Posted on 16th Apr
Normally, this week would be the final one of the Easter holidays for children.
With schools now having been shut officially since 20th March, learning for most students has to be completed at home.
Many parents have elected to take a break from lessons and observe the Easter holiday; however, next week is the time for education to begin again in our houses.
Now is the perfect time for parents to begin organising their time to ensure an engaging and fun schedule is prepared in time for Monday.
MyTutor – a UK online tutoring service – has spoken to their parent base to discuss what works best when setting up a timetable for the day:
•Try having set lessons in the morning, and then use the afternoon to try more creative or practical activities – including getting outside if you can do so safely. One parent, Emma, is doing exactly this and is using her afternoon to bake and craft with her children.
•Another parent, Eli, suggests “shaping the day” with each child so they know exactly what to expect and what they should have achieved by the end of it. Establishing a routine is important – even if it’s just that they need to have had breakfast and be dressed by 9:30!
•If you have more than one child to educate at home, timetables should ideally be adjusted depending on the independence and needs of each individual child. Younger children, for example, should work in short bursts of 30-40 minutes. Older children can remain focused for longer periods of up to an hour.
•Keep a combination of self-directed study, help from you and other family members, and free time when kids can focus on their own project or activity.
To help bring structure to the (home) school day, and alleviate some of the pressure on parents and students alike, MyTutor has launched a new, free Online School which is packed with support.
The platform offers daily live group tutorials on key topics and new resources are added every day. Current offerings provide GCSE module tutorials, with Key-Stage 3 and A-Level modules in development. Pre-recorded videos focussing on popular topics are also uploaded to MyTutor’s YouTube channel regularly, across a wide range of subjects, but are currently centred around the core subjects: Maths, the three Sciences and English.
James Grant, co-founder of MyTutor, discusses the need for EdTech to help support parents taking on the role of teacher during this time: “Pupils working in isolation from home because of containment measures could face learning challenges at a critical period. Fortunately, online platforms can be accessed in a convenient and hygienic way across the UK. MyTutor are incredibly pleased to launch this new service for GCSE students, which we believe will be a vital resource for those looking to continue their studies from home.
“MyTutor has advocated the use of EdTech in the classroom for a long time, and now we have the chance to assist schools, teachers and pupils as they work from home. We want to ensure we support all children with their continued learning during this tricky time and so are delighted to be able to provide this valuable and easily-accessible platform for free.”
