Finding the right balance between managing your work commitments while the kids are at home is tough.
As the coronavirus crisis grips us ever tighter, globally we’re facing a time of unprecedented change, where schools are closed and more people than at any time in history are having to work from home.
At the best of times working from home isn’t easy. If you’re not used to it, it takes supreme discipline to be productive. To make matters worse, for those with young kids the coronavirus pandemic has given them the added time pressure of not just keeping their offspring occupied but trying their best to home-school them too.
But whatever pressure you’re feeling, neglecting your job while trying to teach your child may not always be the right thing to do, especially in the short term. Of course, the welfare of every child MUST come first. At this horrible time, looking after the mental health of members of your family as well as your own must clearly be top priority.
Educationally, however, your kids will catch up if they’re not home-schooled, yet if you neglect your job, you may end up unemployed or your business may not even survive. Joseph Hellett, the headmaster of Sacred Hearts School in Hastings, went even further on his school’s Facebook page for parents everywhere:
“It is absolutely not possible to facilitate distance learning with a primary aged child and work from home at the same time. The very idea is nonsense. If you're trying to do that, stop now. You can certainly have activities where your child learns, but your focus is your job, and survival... Stop trying to be superheroes.”
Importantly, he urges working parents not to get stressed if they find themselves struggling:
“You are, and always have been, your child's primary educator. If you decide that your child isn't going to engage with anything sent home and is going to spend the entire period playing in the dirt, or baking, or watching TV, then that is your choice. That is your right. There is nothing to stress or feel guilty about.”
You can see the full post here: https://tinyurl.com/sasj8wy
So, taking all that into consideration, how do we do the best for our kids, and still remain productive? Clearly, it’s a fine balance.
In our family, we’ve two school-aged kids, and my wife is a part-time NHS sister and therefore can’t work from home. Our 13-year-old daughter is amazing, and although it’s tough for her, she somehow manages to do the work set by her school. Meanwhile, our four-year-old son misses his school friends but still thinks it’s a hoot that mummy and daddy are trying to teach him.
A week after the schools closed, we don’t have all the answers but we’re doing the best we can for our children. And for the three working days I’m on my own, I’m still managing to be productive for my business.
So far, this is what works for us with our four-year-old boy:
We’ve created a daily routine for our son as close to school life as it can be, right down to wearing his clip-on school tie on his jumper during the virtual school day, which he loves. At 9am, the school bell rings (downloaded to my phone), and the same bell goes on the dot at 3pm, to mark the end of home school, and his tie can come off. He does all his learning activities at the dinner table wherever possible, and when it’s playtime, he’s off doing his own thing somewhere else.
Having a daily timetable of activities works well too. Just like his teacher does at school with the whole class, at 9am, we talk through his To Do list for the day, a mixture of reading, maths and cognitive tasks, along with a healthy dose of playtime. It gives focus to the day ahead for both of us, factoring in time for learning and time for me to be super-focused and therefore super productive.
Hopefully you’ll have a spare laptop or iPad knocking about the house. Your child’s school should have provided you with plenty of online resources and tasks to keep them going. Our son’s school uses https://tapestryjournal.com/ and his teachers are brilliant at sending video phonic tasks and other things for the children to be cracking on with on his own.
Here’s the brilliant Song Of Sounds phonetic song for children to sing every day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48uf9I6P2xQ
There are plenty of other websites that can help keep them busy while learning.
Here are just a few:
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/twinklparentsgroup
For daily keep fit exercises, you can’t beat these:
The Body Coach, Joe Wicks
https://www.youtube.com/user/thebodycoach1
Cosmic Kids yoga
https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga
Koo Koo Kangaroo fun dances
https://www.youtube.com/kookookangaroo
I appreciate that for many parents, quiet time isn’t a concept that all children can comprehend and it can be incredibly difficult and stressful for parents. But to remain productive and to maintain sanity, you must try to find ways to ensure that a good part of your working day is free from distractions, so you can concentrate on the job in hand. If you need some time to concentrate, it isn’t wrong to send your kids to play in another room or put the telly on quietly for them while you work.
When you’re cooped up indoors for any length of time, eventually you’re all going to go stir crazy. So as long as you maintain a social distance from everyone else, it’s essential that you get out of the house to breathe in nature’s fresh air. Go for a brisk lunchtime walk or run with the kids, and try to clear your mind of anything to do with work. You’ll return to your virtual office re-energised and refreshed for the rest of the day.
Like all parents, we’re doing what works for us, and I’m sure you’ll do the same. If you’ve got any other tips to keep the kids occupied while you’re working, please share your thoughts in the comments below, or feel free to drop me aline at simon.townsend@yomdel.com
Simon Townsend is Yomdel’s Operations Director. See what else Yomdel is doing to help business at this time: