How to help students stay productive at home?
Bhumika Goel / July 2020
2020 is a binge online studies year. We human, the most intelligent species, are forced to sit home by a small virus Corona. The schools and educational institutes are temporarily shut-in almost every part of the world. The homestay imposed for a longer time is resulting in increased boredom. Let’s together find some alternatives to enhance kids’ productivity and engage them in some exciting and fun tasks.
Visiting the school, meeting friends, and teachers, studying, and playing together is yesterday’s routine now. Corona has put a hold on the social life of school-going children. And this is going to continue until the world has a proper vaccine to defeat the deadly virus.
While meeting friends, gossips, and chit chats, running across the class, impressing teachers and seniors has always motivated children to go to school. They don’t shy away from the idea of bunking school when given a chance.
This year when there were no schools, the social life of students is the most affected.
How to help children to be productive at home?
With schools conducting online classes, the children are back to their normal routine. After completing the classes and studies they still have a lot of free time. Before Corona, there was a dedicated time for kids to get together and play. This social gathering is temporarily halted after the COVID19 breakout.
Here are a few tips to help kids being productive and utilize leisure time its best.
- Promote your child’s talent and skills
Every child is unique and so are their talents. As a parent, we ought to know and understand the skills and talents of our kids. Some kids are good at drawing, some at crafting, dancing, or singing. We need to understand what activities our kids enjoy the most.
Introduce them to different forms of arts and creative works. Analyze them and their work. Talk to them if they are feeling motivated, inspired, or bored to do the work. Sit and do a task together, like draw something together, write a poem or a short story. Working together boosts kids productivity, As they feel they are supported, loved and understood.
Kids really love to spend time with their parents. And when we spend time together, we understand them better. As a mother, I always make it a task to keep my son engaged. And I keep on challenging him with funny yet productive tasks.
Here is the awesome poem was written by my son who is just ten. The poem was a result of a quick poem challenge we had sometimes back at home.
The Bird – a poem by arnav goel
Up in the air a bird is flying,
comes near me,
to share its chirping rhyme.
Chi Chi Chi, it does all the times.
Fly here, fly there, near the wind chimes,
and over the vines.
Bird you remind me of the recess during the school time,
Me and my friends are now meeting only online.
Staying home to be safe at this pandemic time,
Watching you has become a favorite pass time.
I will cherish your memories for the lifetime.
Poem by Arnav Goel
I know, the poem may not appeal to everyone. But I shared it with his friends and teachers. And everybody loved and praised my munchkin’s hidden talent. Today I am sharing it here with a lot of pride and happiness.
The positivity and the motivation to do better is reinstalled in his behavior. Though he has always loved to do better than before in his tasks. This time he is a bit more excited and motivated to achieve the best results for him.
- Introduce and throw the best out of waste challenge:
Kids nowadays are more demanding. Parents too find satisfaction in fulfilling kid’s demands. But not all the demands are to be fulfilled. And since it’s the pandemic time it is more important to let the children understand about finances and market reach.
Teaching children about recycling waste products helps them understand the importance of saving the environment. Recycling waste products with creative art work naturally is a kids productivity booster.
One of the best ideas to introduce them to recycle concept is via a display model.
Display models are essential for education. As they make kids look and feel the objects in real. Making the different models as school assignment is equally an important part of learning. Encourage kids to make their learning models with waste products at home.
For example, a simple model of different landforms of the Earth. Clay, sand, matchsticks, colors are easily available at home. We used these materials to make landforms model. Here is a pic of the landforms model.
You can create decorative pen holder or any other art work out of the waste challenge at home.
Similarly, you can ask your kids to innovate and reuse waste materials.
Who knows kids may surprise the world with their little inventions.
- Encourage children to read regularly to boost productivity
Reading is one of the best alternatives to keep kids engaged. Reading books can paly an important role in enhancing kids productivity. When we read, we learn about different cultures, stories, societies, behaviors, and many other interesting things. We learn new words, their meaning, and usage.
I have already discussed the benefits of reading earlier in one of my blog posts.
Children who read regularly are more focused and empathetic. They are better writers and speakers. Because they read, they learn to share their opinions in a better way. Children learn different writing and penning styles of different authors.
Reading also helps them visualize the imagery world. And helps them improve their creative skills.
- Let them do their little chores:
To help children being responsible, guide them to do their own little tasks. Like making their own bed, cleaning their study desks, and wardrobes, etc.
Initially, they may skip the tasks. Do not get angry and scold them. Help them realize the importance of each core to have a hassle and clutter-free life.
Conclusions
This pandemic time has made us all stay at home. Almost all the children are missing the social gatherings. Kids’ love for outdoor sports and games is natural. But the pandemic has halted this for a few days until the vaccine for COVID is found.
It is our responsibility to help kids fight their anxieties due to eluded social space.
I hope with the tips above you would help your kids to stay positive and productive at home.
Bhumika Goel is a technology and design thinker, a lifelong learner having a wide range of experience across WordPress development, content marketing and search engine optimization. Creative web applications, tools, and products that your customers will love and get you real business results, is something she can empower you with. She is passionate for delivering high-quality work that meets the needs and expectations of her clients. She is always eager to learn new skills and technologies to enhance her portfolio and stay ahead of the curve. She is looking for new opportunities to collaborate with other professionals and help businesses grow their online presence and reach their goals.