Three Tips To Get Through Home Schooling

The latest announcements from the NI executive have come as a blow to many parents desperately trying to get through this period of home schooling. There is a real feeling of despair amongst parents who are trying to juggle their own work along side helping their children with online learning. The road to Easter seems long, but take a deep breath and relieve the pressure by following our home schooling top tips.

Home Schooling Top Tips

Focus on Maths and English. These are the most important subjects for your child in their Primary School years. Standardised tests, AQE and GL and key stage levels all focus on these core subjects. If you are unable to get all the tasks done, then cut yourself some slack and just focus on these.
Read together daily. Get cosy on the sofa or underneath the duvet and read. Many parents find getting their children to read a book a challenge. Try making it an activity you do together. Take it in turns to read a paragraph. Discuss word meanings and ask your child questions. Try and get them to make inferences about what they are reading. Good readers use clues in the text along with their own experiences to help them figure out what is not directly said. How do you think that character feels about that? Why do you think that? What sort of personality does a character have? What do you think is going to happen?
Walk away. If the going gets tough then walk away. You are not your child’s teacher. As parents we often have expectations about what our children should know and be able to do. If your child is struggling with a certain topic or they just aren’t in the frame of mind to complete a task successfully it can lead to conflict. You are too close to each other to let it go. Falling out over homework is just not worth it. Walk away and come back to it later when you are both calm and ready.