How to motivate your HOME SCHOOLER

SET A DAILY CHECKLIST SO YOUR CHILD KNOWS WHAT’S EXPECTED

Before COVID-19 moved schooling into the home, parents battled to have their kids finish a few hours – or even just a few minutes – of homework. Now it’s become a full-time job keeping our kids on task .

So how do we help those learners who resist their classwork? Educational consultant Dr Prue Salter believes the key to a productive home-schooling experience is to look at your children – and their environment – in a completely new way.

DEFIANCE IS MORE THAN IT SEEMS

If a parent thinks their child is unmotivated, what might actually be happening is that the child is feeling fearful, overwhelmed and anxious. Their reaction is to say “I can’t do this” and what they’re really saying is: “I don’t understand it” and “I’m anxious about it” or “I’m not used to this”. Try to be an ear for them, because they may not even know how to ask for help properly.

MAKE A DAILY PLAN

Create a daily checklist with your child of what the routine for the day will be. This might be juggling Zoom call appointments or instructions for tasks where they might need to check for an email or look in a textbook, so this process maps all that out on a simple grid and be checked off when a task is completed.

Separate the things they can do independently, which tasks they will need help getting started with, and which ones they need to have a parent with, so they feel more confident going into it. At the end of the day, review the grid and see what’s been done and what might need revisiting tomorrow.

DON’T CRAM EVERYTHING IN

Between what schools are sending home and the information overload on the internet, children can feel they’re never doing enough. Make some realistic decisions of what you can manage at home. For primary school kids, don’t neglect the basics such as reading, vocab and basic maths. Anything after that is a bonus!

THEY ARE DOING MORE THAN YOU THINK

Kids may have been at school for six hours, but if you take out lunch, recess, conversations in class, assemblies and other things, the actual learning component may only be three or four hours a day. So we have to make sure we don’t expect these kids to do six hours of intensive learning at home.

CUT THEM SOME SLACK

Appreciate that kids don’t have their outlets of playing sport or an instrument, or chatting to their friends in the hallway or in class. There is a big relaxation and social component to school that they’re missing out on, so give them some time during the day to have that outlet.

A CIRCLE OF SUPPORT

Normally the message in school is to work independently at home, while school was the time where they could collaborate with others. But now everything has been flipped and technology is their only means of social connection.

For a lot of kids who are anxious or not academically able, they’re suddenly feeling isolated and stupid because they can’t just tap on their mate’s shoulder for advice.

What we should be encouraging is having the kids set up their own ‘circle of support’, so when a teacher asks them to do a task, they join a Zoom or Skype call with three or four mates and not be alone completing that task. If they have a little team of people, they have someone to bounce ideas off and ask questions in a non-threatening environment.

ACCEPT THAT ONLINE LEARNING ISN’T EASY

This has all happened overnight, so we can’t expect kids to feel instantly on top of it. Let them know they don’t have to do everything perfectly, and that things could take much longer than they normally would.

GIVE THEM SPACE

Is your home environment giving them little chance to concentrate properly? Choose a space where the student will work most efficiently − which is the quietest, most focused space you have without distractions? That doesn’t necessarily mean a desk, or a separate room, because many people won’t have that. It could be sitting outside on a table. Be creative in terms of space and look at your home with fresh eyes.

EASE THE FATIGUE

We get fatigued when we look at a screen a lot, so every 20 minutes, it’s important to have a break and physically move away from it.

SEEK THE RIGHT HELP

A lot of tutors have gone online. If your child is struggling and they have too many questions for a teacher to cope with, a tutor can be invaluable − but not if they’re trying to teach your child a subject in advance of what the school is doing.

THE STRUGGLE IS REAL − BUT THERE ARE SIMPLE WAYS TO HELP THEM STAY ON TRACK