Coronavirus: Advice, support and resources for parents

How to cope with kids at home, encourage and support their learning, answer questions and look after their well being during Coronavirus.

These are challenging times, with kids home from school, learning remotely and family routines disrupted, but here we aim to provide you with some useful advice, support and resources to help you navigate the disruption and keep your kids learning and safe. We will update these resources as we go. Please contact us if you think we need to add anything or have any questions.

Here are APC President Jenni Rickard's top three tips for managing learning at home.

1. You know your child best so do what they need to do. Mine are busy kids so we are keeping busy! But you do you! (and your kids)
2. Take a dance break when you or your kids need it! I recommend "Shake it off" by Taylor Swift
3. Have them pack their lunch and recess like usual and send them off to school via the front door and make the back door the school entrance.

But mostly just remember to try to have some fun together.

Quick links to government information

Below are links to federal and state and territory government information sites. Many States and territories have special pages with information for parents to help support children's learning at home. We have included direct links below if they have, otherwise we have included links to general COVID-19 information pages.

Department of Health - daily updates

COVID-19: an online safety kit for parents and carers

Department of Education, Skills and Employment - COVID-19 information

ACT Education Directorate - info and advice on Coronavirus

NSW Department of Education - learning from home

Northern Territory COVID-19 advice

Queensland Department of Education - learning at home

South Australian Government - updates

Victorian Department of Education - learning from home

Tasmanian Department of Education - learning at home

Western Australian Department of Education - Learning at home

ACARA - parent information about the Australian curriculum and learning at home

Learning Potential website and app for parents

Learning at home tips for parents

Here are 10 top tips for Primary kids from Smart Achievers:

  1. Do some vigorous exercise before school

There's lots of studies to support doing physical activity before any learning exercise but the premise is it improves concentration levels. Keep it fun too, such as crazy dancing to some music.

  1. Start a learning session with a game as a mental warm-up

With concentration in mind again, games such as Uno, Connect 4 or other card games, provide a nice way to ease your child into learning mode. It helps children feel happy and happy kids learn better.

  1. Sit your child on a chair that does NOT swivel

It's no surprise to anyone that the location of where your child is learning is important, but also the desk and chair they use. The novelty of swivel chairs is distracting to kids and will take their eyes off their task. A tidy working space is also advisable.

  1. Make sure their tools are ready to go

Similarly, it's important their workspace is set up for the start of class-time, like at school. This means have tools like glasses, pencils, sharpeners, erasers etc ready and organised, as a tidy working space free of distractions helps.

  1. Turn off distracting noises

There's plenty of distractions inside every home, namely the TV or radio, or devices such as laptops, tablets or phones. Turn them off, put them on silent and move them well away from the workspace.

  1. Have set and regular feeding, exercise and break times

Maintaining a routine is important in life and home schooling is no different. Be regimented with regular feeding/recess/lunch breaks, along with set times for exercise and games breaks.

  1. Get your child prepared

Having a planned day is one thing but sticking to it is another. The need for a toilet break or a thirsty and/or hungry child is a quick way to de-rail those plans. Sort that before learning time.

  1. Stay positive

If a child makes a mistake when reading ask them to “try that again”, “sound out the word” or “read the base word first and then the whole word".

  1. Challenge them

Ask them to count forwards and backwards orally to the 10th factor eg 2s to 20 and 20 to 2

  1. Check they can SAY the alphabet

Lots of children can sing the alphabet but can they actually say it? The tune has meant some letters have blurred into one word, like 'Elemenopee' or 'Elmo'! This is an easy one to fix at home.

 

Here are some other good sources of advice to help you and your family make this a positive experience.

Download planner as a pdf

Fun things to do with kids at a social distance

Looking for some educational activities and fun things you can do with your kids? Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

Talking COVID-19 and emotional well-being

The following are links to some relevant advice and articles on how to discuss COVID19 with your children and support their emotional well being.

"One of the most useful things we can do to help reduce our children’s worry is to be calm ourselves. Your child takes cues from you about how to react and they learn how to handle challenging situations by watching and listening to what you say."