I think all of us would agree that home schooling is tricky at times and children don’t always want to do their school work, which can lead to frustration and stress – this is what happens in my house at least! One reason can be that children see a big list of things that they have to do and they feel intimidated or overwhelmed.
Below are a couple of useful tips for parents and carers on how to help your child see their day in small chunks, which can lead to them finding it much easier to complete their school tasks. We find that breaking things into small units, rather than giving a child lots of information all at once, makes their day or their task seem much more manageable.
Now-Next Cards / Now and Then Cards / First, Next, Then Cards
These little cards are great for simply asking your child to do one thing and letting them know what will come after – ideally, something they’ll like or would choose. All of these are available free on Twinkl https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t-s-111-now-next-visual-aid.
Visual timetables
These are basically a bigger version of the Now-Next cards, as they cover the whole day. Visual timetables can be fun to make with a child, where they draw their own pictures, or you can use print outs. The key is that you use pictures, as they are easy to read, even if a child isn’t feeling very happy about the idea of having to do school work at home! Here is an example used in schools…
Twinkl have a full range of these little pictures that are free to download if you wanted to do this.