Let’s face it, at home learning isn’t necessarily easy, especially for parents and children experiencing it for the first time. Schedules get changed, time to yourself now truly feels like a myth and it often feels like there’s no time to get any work done. It can be hard to separate work life from parenting life as it is, and now that can feel 10 times harder.  Here are 5 hacks to help you get through at-home learning with your little ones – one very patient and calm step at a time.

1. Scheduling is Everything! It takes a lot of your plate as parents (doubling as school monitor) if your child knows and can see where and what they should be doing throughout the school day. Printing out their class schedule and posting it near their desk or workspace helps them take ownership and responsibility so that they don’t need to ask you 8 times a day. You can take this one step further and plan out a routine or schedule with your child for their full days including after school. Check out this great guide to building Routine Charts for Home Learning to help you get started.
2. Time to get a watch! Keeping a big clock near your child’s workspace can be helpful for them to keep time and track of where they are in their school schedule, when they’re supposed to come back from recess, etc. Not only does this help your kids become organized with their time but it also might save you from hearing the infamous words ‘oh, I didn’t know recess was done’ followed by a sly face that’s too cute to get mad at.
3. Pack lunches and snacks Preparing lunch and snacks for your kids in the morning can save you a lot of time during the day. Preparing and keeping in an accessible place in the kitchen allows your kids to know where to go to get their lunch and snack and gives you that extra 20 minutes during the day.
4. Set yourself up the night before. Doing some preparations the night before can make all the difference the next day. Making sure that your kids school materials, homework assignments, and school supplies needed for the day is laid out the night before can help your kids stay on track and be aware of where everything is, helping to avoid my favourite statement – ‘I can’t find it!!’
5. Take it day by day Lastly, take it day by day. This is new territory for most so don’t be too hard on yourselves. Take every day as a learning experiment and find what works for you. Have a look at this helpful tool, 80 Practical Life Activities for Your Toddler During Covid-19, for more ideas to create a system that works for you. The most important thing is that we support each other and get through this together.

Stay safe, stay well & let’s do this together!