The closure of schools due to the coronavirus outbreak worries many parents in various countries of the world. But why are schools closing and what can we do? The main reason is to contain the spread of the virus, but that forces even teachers to isolate themselves and that we all have to stay in our homes and in an environment as safe as possible , so it is necessary to rethink education and the possible options of learning that we now have on the table.
How schools are coping with the current closure period
There is no single way to deal with this situation from the schools, and everything will depend, to a large extent, on what has been established by regulation in each center, although for primary and secondary students the most generalized option has been to opt for online classes . However, even in these cases a reorganization of the agendas and priorities has been necessary, since the conditions from home cannot be the same as from the school. In other words, this whole situation will depend a lot on the capacity of the schools to plan, prepare and distribute the work, as well as their capacity to establish it using various means and taking into account the technological capacities of each family.
Some of the methods used are being some like the following:
- Work emailed or posted on school website – Many already post assignments or exercises online.
- Use of websites and applications that can be used to set a wide range of tasks , including math activities, writing projects, spelling, comprehension …
- Provide reading and learning ideas with worksheets, tasks to complete, and suggestions for creative projects.
- Use of platforms like Google Classroom : a service where teachers can set assignments, share resources, communicate with students, and even organize live lessons.
The content of the assignments and syllabi, consequently, will vary from one school to another, but almost all of them will seek or have sought a way to work and that these activities are adapted to the new circumstances, to fill gaps and reinforce basic concepts, such as multiplication tables , number and place value, spelling or grammar in the case of elementary school. It is very important, in any case, that parents do not get distressed by this process by having to teach their children new skills or information with which they are not used to dealing, since the important thing is to face this situation in the best possible way and with the minimum of pressure.
How much work children should do each day
Although the ideal would be for children to continue dedicating the same approximate number of hours to their class work that they dedicate each day, so as not to lose routines, it does not necessarily have to be strictly adhered to in moments of isolation, although the guidelines can also be taken by schools depending on the level at which the students are. Of course, even if the hours are reduced, it is essential to bear in mind that these quarantines that are taking place are not vacation days.
If you feel that your children are not receiving enough assignments or guidelines from the school, remember that you can always supplement their daily activity in other ways, such as:
- Encouraging children to widely read fiction, nonfiction, fantasy books, newspapers, magazines, or comics
- Trying out some virtual learning experiences or interesting web pages with educational content or virtual visits to museums.
- Participating in some of the free live educational broadcasts that are being offered or free online courses on different topics.
- Using apps to practice key skills and develop new ones: spelling, phonetics, reading, time tables, addition and subtraction , science… etc.
On the contrary, if you consider that your children are working too hard, perhaps you can contact their teachers for advice or new advice more personalized to the rhythms and capacities of each child. But remember that this is a new situation for everyone and that it can take time to determine what type of learning is most appropriate for teaching children at home.
Keeping your feet on the ground will be essential at this stage, as well as assuming that perhaps we cannot expect children to be as focused as they are at school, but we do have today many tools capable of doing this more bearable and that we can continue learning new things without problems.
Many parents will also have to “telework” at home these days, so it will be very important to properly inform the little ones of the situation and make them understand that it is more important than ever that they are responsible with their obligations.
