Everyone is concerned about their child’s education in lockdown

Here, I am suggesting that you keep the long view of education in mind. Making a judgement on the effectiveness of on-line learning is almost impossible in the short term. The results of student performance are all about longitudinal studies over many years. I have no doubt there will be plenty of these studies in the future. However, in the shorter term as we live with on-line studies for students, the question remains, how can I best help my child?

Try not to focus on what your child has missed from not being at school. The education system will need to take stock of what this means in education for the future.

As we live with on-line studies for students, the question remains, how can I best help my child?

I suggest the following plan for children starting school and in the early years of primary education. Here, I am really thinking of that age where children are learning how to read and write.

• Read each day to your child. Get them to follow the story. Children love to mimic and repeat the words of the story back to you.

• Encourage them to read as much as possible. Talk about the story and engage in conversation about the plot, theme and the words used.

• Have charts around the house with basic phonetic rules. This is great for the prereaders. Also include number charts. These are obtainable on-line or even in your local newsagency. Don’t get too caught up with the detailed ones. Young children need exposure to words, sounds and numbers. Talk about them and refer to them throughout the day. Play games and recite poetry. These are great tools to kick start reading.

• If your child is literate to some degree, they can manage the on-line material more easily. Teachers are becoming more skilled in setting work that suits the child on-line. Just be a guide and direct them when necessary. If possible, go through the plan for the day with them and at the end of the day talk about how they went with the work. Praise them for putting in the time and effort, not so much the quality of the work. This is more about rewarding the process, not the outcome.

• Keep the day balanced so that your child will know that recreation is part of their day. This gives them something to look forward to. Let them take small breaks. In a normal classroom, conversation is important as part of the learning process. Try to talk to your child throughout the day and ask questions about their work. Make suggestions and question occasionally why they choose such an answer. This is all part of what happens in a classroom. It is most definitely not a silent environment. It is a busy, often noisy environment, with multiple activities happening at the same time.

• To get the best from the on-line studies, talk positively in the morning about how the day will look. Consider where your child is set up and make sure they are not in isolation for too long a time. Let them feel, that their learning space, is all their own and they don’t have to relocate at the end of the day.

• If the teacher writes back some positive comments, print them and put them on display. Younger children will enjoy seeing their art work around the house. Now is not a time to worry about neatness and correctness. It is also not a time to talk about failure and poor performance. Show confidence in your child’s intelligence and ability to be successful. Let them feel comfortable talking with you during the day and displaying their work for all to see. Be impressed with their efforts and not their outcomes. If they develop a strong self-concept, they are more inclined to succeed academically. The message you want to give them is that they are developing into strong self-learners. You, the parent are setting the stage for your child’s growing perception of themselves as effective learners.

In our current world, we are always talking about student performance and measuring success. I suggest, that we have less of this ‘being accountable’ talk and more about the positive progressive steps a child is taking along the way. Each day should be another successful day of good learning. It should not be about simply measuring performance from on-line work. I have always felt strongly about this as a Principal, and I am more so now that children have the burden of working on line. 

“In terms of change, learners inherit the earth,

While the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with world that no longer exists.”

— Eric Hoffer

Help your child develop their creative side

It is such a joy watching our children spring into creative moments. These can often be spontaneous and can take on many forms. As a parent, we should support their creative side as it can be stifled so easily with practicality, logic, do the right thing, be reasonable, etc. There is no shortage of sensible reasons why creativity can be stifled.

Of course, everything within reason but children are naturally curious and creative. They love to explore and dream. They are not inhibited to begin with and grow to being free and expressive in their minds and bodies if allowed.

Perhaps you are a creative person? If you are more inclined to demonstrate self-discipline, put things in order, monitor time etc. you may find at times their creative behaviour off putting. This article is to invite you to lighten up in this area. Allow your children to just be and to enjoy the moment.

Here are some reasons why creativity, given plenty of scope enlivens and strengthens the wellbeing and mental health of the child and stimulates amazing learning.

Our child’s spontaneous creativity enlivens and enlightens our adulthood.

• Being creative gives the child the right to express themselves. Great authors, painters etc. needed creative time to explore and develop their talents.

• Children will make mistakes and this is part of experimentation in being creative. Without error, a child cannot grow and learn in new directions. A child who is celebrated at home for their creativity, feel free to keep exploring. They love the fact that you acknowledge and affirm their creative spirit. This spurs them on.

• If a child is stunted with their creativity, they can become quite unhappy and mental health issues can creep into their life. It is not natural for a child to be uncreative.

• When children play, they are actually being creative. Encourage it and join in the experience. It will make for better family time.

• Never tell a child that their creativity is not satisfactory. There is no assessment or value placed on being creative. By nature, it is free and can develop in any direction. No surprises that teachers are always looking to strengthen the child’s creative disposition. They know that from such a journey comes insightfulness and real learning.

• Think about the people you admire. Is creativity part of their world? Often creative people are very expressive and not inhibited by controlled thinking. Don’t be put off by people that seem to see life from different angles. Even your own child may be seeing life from a different lens than your own.

• Often, we say, think outside the square. In today’s workforce people who think differently offer a great deal to companies who are not seeking more of the same.  The workforce seeks and demands creative employees who can look at problems in different ways.

• If a child is encouraged to see the world from practical eyes and not to value creativity their world will shrink and only predictability and reliability will be valued.

• A child by nature of being a child sees the world creatively. They are generally not inhibited by nature which gives them the optimum chance to see the world from many angles and to create new dimensions in that world.

 We can learn from our child’s spontaneous creativity and this enlivens and enlightens our adulthood which can be driven by order and control. In simple terms it allows us to lighten up!

“Those who do not think outside the box are easily contained.”

— Nicola Manetta