Between them having no classroom to go to, and being stuck at home instead, every day must feel like a weekend to children. However, it’s important that while lockdown is going on, children stay in routine as much as they possibly can. This will make their return to school much easier.  Here are five ways that you can ensure that your children stay in their normal routine as much as possible when home-schooling.

1. Stick to a Bedtime

Make sure your children stick to a bedtime. Ensure they’re going to bed the same time as they normally would on a weekday.  Also avoid having any lie-ins.

Of course, some children will be struggling to sleep with everything going on in the world, some without a full understanding on what’s going on. Why not see if you can purchase a new bed, comfortable mattress or something exciting for the bedroom to make going to sleep that little bit easier?

2. Educational Resources

There are plenty of resources online to get you through your daily lesson plan. Joe Wicks is hosting a PE/exercise class every morning at 9am.  So this is something that your children can get involved in while you make your much-needed morning coffee.

It is worth checking whether your child’s school are still offering lesson plans and resources while children are working from home too. Or, if you’re unsure what to help your children with then I’m sure you can ask their teachers for the syllabus.

3. Take Advantage of the ‘One Walk a Day’ Rule

Children are used to spending their lunches and break times in the playground, running around with their friends. While they can’t do that right now, they can still go out for an hour at lunch on a stroll around the block. This will keep them from getting cabin fever and tire them out for when it comes to bedtime.

4. Home-schooling Timetables

Set up a weekly timetable so that you don’t go off track. This should include core subjects like maths and English, as well as including child’s breaks and lunch times.

You can get an at-home timetable print out which you can then put on your fridge. This will mean that you can plan the lesson the day before, and your child can prepare for the lesson in advance. Here are some print-out examples: Calendarpedia

5. Homework

Ironic as all of their work is currently being done at home, but I don’t think this should mean that you stop giving homework to your children. It will make the whole process a bit more natural, and it will also mean that, when we eventually do go back to normality, that they will find it easier to get back into routine.

Don’t set any more or any less than they’d normally get. You don’t want them to get overwhelmed home-schooling.  But you also don’t want them to get behind and then struggle when we eventually do get back into a normal routine.

Print out sheets from BBC Bitesize, or set a number of questions that they have to answer. Reward children that get good marks with treats, such as a healthy snack.