Learning at home is a new experience for all. It requires new routines, a time for discovery, adaptation, and a lot of communication. It is a collective journey and we are here to help and support you.
As our youngest students transition to their lives as distance learners, we will want to assist them in maintaining healthy habits and developing structured routines. Learning in the home can be rewarding and exciting so long as appropriate structures are put in place.
The keyword? Routine! Routine, routine, routine!
Routines help maintain predictability during times of crisis and can keep everyone feeling calm and in control. Your child will need your guidance and accompaniment to become familiar with these new structures.
Take Care of the Basics : Maintain a sense of structure and routine.
- Regular bedtimes and wake times
Consistent bedtime and wake times ensure that children are able to fall asleep, stay asleep and wake feeling refreshed!
Negotiation of sleep or not?
The change of life, being at home with parents or caregivers can very well disturb the pattern of sleep of the little ones. They lose their landmarks and it might take a little effort from all to reset them. They will need your help.
- Set a clear schedule for each day: a visual daily calendar with a checklist consulted several times a day will be a precious tool.
Regular mealtimes, set breaks, and planned activities can serve to guide the day with certainty.Do not underestimate free time, free play, allowing your child to let off steam, decompress, be alone with their favorite toys or not doing anything. We want our child’s time to be structured but not strictly directed at all times. The capacity to occupy him/herself for a little while, is a way to recenter and enhance creativity. A child does not need to be busy and instructed at all times! Being alone, non stimulated by adults or devices is essential for his/her development, creativity, autonomy and overall well being.
- Workspace
Limit distractions wherever possible. Ensure, as much as possible, your child has a bright, quiet, clean and clutter-free workspace. Returning to this same workspace each day can allow for increased productivity and focus. Leave the workspace during lunch hour for fresh air or conversation.
- Physical Activity and Movement Breaks: Regularly Scheduled Breaks Is a Must!
Have a list of possible physical activities. Do not be afraid that elementary age children lose learning time! Breaks and physical activity, au contraire, will make their study time more effective! Use our PE teachers resources and if possible go outside and run around the block, keeping your distance, for just a little, or if not, let the fresh air in for an instant while exercising!
- Log Off!
Remote teaching and learning follows a different paradigm. It is not a replica of the traditional physical classroom setting to which we are all accustomed. Screen time should be monitored and limited according to your child’s age. In this new learning environment, screen time is required in order to receive instruction and keep connected with teachers and peers and give your child a sense of belonging and continuity.As important as it is to assure those necessary times, they must be limited accordingly to your child’s age in order to respect him/her developmental needs and remain healthy. This is the opportunity to promote family-time, board games, conversation, unique learning experiences.
Support will remain available to students and families throughout the entirety of the Online Lycée distance learning program by communicating directly with our School Psychologist and Counselor via email and phone. Reach them through MyLycée directory listings.
About the Author :
Hélène Stafford, School Psychologist and Rebecca Perini, Middle School Counselor, provide mental health and counseling support services to Lycée students and families.