CCBC Education Committee organized webinar with tips for parents to make the isolation worthwhile with their children during the pandemic

Quarantining at home is hard enough for adults; work-life balance, maintaining the health and having leisure activities from home, with children the challenge is even harder. Many parents have been under pressure to make up for the losses of the school classes and a possible idleness of their children with extra activities, at the same time that they need to work from home and maintain good physical and emotional health. But, according to experts, this task doesn’t to be as stressful as it sounds.

“Parents shouldn’t feel guilty. Stay calm, relax, be flexible. Children will get out of this situation well. Resilient parents raise resilient children”, says the academic director of the Canadian Maple Bear education network, Stewart Shinnan. He and the network’s academic director, Arpi Babaian, attended in a webinar promoted by the CCBC Education Committee in June, precisely to give tips on how to deal with quarantine at home with children. The event was moderated by Maple Bear’s Marketing Director and Committee Coordinator, Rafael Mangini, and with the participation of entrepreneur Léo Gmeiner, creator founder of the Filho sem Fila platform.

“Our lives have changed dramatically and the present is being extremely stressful. Children need to be protected and at the same time continue to learn in this restrictive situation, while their parents work, or try to work from home, and strive to keep their children busy. We know how difficult it is and we want to collaborate with our Maple Bear experience,” said Babaian. “Some organization tips and tools can help. They are useful to our tasks as parents, as professionals, and for children in their own tasks, including homework,” added Gmeiner.

Check out the tips from the experts:

• Create routines: for children to feel safe, it is important to know what they have to do. Set times to eat, sleep, read with your kids, brush your teeth, and don’t forget to reserve a space for social interactions;
• Use technology: there are several options of tools and methods that can help organize everyday tasks in a playful and visual way, such as the Japanese task management panel called Kanban, and the Italian time management method called Pomodoro (both easily available on the internet);
• Do activities together, ask your children to participate in tasks such as cooking or washing the dishes;
• You need to set aside time to study, but also to play. These activities help to improve the children’s development;
• Don’t blame yourself for your children’s screen time. Some online period is unavoidable, in addition movies or virtual games can be constructive;
• Encourage the arts, music, reading and creativity. Motivate your child to use their imagination; and
• Don’t forget to spend some time working out.