Learning From Home the Untraditional Way

Parents around the world are all currently feeling a sudden appreciation for teachers.

Asking that all important question, just how do they manage to get through each day without turning to drink?

With most children being asked to continue their learning at home, the word homeschool is now doing the rounds all across the internet and I bet top searches after the coronavirus are all geared towards what activities can be done with children to help them with their learning.

There are differing opinions right now as to whether you should be following a structured day using the curriculum provided from your child's school or perhaps taking a more relaxed approach, allowing kids time to adjust to their new way of life.

Now I'm not a homeschooler, I do however work at a school and I am also a parent so I can see things from both sides.

And in my opinion I don't think any option is wrong.

I believe that you know your child and you'll know best how to approach the idea of learning from home.

For my girls, I've taken the more structured approach but instead of doing all work set by their lovely teachers, I am also mixing in things that they wouldn't get the chance to do at school which include various art tutorials.

So I thought it might be helpful if I shared some of my findings in a post so that all links were in one place rather than you having to trawl through various links to find new and exciting activities to try with your children.

Keeping active

There have been four things that we have had a lot of fun joining in with, keeping us fit and active whilst boosting positivity and they are:

P.E. with Joe Wicks

I love a HIIT workout so its been a bonus being able to continue my own exercise whilst having the kids joining in too. Going live on Youtube 9am Mon - Fri, this man is doing a fantastic job of keeping the nation moving.

Dance with Oti Mabuse

Going live at 11.30am Mon-Fri on both her Facebook and Youtube accounts. Great for strictly fans, and with various daily themes, this puts the fun into exercise.

Cosmic Kids Yoga

A more relaxed approach to exercise but no less fun. Cosmic Kids Yoga is great for the whole family.

Just Dance

If you don't have a computer console you can look up all of the Just Dance songs on Youtube. Believe me you will come away sweating every time.

Getting Creative

My kids have always loved getting creative. Whether that is through drawing, writing or simply making things out of random materials around the house. Some of the best things I've found for this have been via Twitter.

Rob Biddulph

This was the first one I found. Putting up different draw along videos on a Tuesday and a Thursday. These are perfect for any budding artist. Make sure to share via social media with the tag #DrawWithRob

Here's one my seven year old made earlier:

Afternoon @RobBiddulph catching up on this weeks #DrawWithRob with the 7 year old 💕 pic.twitter.com/3VwJWRgSwq

— Chantelle Hazelden (@MamaMummyMum) March 26, 2020

Who's The Teacher?

Do you ever wonder who's the teacher in your childs life? I've always been keen to help my children learn. I bought books for them to read even before they were even born, the toys that they play with not only allow them to have fun but they also encourage them to learn different skills from counting and sorting to role play and dealing with certain emotions.

However when my children started school I thought I would become what I would call a back seat teacher, still helping them along their learning journey but becoming someone that reinforced what their school teachers were teaching them rather than being the main source of where their knowledge comes from.

My 6 year old daughter Freya and her class mates were let down big time last year by their teacher when they were in reception. Unfortunately they weren't taught all of their phonics and other basic skills and some were left not really being able to read properly when they started year one in September.