Written by Samantha Ryan, My Bluewater Tutor

I suspect, like me, your first thought about your children at the moment is to manage their personal safety and to keep them away from any kind of contact with Covid-19. After all, that’s why they are home from school and we’re all shut away.

But we can’t ignore their education. They must keep learning or they will be a lost generation. It goes without saying that schools are trying their best but it’s hard enough to support each student sufficiently at the best of times. With the added strain of COVID its nigh on impossible.

That leaves us parents to manage everything – we are not trained as teachers but we are expected to help our children with their work (alongside doing our own jobs). No one is super human and it is OK to admit to struggling – there are only so many hours in a day!

Here are some homeschooling tips that have helped me

– Have a designated learning space.

–  Not all learning needs to be classroom based. Bake a cake, write a letter, draw a picture, exercise or do a puzzle.

– Take the learning outside, the change of scenery can be a welcome distraction and nature offers many learning opportunities

– Have little rewards or treats set up for when the school day has ended. A hot chocolate, a slice of homemade cake or some screen time.

You may also like these handy guides to download and print.

Please get in touch with me at sam@mybluewatertutor.co.uk if tuition is a route that you want to investigate – whether it be to keep your child on track, bridge their gaps or to build their confidence.