• Be realistic about what you can do!

 

• You're not expected to become teachers and your children aren't expected to learn as the do in school. Simply providing your children with some structure at home will help them to adapt.

 

• Share the load if there are 2 parents at home. Split the day into slots and taketurns so you can do your own work.

 

• Take care of your own health and wellbeing. This will be new for your entire household,so give it time to settle.

 

• Keep to a timetable wherever possible.

 

• Create and stick to a routine if you can. This is what children are used to. For example, eat breakfast at the same time and make sure they're dressed before starting the ‘school day' – avoid staying in pyjamas!

 

• Involve your children in setting the timetable where possible. It’s a great opportunity for them to manage their own time better and it’ll give them ownership.

 

• Check in with your children and try to keep to the timetable, but be flexible. If a task/activity is going well or they want more time, let it extend where possible.

 

• If you have more than 1 child at home, consider combining their timetables. For example, they might exercise and do maths together – see what works for your household.

 

• Designate a working space if possible, and at the end of the day have a clear cut-off to signal school time is over.

 

• Stick the timetable up on the wall so everyone knows what they should be doing when, and tick activities off throughout the day.

 

• Distinguish between weekdays and weekends, to separate school life and home life.

 

• Make time for exercise and breaks throughout the day.

 

• If you have a garden, use it regularly. If you don’t, try to get out once a day as permitted.

 

• Perhaps get your children to write in a diary what they did each day – this can be a clear sign that the ‘school’ day has ended.

 

• Where you have more freedom in the timetable, make time for other activities. Maybe add some creative time or watch a dance video from https://www.gonoodle.com/ to get the heart-rate going.

 

• Perhaps ask grandparents to listen to your children read on FaceTime or Skype (or ask grandparents to read to younger children).

 

• Give them chores to do so they feel more responsible about the daily routine at home.

 

• Ask them to help you cook and bake.

 

• Accept that they'll probably watch more TV/spend time on their phone – that's ok but set/agree some screen time limits.