CREATING A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR YOUR CHILD AT HOME.
By G Mwanyalo
Covid-19 pandemic has done it! I have never imagined a time that children and parents would be at their homes at such a weird period. Handling kids has always been a tedious and tricky exercise for parents. Children seem to be more engaged and safe in schools than they are at home. Over the holidays, we are used to engaging children in productive activities such as seminars and camps. This has gone a long way to assist children in getting busy and developing without strictly doing it ourselves. God is good and merciful; we now have a chance to nurture our children and bring life to life. The role of a parent has expanded to teaching, mentoring, and spiritual well-being for their children. Achieving this Requires close monitoring and full engagement of parents.
Create a schedule for your child. It is easier for one to operate under a routine. When everything you do is in a program, it becomes easier to flow your day’s schedule. Create a structure that is clear on what to do at a given time. Have a clear program from the time your child wakes up and the time they sleep. Let everything your child do in their plan, including bathing time, brushing time, lunch, supper, and entertainment. As you prepare, the program ensures there is study time, house chores time, playtime, creative time, storytelling and discussion time, and finally, entertainment time. Doing this helps you as a parent, to pursue your duties, especially those working from home. You will also learn about your child and nurture them the way you want them to be. Give space to young adults to make their program.
Make a class out of your house. Having a class at home is a new practice. Most of us will get confused that we are not teachers. How will we do it? Get it from me. It’s so easy. In my day to day activities, I meet scholars and students. Young people believe that any person who is older than them knows everything. When I meet such children, I do what I can to assist. Where I cannot, I get teachers to help. What am I suggesting? Get linked to teachers. What you do as a parent is to assist where possible and not let teachers do it. However, there is an essential aspect to take caution on, do not overwork your child with classwork. Two to three hours in a day are enough if well utilized.
Create social activities for your child. Social activities include games, storytime, etc. such a program is beneficial. It is what connects you to your child. Come up with useful and exciting games and be fully part of the game or activity. If you have a small garden, go with your child and do a few things. During the storytime, get exciting stories for children related to their age and the message you want to pass to them. Make it a habit to teach and mentor your children through stories. Let them also tell stories. If your children do not have accounts, get storybooks for them. Give them time to read, ask questions, and tell you what they read. It helps your child developmentally and improves their capacity to retain and express learned content. At this moment, where libraries are closed, get eBooks from publishers. For teenagers, it is more fun. It gives them room to express themselves and tell the challenges they face. Storytelling also gives them a place to get direct mentorship from their parents and real-life experience. As a parent, create an excellent atmosphere to listen and speak positively to children.
Give room for creativity. Give your child space to experiment and invent new things. Creativity Is developed through learning and playing. I love playful and notorious children. In my library, I love students who mess up with something out of aggression. When children are growing up, they exercise everything also to know what fits them. It is time to keep away the cane, learn to mentor using word of mouth. It is only God who does it right the first time. Only punish for repeated mistakes. I can imagine a child who comes up
with a toy car for himself, a doll, a drawing, a cooking recipe, planting trees, acrobats, playing chess, etc. Give your child space to do something. It helps them nurture their talents. Stop telling your child to stop doing their stuff. Train them to do more and learn from their mistakes. Keep reminding your children that they are a solution to some problems the world is facing. I did not know that I can sing until my parents nurtured a singing talent.
Monitor outcomes. After doing all this, monitor the results of your child. Evaluate how good your child can manage time, how productive your child is, and observe the habits of your child. For bad habits, it is an excellent time to address them. For good habits, give credit, and a gift. Monitor the talents of your child and nurture them. Look at what is new from your child and look for ways to develop it. If possible, get technical advice on improving it. Show your child possibilities rather than challenges.
Finally, we have a chance to do it ourselves. We live in a society where the school, the government, and the church receive blame for who our children are. Our families are now the church, the government, and the school. The parents are now the teacher, the spiritual leader, and the head of the family. Do it as you wish the responsible leaders did it. You are the leader. May God keep us safe from covid-19 and may we also have the best children and parents after this season of crisis.