Self-teach your child during lockdown
Covid-19 pandemic that necessitated the closing of many schools last year and the subsequent suspension of school opening this year, has brought in a new normal.
THIS new normal is what parents should embrace by taking a leading role by teaching their own children daily.
It might not be much, but that little teaching helps the child remain in the mood of school.
It’s no longer time for parents to watch their children spend their entire time playing on the streets, watching movies and playing games, among other things, waiting for schools to reopen. The big question, therefore, is who knows when the schools will eventually open?
The opening of schools which was postponed indefinitely by the Government following a surge in Covid- 19 infections is something that parents should embrace and stop folding hands without taking action to assist their children.
Parents are supposed to take a proactive role in buying their children books to read. They should make the children revise and set some examination tests.
If parents have no money to buy text books, it is very wise to coach learners though work from their previous exercise books.
Some might want to say as parents they were not good in school, hence teaching their own children might be disastrous. This is not true. They will always learn something from you and your closer relatives in the house.
These learners also deserve a better future despite the Covid- 19 pandemic that has ravaged nations.
The young ones are the future leaders and if they are neglected, who will take our legacy into the future?
To those who can afford it is wise to buy gadgets like smart phones, iPads, tablets or computers for use in learning and research.
I understand some parents do not want to expose their children to gadgets at an early stage because some of them tend to abuse gadgetry, but a responsible parent can buy a gadget that his/ her child will use for learning under supervision.
You can always take away the gadgets and keep them safe after study time.
However, I have come across parents who do not want a mobile phone near their children, I think it is time that Information and Communication Technology must be embraced for our own good, mind you, the world is digitalising every day.
Equally important is that children must be taught how to research on the internet, and parents should buying data for them.
It is a shame that sometimes learners reach university level without being able to use computers. Every learner must have a timetable which he/ she abides to.
It is crucial that guardians and parents must help learners draft these timetables.
Make the time table friendly to the level of your child so that you counter a situation whereby a Grade 6 pupil is given the same studying hours of a Form 3 pupil.
As parents you should ensure that the timetable is followed religiously because children tend to relax.
Make it a point as a parent that no child spends the whole day without reading or studying.
As a parent, cultivate a culture of reading in your child at an early age.
It’s not wise for parents to send their
children for extra lessons to some teachers who are defying the Government’s directive banning extra- lessons, especially at this time when there is a surge of Covid19 cases.
When children go for extra- lessons and mix with other learners, they risk contracting Covid- 19.
The new Covid-19 variant is deadly and affects all ages, hence the need to observe these restrictions.
Gone are the days when parents only participated in the education of their children through paying school fees, buying uniforms, providing food or pocket money.
The tables have turned and there is a new normal that we are living under..
For some clever parents who tutor their
children at home, when schools finally open their children will be ahead of those with laid back parents.
Learners have lost immense time due to the lockdown restrictions imposed since last year.
The failure by some teachers to report for duty after schools reopened citing incapacitation and demanding salary increase heavily affected the learner.
It is therefore critical for every parent to seize this opportunity and take a leading role in the education of their children at home. The time to do it is now.
Every minute, hour and day that passes by without the participation of the parent is wasted time.
Who knows, the normal might be here to stay for too long?