Why would a child feel stressed now?
Isn’t this exactly what they always wanted, being at home and not going to school?
It’s already been a month to schools being shut due to the lockdown. With everyone being at home, the routines going haywire, there is no boundary between playtime and school time for students as well. Now, every house is a school and every parent a teacher.
With most of the parents being stressed out, they hardly notice their child’s emotion and find time to acknowledge it.
Following are a few helpful ideas to look for when you are dealing with your child being home 24/7:
- Setting Up A New Routine: Help them schedule their day in a way which makes them feel less stressful. Start your day with some breathing exercises, moving forward with 30-minutes of yoga. This will help you in increasing your concentration level and better your retention power. Do most of your schoolwork in the morning and make a point to eat a balanced meal with your family. Instead of sleeping late, using a lot of internet, sleep early and focus on your sleep cycle.
- Giving Them Their Own Time: Being at home and not able to go out to meet their friends is tough for them. Children need to talk to people of their age. Let them do a video call with their friends.
- Discovering Hobbies: A time like this won’t come back anytime soon, seize this opportunity in discovering new hobbies, or getting in touch with your old interests, like learning a new language, or playing a musical instrument, diary writing, singing, etc.
- Encouraging Family Time: Take out a few hours from your newly set routine to spend some time with your family. You may miss being around with your family after this period. Play board games together, you can find several of them on the internet too. You can also schedule video call sessions with your family that is staying far away.
- Limiting Their Screen-Time: Since schools have adapted to taking all their classes online, most kids spend half of their days studying online, taking a toll on their eyesight and health. Try to limit your child’s screen-time after they’ve had online schooling.
- Encouraging Self-Care: Since we are all at home, now is a good time to start looking out for yourself, especially when it comes to your mind and body. Practice self-care activities like using home-made remedies to take care of your skin, your hair, have a balanced diet and keep yourself hydrated in these summers.
- Getting Creative Together:
- Reading A Book: Take out all the unread books from your shelves and read them together. Ask questions from the books every time three chapters get over.
- Teaching Them New Skills: This is the best time to teach your children a few important skills that will stay with them. Make something together, bake with your children, and teach them to clean their rooms, wardrobes.
Conclusion
We know it is a tough situation right now and it has altered the structure of our everyday lives in an undeniable way. Although there is a clear need to lessen the internet usage, but this lockdown can be best utilised by ‘digital means.’
The 21st century is a century of capacity building and skill development. Use this period of ‘lockdown’ to explore your abilities and develop learning skills.
