Planning school days at home

As the majority of schools will shut from Friday afternoon, as a nation we’re desperate to keep some normality in our lives, particularly for our children. Many families will have no option but to provide a ‘home school’ learning environment for children. With this, perhaps daunting, possibility in mind, Educate has prepared a handy schedule for children of primary school age which you could follow to ensure it works for everyone in the household.

8am-9am

Getting your child up at a similar time as they normally would when going to school is the best way to keep to a routine. That means they won’t notice too much difference when they do go back.

Start with breakfast together and talk about what’s in store for the day ahead. Make sure they get washed and dressed too. Don’t be tempted to all stay in your pyjamas!

9am-10am

For this time slot, choose a different subject for each day. For example:

• Monday: Maths
• Tuesday: English
• Wednesday: Science
• Thursday: History
• Friday: Perhaps use this slot to cover everything that has been learned this week

Your school may have supplied learning materials or have a range available to download on their website. If not, head to BBC Bitesize where you can access a range of support for ages 3-16+

11am-12pm

Switch the next hour up by doing something creative, it could be drawing, Lego building, playing an instrument or cooking/baking.

12pm

It’s lunchtime! Be sure to tidy up all of the morning’s materials and equipment (with help from your child of course!) so that it not only keeps clutter at bay but separates work from lunchtime.

When preparing lunch, why not use this time to teach your child about where their food comes from and encourage participation to develop life skills.

12:45pm-1pm

While self-isolating, it is important to have hygiene at the forefront of your mind so take time out during the middle of the day to wipe down surfaces, door handles, light switches, the table you’re working from etc, with disinfectant.

Make it a fun game and ask your child where else germs could be lurking?

1-2pm

It’s important to break up the day with reading. Encourage your child to read from their favourite book or why not challenge with them with writing a short story that they then have to read out to you? This helps both their writing and reading skills – win win!

2pm-3pm

Where possible, electronics should be avoided during the day if they’re not being used for educational purposes. For this hour, however, as a treat why not introduce them as a learning tool and make this time slot interactive and engaging. Look out for our recommendations on these soon!

3-4pm

Use this time to reflect on the day and ask your child to make some suggestions as to what they’d like to learn tomorrow. This will help them look forward to the next day.

4pm+

Why not use this time to do some exercise? Perhaps you could do an at-home workout. The Body Coach has a variety of fun videos on his YouTube channel that you could try, or if you have a dog head out for walk and stretch those legs!