Teaching kids at home – does it all have to be school related?

As we all know, teaching kids at home is currently a top priority for parents due to the worldwide situation that has caused schools to be closed. It’s an unsettling time for everyone, especially for parents that have never had to educate their children themselves! Many schools will have provided lots of help and will have explained to you (if you’re a parent) how to go about teaching your child at home, which is great. However, we all know there’s a lot more distractions at home and it may be harder to keep your children focused.

Have you thought of how you’re going to deal with teaching kids at home? If not, don’t panic! Although continuing your child’s school education during this time is extremely important, it’s also important to ensure your child is happy, safe and healthy – both physically and mentally. So, remember that teaching kids at home doesn’t always have to be school related; there are other things you can focus on that will help keep your child interested in what they are learning (and therefore help keep them less distracted when you are focusing on their school related education).

When you have time (for example, in between teaching maths, English and science), why not focus on helping your kids learn different things that are related to your home and everyday life? Make these sections as fun as possible for the children so they have something to look forward to in between their schoolwork! Have a look at these ideas for non-school relating things you can focus on when teaching kids at home…

Cooking – being at home together is the perfect time to teach your kids some cooking skills and to get them interested in this aspect of everyday life! Why not use the afternoon to get your children involved in cooking dinner for the evening? Or, if you’re a fan of sweet treats, you could find some new baking recipes for the kids to try out. Even small things like learning how to boil eggs, how long to cook rice for, and which spices to use for different dishes, will help your children in the future when they have to start cooking for themselves. 

Cleaning – another simple aspect of everyday life, that not everyone enjoys, is cleaning. Although it isn’t particularly exciting and can often get put off by many of us, teaching your children how important it is to keep your house clean will help them later in life when they have their own place! You can focus on a different room each day and show your children what you’d use to clean that specific room. You could show them how your hoover works and how to get rid of bacteria in the bathroom. This may seem really simple to us adults, but the kids won’t know these things unless taught! You can always make it more fun by playing music whilst cleaning or making it into a competition.

Money – no matter how old your child is, teaching them about money and how it relates to your home (e.g. your bills, mortgage, food shopping) is a great thing to do. The older your child is, the most detailed you can be. If you have a young child, you can always be as simple as possible when teaching them and turn it in to a game! Getting kids to understand the importance of money will help them as they grow up and also help them learn things such how to save money each month. It’s an extremely positive thing to do whilst teaching your kids at home!

Gardening – a great thing to do with the kids whilst stuck at home! Whether you’ve got a huge garden full of flowers, fruit trees and vegetables patches, or you just have a couple of plants on your balcony, getting the children involved in any gardening you have planned is a great way to teach them about it. It’s also a brilliant way to ensure your kids are getting fresh air and enjoying being outside as much as possible. Why not get your children to plant something of their own and then teach them how to look after it as it grows over the next couple of weeks? It’ll be a great feeling for them to keep the plant alive and healthy!

Family – depending how much of your family tree you know, this could be another non-school related bit of education you can involve your children with! Why not teach them as much as you can about your family tree, going back as far as you know yourself? If you don’t know that much about your family tree, you could just teach your kids as much as you do know – even if it’s just things they haven’t learnt yet about you, their grandparents or great grandparents?