How to Balance Work and Play for Your Child During Covid-19

With the start of the school year, many school systems have made the switch over to online learning and many parents are now homeschooling their children. For many parents, having their children get an online education from home is new territory. While online tutoring may come with several new challenges, one of the biggest obstacles is finding a balance between work and play for your child. This helpful guide will help you navigate this unique school year for your child and help you to promote a healthy balance of work and play.

Put a Focus on Learning

The school environment is very education focused. Schools are mainly compromised of individual classrooms and students are expected to get their work done. There are often multiple authority figures that will check in with a child throughout the day to ensure that they are completing their work and learning. The home life is more centered around relaxing and playing. Switching your child's mindset during Covid-19 may be a challenge and may be met with some resistance. However, it is important to stay patient.

Give your child some time to adjust, but ensure that you are instilling a focus on learning. Set aside a dedicated working space for your child. You may want to have it set up similarly to a classroom. Get excited about setting aside a new working space and ask for your child's input, as well as their creative help. This can help them to get excited about learning in that space.

Set a Schedule

When a child is at school, they are on a schedule. The same should be true when they are at home. However, you may find that your child does best with a customized schedule. Perhaps, your child does their best work in the morning hours or maybe they prefer to work a little in the morning and a little at night. In this schedule, you can set aside time for school work and then free time for the child to go and play as they please. It is often helpful to separate the play area from the working area.

Make Learning More Engaging

Learning does not have to be done in the classroom! In fact, learning can be done just about anywhere. Maybe, it is a nice day outside so you decide to take the classroom outside. Keep in mind that even when your child is playing, they are learning and developing different skills. When you are helping your child learn from home, it is a great idea to think up engaging ways to present the information. This will make it feel like less work to learn and more like play.

Plan Activities

When your child is done with their school work for the day, keep them engaged with fun activities. Activities do not have to be elaborate, but could be something that helps them burn off some energy. Keep in mind that exercise can help with stress levels. Allow them time to relax and recharge. Maybe, once they are done with school work for the week, you plan a day to make all about them and treat them to some of their favorite things. These little things will make the biggest difference in how they feel about learning from home. 

Children learning from home this school year is new territory for a lot of parents, as well as many students. One of the biggest struggles when it comes to education right now is finding a balance between work and play. While this can feel overwhelming at first, there are ways that you can help your child learn and allow them to enjoy their free time.