What You Need To Know If Your Kids Are Learning From Home

During this unprecedented time of Covid-19, parents are being encouraged to keep their kids home from school in NSW if they have the means and that means home-schooling.

Senior Lecturer in Education at Monash University Dr. Michael Phillips told Poppy & Leigh this morning that while online learning is going to play a huge part there are a number of things that parents can do at home.

“For example there are a lot of really great citizen science projects out there where people in their own backyards can report on bird life, animal life they might be seeing. If they’re taking a walk in the local park they’re able to do that sort of thing as well, so there are lot of offline activities like that that people can contribute to”.

Dr. Phillips also highlighted the opportunities that online learning and teaching can offer students of all ages. Parents can log on and get in touch with various Teacher Associations that represent each of the different subjects their children are learning at school which provide resources for teachers and parents, often free of charge.

“There are lots and lots of really good free apps that have been designed particularly for younger children. So there are lots of good reading apps, there are also lots of good numeracy kinds of apps” Dr. Phillips said.

Another key part of education is the socialization aspect, which Dr. Phillips says is really important and there are ways to facilitate this even if students are home from school.  

“We need to still be able to make time in the day for our young people to be able to virtually hang out with their friends just to try and keep life as normal as possible. I would say just try and keep a balance in young people’s lives”.

When it comes to those students who are entering year 12 this year, there is still much uncertainty around how the year will look for them. It’s important at this time for teachers, parents and students to work together to ensure the best outcomes.

Listen to the full chat here: