NORTHERN FAMILY
Steep learning curve as families face new term
IT IS the question on every parent’s lips – how do we survive Term 2 while being pulled between working full-time and undertaking the daunting task of home-schooling the children?
To ease the burden, the best experts in the field give their advice on how parents can pull off the impossible task of homeschooling and working at the same time as Queensland delivers the first five weeks of Term 2 remotely.
QUT home-schooling expert Rebecca English said parents needed to remember that schooling from home was completely different to the classroom, with most academic learning achievable in about 2-3 hours paired with incidental learning through playing and games.
She said parents would have the best chance getting their children to complete school work in the morning while doing play-based learning in the afternoon.
“The school will be setting the work; you don’t have to be the teacher, you just have to remind the child to stay on task, and remind them you’ve got to work so everybody can work together,” she said. “Set a time in the day where you think it’s OK that they play, watch TV or do something else and remind them up to that point it’s not happening (if they don’t finish schoolwork).”
University of Newcastle home-school expert David Roy said parents should create an area where learning materials are kept and organised and a place for learning with a routine or timetable of regular schoolwork to help children adjust.
Parents should make sure children have a morning, lunch and afternoon break with healthy food so they can “switch on” throughout the day, he said.
Education Minister Grace Grace said school staff would be in contact with parents to let them know what to expect and how to best support their child’s learning.
“This will not be homeschooling,” she said.
“Teachers, teacher aides and staff will be in schools working to deliver the curriculum to their students.”
Brisbane home-schooling parents Jody and John Halbesma said Queensland parents should know it’s possible to work full-time and homeschool.
John, a conveyancing lawyer, works from home while Jody, a registered nurse, works across Brisbane hospitals.
The couple ensures they get schoolwork done with the kids before and after work and on the weekends with structured activities and play daily.
“We have a routine between us as parents … we have a list per week we try to achieve, so I can see he’s done maths, so I won’t go over that – it’s not for the kids, it’s for us to make sure we’re on par,” she said.
“A typical morning would have time for chores, breakfast and getting ready for the day; and our first session would be English, with reading and writing. Sometimes the kids listen to YouTube, because there’s people on YouTube that read books for children.
“Afternoon time is more creative – arts, physical education, or a scavenger hunt, which has reading and maths in one – split the day up into two chunks.”
It comes as parents face mounting pressure of trying to keep their jobs and work remotely amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen workplaces and schools move online.
Shine Lawyers employment law head Samantha Mangwana said the burden placed on parents who were home-schooling while also trying to work from home was “immense and could not be underestimated”.
She said workers in this position could benefit from having a discussion with their employer about how to tackle the problems.
If workers were concerned about the consequences, they should seek advice from a lawyer first, Ms Mangwana said.
“There are ways to protect your position in relation to potential employment law claims for adverse action or discrimination,” she said.
Workplace Gender Equality Agency director Libby Lyons said the pandemic had meant employers now had a better understanding of what flexible work looks like.
She said the good news was a conversation with employers about working flexibly should be easier to have now than it would have been just a few weeks ago.