Home Learning at St Michael's School
St Michael's School teachers provide your children with CHOICE VOICE and CHALLENGE when they design learning experiences. Our independent learning tasks aim to bring this vision for learning into your home so that you can experience first hand the joy of watching your children discover, inquire and grow.
Our teachers and teacher aides are here to support you and your family as you form a close relationship with them not just as their family member but now, a teacher. We are excited to share in this journey with you.
Choice
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Give your child options within his/her learning, e.g. There may be 4 activities to complete. While all 4 activities need to be completed, allow your child to choose the order of the completion.
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Learning happens when a child gains new knowledge, skills or understanding. While it will not be easy for your child at first, resist trying to help too soon.
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Students should be encouraged to make progress at their own pace.
Voice
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Ensure that you set up a supportive home environment, one where every household member has a role to play in the daily house chores and routines. It should be a team effort, and not simply left to mum or dad.
- Allow “student voice” in many of the home activities and when setting up expectations.
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The best possible outcomes of this time are a positive family memory, stronger relationships, enjoyment of learning and a desire to learn more
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Your child will learn best with others, for example the adults in the house. Or get Nan or an aunt/uncle on board with some of the learning activities, e.g. reading via Skype, helping to write the day’s adventure story..
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Give your child the opportunity to collaborate with a classmate online on some of the learning activities.
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Our staff will be available via e-mail and Seesaw and we will endeavour to respond to queries and requests within 48 hours.
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It is also an opportunity for us to reach out to our community, and the elderly in particular. If you are healthy, then use this opportunity to get supplies for an older person nearby - or get your child to drop cards off in their letter boxes regularly
Challenge
- Enjoy Learning and make it fun.
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What are the strengths and passions that you have as parents that you could use this time to develop in your children? Eg if you are musical, can you inspire your family to practice music together? Or together find a common interest which will ignite passion, play and purpose.
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Do a vege garden together? Train a new puppy? Learn a new hobby? These opportunities in life don’t come along often enough, so see it as a gift as much as you possibly can, and make the best of it!
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How can you inspire a love for learning rather than a sense of compliance and resentment?
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While working with others is good, also allow your child to play on his/her own. You do not have to organise “every minute” of the day. Children need to learn to entertain themselves without a device or TV.
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Balance learning with physical exercises, and other hands-on learning experiences.
Homelearning will be new to almost every parent or caregiver. Allow yourself the grace and space to find your style. I have compiled a couple of suggestions for you but they are in no way the "only right way" for you to work alongside your child. Do what feels right, listen and grow with the rhythms of your child. It should be a happy experience.
We are continuing to add and refine our learning site. Please use your child's Seesaw as the primary platform for specific tasks for their class.
SETTING UP ROUTINES AT HOME
Most children feel safe when there are clear routines put in place. Routines are important in order to keep things calm.You may want to consider the following when setting up these routines:
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Think of the structure of your day ahead. Discuss and write these down - and try to stick to them vigilantly. And if they don’t work? Simply review and adjust.
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Break the day up into a number activity sessions, which will depend on the age of the child.
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Such activity sessions can range between 15-40 minutes, depending on the activity and the age of the child.
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When are your meal and snack times?
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We persevere as much as we can and then try to extend that time a little longer (eg if 5 minutes concentrating is hard, celebrate that success, and extend the goal to 6 minutes using a timer).
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We allow short brain or fitness/moving breaks to keep developing focus for gradually longer times. Fruit breaks are great. And plenty of water helps with the learning and concentration.
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Give yourself as parents time out (“me time”) during the day, andwhen the kids are on their beds (ideally) reading a story and, if not, listening to a story
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Have strong limits on the use of devices! These should not be used for entertainment during the day.
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And remember - While working with others is good, also allow your child to play on his/her own. You do not have to organise “every minute” of the day. Children need to learn to entertain themselves without a device or TV.
CYBER SAFETY AT HOME
Would you stop your car at a dark alley in a foreign town, and ask your child to hop out of the car and walk down the alley, and then drive away? The unknown darkness of the internet should be no different.
Before any online home-based gets underway at home, whanau should discuss and agree to a good Cybersafety Plan to ensure the safety of everyone at home. It’s important to note that we would not stop our car at a dark alley in a foreign town, and ask our child to hop out of the car and walk down the alley. The unknown darkness of the internet is no different. Know what your children are up to all times.
The school’s internet safety software does not work when students go online at home. It is therefore important that parents supervise the online space within your own home environment.
Use the following NetsafeNZ websites to set up your Cybersafety Plan
Also consider the following:
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At our school we have a general rule that screens must be visible to others (especially adults) at all times, ie, no screens to walls. Never send your child to a room to go online alone or with other young siblings..
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Limit the use of social media, especially now that students will want to connect online. Agree that adults at home should have access to your child’s social media. If your child has a social media account, then they should have at least one of their parents or caregivers as a ‘friend’.
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Restrict online time to set times only.
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Agree that no “history” to be deleted from devices (Chromebooks, iPads, mobile phones) - and make sure that History is regularly checked.
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Go over this agreement regularly (1-2 times a week) with your child/ren, and review if required. Never take anything for granted.
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Place the agreement in a place that is visible to everyone at all times.
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Consider what should happen if the agreement is broken.
