Learning from home – How to break up screen time

Our top tips and resources for learning from home with Primary children

How much time has your child spent on a screen this week?

Working and learning from home has all kinds of unintended consequences… Something that’s right in front of you – an increase in the amount of time we’ve spent looking at a screen!

In our first ‘How to…’ guide, we have some advice for breaking up screen time for your children, and maybe a few helpful tips for parents too!

Here are some non-screen-based learning activities you can do from home…

LEARN A NEW HOBBY
Building model planes, decorating dollhouses, learning to repair things, or taking care of the garden: now is a fantastic time to find a new, practical, hobby that engages your child. Our tutors can help ignite a new or existing interest, and are already delivering film, yoga, and fitness programmes that have set children up with their own creative projects

GAME NIGHT!
Board games and card games are a fantastic way to get the whole family engaged – as an added bonus, many of these games utilise literacy, numeracy and communication skills.

MAKE UP A DANCE ROUTINE OR PLAY
Encouraging performance at an early age can foster long-lasting passions for drama and dance! Our students already taking part in drama or music programmes are full of enthusiasm for their new creative outlets. This could also be a great way to reach out to grandparents or family friends – they could make the perfect audience for an online premiere performance!

LINK TO LIFE:

Monitoring your children’s screen time can be a real challenge! Today’s Link to Life section has some ideas you can introduce to help reduce screen time as part of your everyday routine.

1. Eat your meals without screens
It’s tempting to check the news or social media during mealtime, but by avoiding this, you can give your eyes a rest and take time to enjoy your food!

2. Avoid letting your children watch movies or TV in bed
Only allowing children to watch films and TV in communal rooms ensure that you can control what, and how much, they are watching. Less screen time before bed will help them sleep better too!

3. Ban device charging in the bedroom
This creates clear parameters for children, and stops their screens being the last thing they see before bed, and the first thing they see in the morning.