How To Supplement Your Child’s Learning At Home
When schools were closed in Kenya for several months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Information and Communications Technology Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru shared that the national government was allotting 15 billion KES for a project that would allow over 24,000 public schools to adopt e-learning methods. The aim of the project was to expand the reach of online study materials to make virtual learning in Kenya accessible to all children.
When children spend time at home, parents become responsible for ensuring that they have access to learning materials and assisting them as they answer the worksheets. Kids being home is not an end to learning. Encouraging your child to study and making sure they learn adequately can be a challenge, so here are four ways you can supplement your child’s education at home:
Have a Designated Learning Space
As an adult, separating work and life at home can be difficult. The same goes for children learning at home. As a solution, the Department of Basic Education of South Africa (DBE) suggests that parents create a designated learning space for children where they will answer activity sheets and attend online classes. Ensure that their needs are provided, such as a comfortable chair and table, stationery materials, and school books. You can also instill discipline by encouraging them to organize their personal space after studying. Creating this area will help your children understand that when they’re in that space, they have to focus on studying instead of playing. Having a sense of normalcy through routines can help your child feel safe.
Establish a Study Routine
Establishing a study routine can help your child get used to studying at home. You can do this by structuring a workable schedule where you will allot time for specific activities such as studying and playing. For example, at 9 AM, you and your child will go over the worksheets for the day. By noon, they’ll take their lunch and get some rest. Consistently following a schedule is necessary to teach children the importance of balancing time for learning and play, even at home. Most formal educational institutions abide by a schedule to promote consistency.
This much is evident in how Bridge Kenya Schools promotes consistency by designing supplemental home activities that are ideally given to children on a daily basis. They cover lessons in English and Math, which also include learning guides and answer sheets for parents. More importantly, they structure their study materials as daily activities, so students and their parents can stick to an established schedule. If parents remain consistent in guiding their children in their supplemental worksheets, children will also form a habit of studying on their own.
Encourage Them to Read Books
In a study conducted by Oby Bridget Azubuike and Bisayo Aina, they found that 67% of parents from Nigeria were actively helping their children learn at home by letting their children read books. This indicates that the majority of parents feel comfortable teaching their children through reading, and you can definitely read with your child just like them. It doesn’t necessarily have to be textbooks provided by the school. They can be educational books that are also entertaining to read, which will enhance their language and vocabulary skills. Furthermore, the DBE recommends that you ask your child what the book is about as well as what they’ve learned after reading to help them internalize their learnings.
Use Online Resources Effectively
If you have access to technology and a stable internet connection, you can maximize the learning outcomes of your children by utilizing videos and online learning resources. Our previous post listed down the best websites like Khan Academy, Crash Course on YouTube, and National Geographic Kids. Since they offer myriad lessons and topics ranging from Math, Science, and English, you can be sure that your child can pick up interesting information along the way. However, when using technology, the DBE reminds parents to monitor the content their children are exposed to as well as their screen time.
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