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Reaching Higher Newsletter from |
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5 Delightful Things to Do During Lockdown
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| Lock down…it’s a word on everyone’s lips, almost worldwide. In this time when everyone is grappling with their current situations and what the new normal is going to be in a few week’s time, there can be heightened stress levels in the home.
Many have dads now working from home, or parents on unpaid leave. Some moms who were considering homeschooling, are now homeschooling and still others are facilitating their children’s school education from home. More mess in the home, restricted movement and shopping hours and concern for elderly or at-risk family members can all add to the stress.
Now that my homeschooling years have come to an end and I have 4 young adults, 3 whom are independent, I have had the chance to think back and savour some sweet memories of our homeschooling days. Perhaps these favourite things to do at home with younger children will inspire you to make your own family memories, take the stress levels down a bit and really enjoy the time knitting hearts together.
#1 Read good books
Good stories transport you from the daily grind to wonderful places, times long ago and give us all a store of delightful things to think about. These are not books read for information purposes, although they could be, these are more about fodder for the mind. 5 of our favorite books were:
- The Little House Series – Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Treasure’s of the Snow, and others by Patricia St John
- Where the Red Fern Grows (triumphantly sad) – Wilson Rawls
- Alone on the Wide Wide Sea, and others by Michael Mopurgo
- I am David – Anne Holm
With Winter on its way, nothing can beat snuggling up together with hot chocolate, blankets and a fire and enjoying a good read.
#2 Enjoy poetry and tea afternoons
Poetry has a way of soothing frayed nerves. You can also choose some silly limericks for a laugh. Either way, the ritual of making a special cake or treat, getting out the best tea cups and laying a table together, then sitting down to read poetry and eat a snack has something so calming about it. Our favorite poems for young ones were compilations by AA Milne and for older children, A Child’s Introduction to Poetry. For older ones, we loved Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by TS Elliot. This book of poems later became the hit show produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cats.
#3 Establish a vegetable garden
The amount of lessons in planning, hard physical labor, consistency of upkeep and the bounty that came from it eventually was a memory we all hold – some dearer than others ☺ But as a family project it doesn’t compare – sunshine, hard work and produce to boot!
#4 Create family traditions
Some of them that we created over the years were:
- Family movie night once a week – choice was done on a revolving system for each family member to have a chance.
- A weekly braai where we would all sit together and catch up and chat, and this still continues as all the children who have left home gather together.
- A board game evening – again this still happens even though our children are 25yrs old and younger
#5 Caring for others
Over the years, particularly in the teen years we felt it was important to have our children see and understand that there are others who need extra love and care. Whether it was packing Christmas boxes for the poor, caring for orphans, making sandwiches for people at the gate…it was all important. In this time of being restricted to our homes, your choices can become limited. However here are some ideas:
- Use this tutorial to make face masks to give away
- Facetime or Zoom call grandparents to ease the isolation for them
- Declutter toys, books and clothes to donate to children’s homes when lock down is over
I hope this has given you some ideas for your home so that in a few years, when CoVid-19 is no longer dictating our freedoms, our children will be able to look back to this time and say that there were good memories made, despite the pain due to loss in some countries.
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Footprints on YouTube
Do you find yourself comparing your homeschooling to what is being done in a school, even if its just in the quiet of your own heart? Be set free from these comparisons which only seek to undermine your happy homeschool journey. We chatted about
Being Set Free From the School Mindset
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| | How to Switch from Crisis Homeschooling to a Lifestyle of Learning at Home
The lockdown has been an excellent opportunity to try out schooling at home and many families are now contemplating home education, even after the lockdown ends.
Here are 5 ways that we would love to support families making this switch.
Please share this with your crisis schooling friends, who might feel still feel daunted about choosing home education on a long-term basis.
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| | | Tutor-Online, provides mathematics, physics and chemistry tutoring services.
We adhere to our mission of providing quality education using highly skilled and qualified tutors, having experience in conducting lessons in classrooms and distance learning.
We employ the best teaching methods done online through our virtual contact sessions.
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