We are on day 3 of home learning or whatever we are calling it. We all started keen and excited, well the boys were anyway. Today I think the reality has hit us all. Everyone is getting grumpy, especially the boys who I think are a bit bored and want to see their friends. They have spoken to them on facetime but I guess it’s not the same is it? Nine and six year old boys don’t always talk a lot, preferring to play or kick around a ball. I'm pretty exhausted from playing endless football but my dribbling is definitely improving.
My tip for today? It may slowly be dawning on all the children that this is it for a while. I think we need to let them feel their feelings and acknowledge how they are feeling, by that I mean:
“I can see you’re bored/angry/sad/scared/worried, it is a strange situation for all of us but we are safe.”
For younger children who can’t express how they are feeling or perhaps who are appearing anxious or acting out. Empathise with them and name their feelings; you might say:
“I know it’s hard and you’ve got some big feelings about that, I can see you look sad/angry/worried”
By allowing everyone to have some space when they need it will help. This afternoon none of us have been feeling it (well actually all day but the routine helped). I had great plans for a bike ride and painting the shed. We’ve done neither because we didn’t feel like it, instead I rang a friend and sat in the sun with a cuppa while the boys had some screen time.
Sometimes the children or you might not fancy the art/scavenger hunt/science experiment/just dance you tube video you’ve planned but it can wait until tomorrow. Don’t put yourself or them under huge amounts of pressure because of something you’ve seen on a home learning Facebook group!
How is the set start time going? Have you been doing Joe Wicks? We haven’t because no one can be bothered! But we are still starting at 9am (ish) and finishing our learning at 12. The routine this morning definitely kept us all motivated when we didn’t feel very enthusiastic!
Take care and look after yourselves- more on that to come!
Love
Clare x