Apologies for the blurry image in yesterday’s message – a couple of pages from The Book of Hopes – ‘words and pictures to comfort, inspire and entertain children in lockdown’. The poem which was so hard to read was ‘Me’ by Swapna Haddow (page 291 of the book):
The book is free to access – go directly there to enjoy it and other poems and stories.
The other book we recommended yesterday was Coronavirus: A Book for Children with fabulous illustrations by Axel Scheffler (who illustrates so many of Julie Donaldson’s books). Did anyone spot the connection? In fact, both books feature Axel Scheffler’s work, because he created the cover image for The Book of Hopes:
Sticking with the book theme today, your child could well be reading more than they normally do. (Lots of adults are, too, apparently: ‘many of the 2,103 people surveyed cited reading as a form of release, escapism or distraction during these troubled times’.) Check out this website full of recommendations to help your child branch out if they’ve been hooked in by a particular series or author.
Another recommendation for your child is the BBC’s Own It. Own It helps children and young people who are new to social media manage their well-being, empowering them to make smart choices and to lead a happy and healthy life online. Its features help children to:
- get advice whenever they type
- track their feelings
- win badges as they reflect
- find help when they need it
- taking quizzes to learn more about themselves
The app also includes a special keyboard to use which offers helpful tips and friendly advice to children when they need it.
Own It has been updated with support for your child linked to lockdown, such as advice on getting used to a new situation.
Finally, today, some more writing from one of our older pupils, this one from Sofia in Y5:
All schools across the U.K. have been closed due to the Coronavirus so that means children have to work at home.
There are some benefits about working at home, such as not being rushed; you can lay in bed longer. However, I think overall it is better to learn at school. But here are some of my Top Tips about how you can help a child learn at home.
The first thing you can do is stay out of their way and don’t talk to them. If they’re not doing their work tell them to and keep checking. If you don’t know an answer, which probably won’t happen, but if you don’t, try and work it out yourself. You could check our work for us to make sure nothing is wrong!
I hoped you liked my quick article about some Top Tips that can help you understand what will make us all better learners at home.