Young Social Deck scholars embrace learning from home

April 20, 2020

Image of a handwritten timetable, written by the kids as part of homeschooling.

With many schools confirming they’ll be moving to virtual learning at home for at least most of term 2, we thought it timely to share a few insights from our very own home learners.

Of course, we are big advocates for the importance of a school education and the incredible work that teachers do in the classroom every day. But in these times, we’re forced to think differently and more about the opportunities home learning might bring, albeit we hope this is only for a short period of our children’s lives.

We love Maggie Dent’s Parental As Anything podcast, including this episode with Maggie’s top tips for keeping kids engaged while learning from home. One important lesson is not to try making ‘home school’ just like school.

Our own children are loving learning in different ways and with more control over what they learn, and when. And at least for this time, that control and more individualised learning could provide big advantages down the track. Learning at home will help build practical skills – like cooking, building/making things around the home, working out information technology, learning to write or type by writing letters to friends, solving problems doing experiments, being creative, making up games and playing sports.

We asked our Social Deck kids and friends what they like about learning at home. We’d love to hear how your children are finding it and any tips you or they have - join the discussion on our Facebook page.

What do you like about learning from home?

“I like that everyone doesn’t have to be doing the same thing at the same time. Each morning, we get to plan our day and activities. I also like helping my younger brother and cousin. And I like that we get to still do lots of exercise and different types of activities, not just learning from books or lessons. We especially get to learn more about the environment with lots of outside activities.”
Alina (11)

“We get to plan our day, but it is also flexible so we can change plans when we need to. We have an excursion every week where we can go for a walk and learn about something new.”
‍Will (9)

“We don’t have to do the roll. There is more time to learn a lot. I can do more of my letterbook. I like everyone is teaching and still learning things together.”
‍Leo (almost 5)

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“Doing PE like bike riding and soccer with mum and dad. There’s more time to play games and read books. Learning to type my name and numbers on the computer is also fun.”
Emmett (5)

“I like learning different things and can take my time to do it without being rushed as there is not as many kids in the class. The person that teaches you is different to your normal teacher so you learn a different way.”
Lilly (9)

“I like my table and I like colouring in. I love lunch break and pointing to the map of the world and choosing a country.”
Holly (6)

“I like learning everything and doing show and tell and love the days off.”
Rafa (5)

“I like having the iPads, the drawing, and the free time and puzzles.”
Samuel (6)

“You can just run to the kitchen and eat what you want. I also like the free time. I think homeschool is cool because we have more time to do whatever we want.”
Helena (7)