Are the Locked-up Schools Cheesing-off your child?

How would you feel staying home for months and not be able to meet your friends? Won’t the four walls seem like a prison?  

It has been more than a year that Udgam School, along with all schools in the country, is physically closed and we have locked up our children at home to ensure their safety from the virus. Most children are not even allowed to play with their friends in the neighborhood. From online classes to online meets, technology has become their only counterpart in these times.

On the other hand, we, the parents, have been striving hard to balance house and work. Already tired of work, we are hardly left with any energy to play with children.
Ultimately, all these conditions lead our child to get cheesed off. So, what can we do?

The following ideas might help you in making your child engage and stay less irritated. However, each point might be specific to age groups or depending on the child.

Spare some Time 
All your child need is to spend some quality time with you. A 20-30second hug releases oxytocin, which further helps create a stronger bond and alleviates stress, as per studies. A 20-minute communication helps you bond better. A workout regime together can help you spend some more time with your child.

Don’t miss that Eye Contact

When the listener fails to make eye contact, the speaker feels that the former is uninterested in the talks. Making eye contact with the speaker helps him build confidence and trust that you listen to him. Hence, whenever your child converses with you, ensure that you look into its eyes and help it develop trust that he is being listened to.

Arrange a Virtual Lunch
It has been a long since children are yearning to meet their friends. So, to overcome their desire to communicate with their friends, you can arrange a weekly or a fortnightly lunch party, wherein the students of the entire class can meet online and devour their favourite delights.

Delegate Work 
With all those extra hours in hand, your child might now and then complain of getting bored. The fun fact attached to it being, they procrastinate doing their written work and do not even read the chapters. On the other hand, they would spend hours watching mobile, and once you check their screen time, they will start complaining. To help their time utilization, delegate work which has to be performed every day to your child.

Behavior Check 
The current situation has affected everyone mentally and physically, and we have no other option but to sustain it. Hence, despite getting irritated due to the pandemic, stay calm and deliver a good environment to your children. Be mindful of the fact that your child will behave the way you behave.

Fun Time & Surprises 
While you cannot move out for entertainment, plan things that may help your child endure a change in routine. Take a half-day off from work and visit home, buy them gifts, call their friends in surprise, or take them out for a picnic.

Too much Screen Time 
If your child stays hooked up to the screen for most of the day, there are very high chances that it starts feeling lonely, and depression may soon start ruling. Make your child get involved in activities that keep him/her off the screen and utilize time effectively. Setting a screen guard or using blue cut lenses can help reduce the side effects of the extended screen time.

Make a Schedule
Plan and pen down a schedule for your child and ask to follow it daily. Ask your child to be ready for the classes in the same way as they used to be in regular school and ask them to wake up and sleep in time. Look for additional classes that they can join. Sunday off can be given.

#ThisTooShallPass. 

No time stays for long. Though the stains of the pandemic may take time to wash away from our lives, we should stay optimistic over the fact that – this is too a phase and shall pass soon. Once we resume school physically, being one of the best CBSE schools in Ahmedabad, we will ensure helping our students to a smooth transition to regular school.