Thing to do in isolation

So I thought id keep this post simple and list a few things to do for yourself and with kids to keep yourself busy.

1. Doodle time. This is good for both yourself and kids, keeps the mind occupied. You never know you might find hidden artists in the house.
2. Hang-A-Man
3. Ludo
4. Four in Row
5. Tag
6. What's the time Mr Wolf
7. Dear Diary
8. Homemade play dough
9. Dodge ball
10. Basket ball

These are a few ideas, there are so many others too. But I didn't want the list to go on forever.

Most of these you can play indoors depending on the size of your apartment. Or you could play in your back yard. If you don't have a back yard, you are allowed to go to the park to get some excerise. Just be careful to keep some hand sanitisers/ wipes with you. If possible wear gloves, and go to an area with the least people around and keep your distance to others.

Covid-19 and Kids

The Covid-19 has left everyone in uncertainty. We don't know when this will all come to an end. All we do know is that we have to keep ourselves and our family safe. 
So the kids are off from school. Most schools have provided online classrooms. The teachers send a timetable every morning of what the day ahead looks like. This included when they can have a break for lunch. Most of the days end by 2pm, where they can plan what they would like to do next.
Some kids are easy to manage and are willing to go ahead and do their work as it comes. Some kids like mine need the extra motivation to get things started and then they carry on. And some kids need you to sit there with them the whole time while they do their work.
Try to get their school work out of the way. that way they have all the free time to do as they wish if they finish their work quickly enough, which is motivation for them. Where as, when they get longer breaks there work seems to never end and it drags on through the day. 
Nursery kids mostly have videos to watch. These videos should include but are not limited to phonics, numbers and drawings. it should encourage the kids to play along and learn to write some of the words and numbers down. Maybe do some drawing and colouring. This will keep the kids busy and make sure they dont forget what they have laready learnt in school. These videos will also give you ideas on how to keep teaching them through the day. 
Reception to year 6 have lessons according to their year group. Every day their timetable is set out with the subjects that are going to be taught to them for the day. This will include English, Maths and one or two other subjects. This time gave me a chance to see were my child stands in his study. This is a chance for you to see what stage your child is studying at, and help them study to become better. Either tutor them yourselves or get them the help they may need.

After study time is over the kids need to blow of some energy. For different age groups this is different. For my kids (one 8 and one is 4) we do a P.E lesson with Joe wicks https://www.youtube.com/user/thebodycoach1 every morning 9am. we then start with study, with a lunch break. After study time we have some playtime. My son plays xbox for a while and daughter watches some fairy videos. We then play some other games, dodge ball, table tennis, make playdough, noughts and crosses, hang-a-man etc. 
There are some memory games you can play with the older kids like we went to the super market. To start with you can use the Alphabet in order and then to make it more difficult mix it up a little.

We cant go out of the house but we need to make sure we keep active so that we don't get other illnesses and obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes even kids are not prone to these illnesses. so please keep the kids active and eating healthy. We can only try to make the best from what we have. Lets keep each other motivated and pass on other ideas 

Dealing with Homework For Reception

Kids grow up so fast, sometimes their earlier years seem simpler the older they get. The tantrums grow longer and louder, through all this getting them to do chores or homework can seem like a bigger mission. 

The main thing to remember is that staying calm is key. If you need to blow off steam try to do it away from them. Two reasons for this, one they pick up on your sense and get worse and secondly when they get upset they think this is the way to behave and respond, and they wont be afraid to say this is what you do or did (awkward). Sometimes we have no choice and we let out the irritation, you cant always have full control when the day has been one of those rollercoaster days when everything is just an excuse to throw a tantrum. Your at your end, the day is about to end and that tantrum comes again you take a deep breathe but you've had enough. It happens, it happens to the calmest of us. If their is a parent that says they have never had that feeling I don't think they would be 100% truthful.

So just be true to yourself allow yourself some time to recompose. Give them a break, a toy or tv whatever will keep them busy for a few minutes so you can collect yourself before that burst. Then come back and start again.

Now kids and homework, I remember when my eldest now 8, was in Reception his homework felt like it was for me to do. There was a lot more of making/building things then anything else. But I would try and let him do as much of it as he could and then putting it all together was left for me and the clear up ofcourse. The main thing at this stage is to let them understand that it is their homework and your around to help. You need the basic stationary at hand so pens, pencils, colouring pens and pencils, crayons, rubber, ruler and sharpener. But also make sure you have things like coloured papers, collect cardboards from things like cereal boxes and drinks, straws and other bits and bobs for them to use to build things. 

The other part to their homework will be Phonics and Reading. Instead of learning the alphabet like we did in the 90's they now learn them using sounds. Make yourself familiar with these sounds, then as you talk about things you can ask for things that start with the same sound so A would b ah so you could put fruit on the table and say which one do you think starts with ah?? and so on. I also had a chart on the wall with the alphabet as they learn them in school with the same graphics. So A with and Apple, B with a Boot, C with a Caterpillar etc. 
Basic numbers are taught counting up to 20, counting in 10's. The other thing they get taught is Adding on one, so one more then 2 is?.. one more then 4 is?.. etc. 
There are other subjects that are taught as the festivals of different cultures come around the kids learn about them and may do some homework around these festivities. But this will mostly be creative homework.

That's it home topics covered.

Now lets get them to do it.
The main thing here is routine and continuity. Set a time that suits you, maybe just after dinner or just before. Sometimes you need to play around with it a little bit to find one you can stick to, especially if you have two or more kids. You would also need to decide whether you want to do homework altogether or separately. Sometimes one child needs more help then the other which is ok to then sit them together and deal with, but if they both need help you may need to manage it separately. 
Once you've established a time that suits you all, just try to make sure you stick to it. In the beginning it may be difficult but eventually they get used to it. You could use sticker charts or other incentives to get them motivated. You'd be amazed at how much a child can do for a sticker (lolzz). 

Good Luck! 

Leave me a comment below to tell me how you get on. What things do you use for study time?