How is the transitional period going? We have had a full week now, although due to whole household isolation changes some are on week 2 of home learning! I am hearing lots of heartwarming stories of families pulling together and children responding really well. Lets not get complacent though, I have head as many horror stories! I have even had several of my own! This is new, we are all still learning. Hopefully the idea that we are in a period of transition means that at some point things will settle down. As with all transition though, this will happen for us all at different times.
I am hoping that this post can help shine some light on how we can all best handle the changes we are facing daily. I am keen to share as many experiences as possible that people might be having. Try to share as many new ways of working and some solidarity in these trying times. So if you have any stories that you think might help others cope with what they are going through then please get in touch. You can use the contact me page on this blog. I am very keen to bring some solidarity back into the world! Once I have stories coming in I will begin to share, we are all in this together!
The big question I have found myself asking this week is, who is finding it harder, the children or the adults? In reality I actually think the adults are probably finding it more difficult to adapt to such a new way of working. Think of all the changes that have happened to us all over the last couple of weeks:
- We can’t go outside of our own home unless it’s for one of the reason set out by government.
- The majority of us are now working from home, or not working at all anymore.
- Several of us are still working under very difficult conditions.
- Many of us now have the children at home 24/7 – and this is not like a a usual holiday from school!
- Anyone with a child at home is now a home educator *more about this later.
- Anyone without a child, partner or housemate is now alone nearly all day, unless going out to work but that is under very worrying conditions.
These are just a few examples of what we are going through. No one is any better or worse off than any other, we all have pressures, they just vary from family to family. I am no expert in any of this, no one is. I am just trying to shine a light of positivity – we can all think to ourselves at least I am not in ‘that‘ category! We all have something to be thankful for. It’s hard, in time like this but please, find the silver lining. I truly believe their always is one, it might just take time to find it.
I’d like to go back to one of my earlier points: Anyone with a child at home is now a home educator. This does not mean you are now a teacher, even if you already are! Asking children to work in the same way they do at school will end in tears! I’m not going saying whether they are yours or theirs though! Home learning is vital but that does not mean that it has to be formal lessons/learning. There are so many examples of children and families carrying out activities at home that are new and exciting. It is imperative, at the minute, that we ensure everyone in the house is as happy as can be. Learning under duress is often not real leaning. The young people will not remember the lessons you tried to teach, they will remember they were miserable! With this in mind, do work with your children, do try to engage them in learning activities but don’t force the issue too much.
An earlier post of mine ‘Every child transitioned today’ had a table of Do and Don’t to help families. Those ideas will be important to consider daily as we navigate our way around this ongoing period of transition for us all.
Transition Matters? 