving, or doing something practical can help keep them interested and energised.

From dance routines to practical science lessons, remember that homeschooling doesn’t have to mean sitting at a desk all day. If you have one, let them out into the garden (for your sanity too) for a biology lesson collecting and identifying leaves, for example.

Check out the new Family Fitness TV channel launches by Wirral dad Neil Parsley here.

Give ALL of you a break

Not just a tea or lunch break, but a mental break. Remember that teachers are highly trained and experienced, and you’re not going to become one overnight. Take it one day at a time, and be prepared for things to go a bit wrong – just like they did before the Easter break…

Let them chat to their mates

Yes, this is going to need to happen on social media of some kind, but normally your children would be saying hello to their friends in the classroom and playground. Let them do the same from home.

A brief WhatsApp hello to their buddies could make all the difference to their day and their mood. They might also be able to share the workload, just like they would at school.