Working from home and supporting your children
A few parents have asked how to support children at the same time as working from home, often in very small spaces.
You can make it easier by:
- Using a visual timetable so that they know what’s coming;
- Being clear about which time is with an adult and which is independent;
- Being kind to yourself and realistic about what you can do.
Children like to know what’s going on – they don’t always feel in control of their day-to-day and visual calendars can really help with that. We use visual timetables in school to help with this. We've attached one that you can use. (If you don't have a printer, make your own on a piece of paper).
They want you attention all the time, of course, but it’s much easier for them to hear “I will play with you when it is art time” than “I can’t play with you right now.”
Decide at the start of the day (if you can) if each activity is independent and or must be with a grown up.
Some of you are working from home, are key workers going into work or have multiple children at home. There are loads of reasons not to expect your house to be an actual school right now so please don’t set your expectations too high.
We would recommend to try to achieve a daily activity of :
- Reading (a phonics activity for our younger children) - approx 15 minutes
- Times Tables - approx 15 minutes
- Spellings - (Use the lists in the back of the children's planners - approx 15 minutes
- Workbook based activity - approx 30 minutes
- Online learning - approx 30 minutes
- Physical activity - approx 30 minutes
- Creative/Themed work - approx 1 hr