Boneo Buzz: 24th July

What is a Remote Learning balance?

A remote learning balance is simply drawing the line between what is learning time and home time. 

Without after school activities, play dates, children will be looking for other ways to entertain themselves. Without their normal activities, it is important that children find other ways to stay happy, healthy, and engaged while at home. 

By creating a home-learning environment with the right tools and resources, you will see your child will thrive at home and the best part is – you get to watch it happen.

Reminders on how to create a Remote – Learning environment

Create a designated learning space

Wherever you decide to let your child set up shop, create a designated workspace at home. Associate that area with learning only for the time being. Try talking with your child about how this is their “work from home” desk! Just like their desk at school but at home. You can try to set this area up like school by removing any home clutter. Consider adding items to the area that a student might need like a pencil case, home learning pack, and extra paper. Students should feel comfortable and have a sense of ownership to their home learning space. 

Choose the right learning space

It is easy to want to let your child learn from their bedroom, playroom, or the couch while you also work from home. Choose a designated learning space that allows your child to feel a sense of ownership and empowerment when they sit down to learn! You can try having them work alongside you at the kitchen table so they can see how you work from home! It is important to find a neutral space with limited distractions where you can check in periodically. When children go to school, we as parents are able to feel secure that they are being supervised. Same goes for your home. Now that your parent role has turned into a combination of parent and supervisor of learning, the responsibility lies on us to make sure they are engaged and learning. Once you choose your designated learning space, make sure your child feels comfortable learning there!

How you can help

Minimise distractions

It is inevitable that your child will get distracted while at home. What you can do as parents is prepare for distractions before they happen. If you have a dog, consider putting the dog outside while the children are on Zoom. Other ways you can minimise distractions is to make sure that all toys, games, and activities are tucked away during learning hours. Practice the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality. If your child is having trouble focusing due to other distractions in the house, try noise cancelling headphones or moving their learning space to a quieter area. Take it day by day, if something isn’t working, try something new! 

Set a schedule

Our students are used to having a school schedule so try to keep their schedule the same at home! There are pillars in the school day that you can mimic at home. Things like start-time, lunch, recess, and end times are good starting points for setting a schedule. Having consistency in the schedule will provide a sense of comfort. Let them know that this is how it is going to be for a little while. 

You may need to make adjustments in your day to compliment your child’s at home schedule. Try to block times that align with your child’s new home-learning schedule. Now you have an excuse to have recess too! 

Communicate

Communication is key when it comes to remote learning. Make sure to keep open lines of communication with both your child and their teacher. During this time, teachers are quickly adapting to online learning that frankly, most teachers have never had to do before. This is an unexpected learning experience for students, parents and teachers. Keeping open lines of communication with your child’s teachers and give us feedback. Help us understand what we can do better to deliver the best educational experience and let the children know when they are doing a good job! 

Check-In

Actively check-in with your child on their progress both educationally and mentally. This can be a difficult scenario for students who are used to being in social settings. Make sure that your child feels empowered and comfortable at all times. See how their day is going and help them keep on track with their work! Teachers will give you schedules to manage at home learning – please follow this. If your child is falling behind or struggling, make sure to let us know. We are here to help and support each other.

2021 Year 5 BYOD Laptop Program Information Session

An information session will be held for our current Year 4 families on Wednesday, 29th July at 4:30pm via Zoom. The information session is based around giving you as much information as we can about the educational purpose of the BYO device program and any financial information that we can assist you with. We will have Jack Jones from EduNet attending to answer any technical questions about the devices and options available. The link for the Zoom conference has been shared as a news feed item to all Year 4 families.

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