In these unsettling times, it’s even more important to support your child – but it might be hard to know where to start. Although it comes from an American site, we like this parent resource which includes useful guidance such as:
- Remain calm and reassuring.
- Make yourself available.
- Monitor television viewing and social media – we think this one is especially important… there’s a lot of misinformation (things that are wrong) and disinformation (things that are deliberate lies) out there.
- Maintain a normal routine.
- Be honest and accurate.
- Know the symptoms of COVID-19.
- Discuss new rules or practices at school.
Other helpful sites include:
- Child Mind Institute – another American site, but with more advice to help your child;
- Save the Children has seven top tips; and
- Barnardos offer five tips
If your child is at home, it’s best to keep them occupied, making sure they know that learning is still important. We know this might be hard in these unsettling times, but maintaining as much normality as possible is important – get into routines where some learning happens, then a break, etc – a bit like a school day.
Here are some links which will help you find appropriate learning for your child:
- Twinkl is offering free access for a month to parents using the code UKTWINKLHELPS; the resources are split into year groups and subjects so you’ll be able to choose what you want the children to do
- BBC Bitesize is really useful; there are lots of resources for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2
- Times Tables Rockstars
Don’t forget also our own website’s Learn More section has lots of ideas for support. And finally, as always, encourage them to forget about what’s going on by diving into a good book – reading has been shown to promote positive mental health.