As the coronavirus continues to sweep around the globe, most countries are on lockdown and schools are totally closed with no assurance of opening anytime soon says Surijit Khanna, Child Advocate from New York. Children who spent hours in a structured learning environment are now stuck at home for weeks even to months and homeschooling is the only option left for parents.

Although many schools have provided study materials for their students before the lockdown and some are running online classes. However, getting the full curriculum seems impossible as they can only get a few hours of educational activities. This means for children to get the most of this time when it comes to academics, parent’s supervision and control are inevitable. Here is what an expert, a child safety advocate and a champion of Voice of the Kids, Dr. Surijit Khanna has to say about homeschooling for kids during the coronavirus pandemic. Read on!

Relax: Emotional and Mental Health is Important

With parents juggling between working from home and homeschooling the kids coupled with the pandemic affecting a lot of lives, it is safe to say it’s ok to feel exhausted, upset and stressed. At this time parent tend to be worried about children not getting productive and their level of progress. However, your state of mind will always affect your kids and this can affect their overall functioning in learning. “Therefore, this is not the time to fret about children lagging behind, but a time to craft out ways you can make their time academic productive. Children will not remember completing that science subject or what you try to teach them, but they will remember who you are, the impression they had and the whole mood.” Surijit Khanna says.

Have a Schedule for Homeschooling

The first thing is to create a schedule that kids will stick while at home. Let them get dressed, breakfasted and be ready for their homeschooling classes by 8:30 on weekdays. Your kids are following a strict schedule in school, have a timetable set for them at home as well. Don’t forget to chalk out time for sleep, meal and recess time and other activities apart from academics. This will get them prepared for returning back to school.