Four Tips for Stress-Free Home Learning from a Primary School Teacher

With most schools now shut and students all around the UK learning from home, there are lots of parents and carers who are trying to figure out how to navigate home learning. This can certainly be stressful at times; everyone wants to make sure that their children are able to stay on track academically during this time away from in-person classes.

Are you feeling a bit overwhelmed with all these changes? We have some advice for you!

Joe Bentley, Year 4 Teacher and Maths Lead at a primary school in Tower Hamlets, has shared his top four tips for making home learning as stress-free and successful as possible.

1. Be realistic.

In the words of American child psychologist Emily King, lower your expectations. It’s easy to assume that managing home learning is another thing you should be doing brilliantly from the outset. Why on earth would that be true? You’re likely new to it and have very limited time and resources, especially if you’re trying to work from home simultaneously. So don’t pressure yourself to achieve unrealistic goals. Keeping things calm is a much more worthy aim.

2. Work out a schedule, but don’t be afraid to change it.

Routine can be your friend, but don’t turn it into another thing that you have to do perfectly. Try picking some elements that are likely to make the day go more smoothly. Exercise boosts concentration, so it can be useful to start the day with something like Joe Wicks’ PE lesson. Children often concentrate better in the morning, so try planning more academic work for earlier in the day. On the whole, short bursts and variety will really help. You could balance more academic work with lower-demand activities – a simple craft project or colouring might be ideal. If something on the schedule isn’t working, don’t stick to it slavishly. Come back to it another day maybe, or just try something else.

3. Don’t make it all academics, all the time.

There are also many, many important but non-academic things that your children can learn from you. What life skills could they pick up during this time? Can you teach them to do laundry? Can they practise telling you jokes? Are you arguing over an assignment? Play a card game instead.

4. Use screen time strategically.

If you can, I’d suggest saving screen time for later in the day when children are winding down or when they’ve finished more demanding activities. If putting on Toy Story 4 is your go-to strategy for the foreseeable future, then you probably are storing up trouble for yourself. But as a short-term source of respite, it might be a godsend if things are getting fraught. Don’t be afraid to use it for a bit of emergency respite!

Thank you to Joe Bentley for sharing his home-learning tips! We wish the best of luck to all of you who are helping children with home learning.