Parents: How to Prepare for Home-Based Learning (HBL)
Stay sane with homeschooling and 24/7 family life again
Text: Puja Bharwani
We all knew it was coming — a rise in unlinked community cases, children testing positive, back into a Phase 2 partial lockdown — and then came the news that all parents were dreading.
But till the Straits Times flash alerted me on my phone, it didn’t feel real. When I saw that all primary school and above would migrate fully to home-based learning on May 19, I felt hungover- not in the traditional sense, but in an unfathomable way you feel when half of the world around you is celebrating double vaccinations and no masks, and the other half, including my ancestral country India is mourning death and can barely breathe. We have been pretty privileged living in Singapore, and over the last few weeks did feel a rollercoaster of emotions when hearing about other countries and second waves hitting. I read the entire article and calmly walked over to my 11 and 8-year-old kids and told them to enjoy the last two days of the physical school whilst they can. Then I could feel I was getting anxious and snappy. I started doing some pranayama breathing exercises and went into planning mode. The biggest consolation was that pre-schools were open, which meant my 5-year-old would still be in a physical school.
So, I wanted to share some helpful tips and reminders for parents for the next few weeks on how to prioritize your workspace, nutrition, fitness, schedule, and self-care as well as dealing with your children’s needs. Remember to fill your own cup first.
Space & broadband
Make sure each child and adult have dedicated, uncluttered workspaces that don’t bleed into each other - this may be hard on some, but get creative and use the dining and other areas in the house if needed. Make sure your work area is also clearly demarcated -- get a good chair (highly recommend Steelcase), noise-cancelling headphones, a good screen, a webcam, and an LED ring light. All this adds to the feel and looks of a professional setup - if you didn’t invest in all of this last year, now is the time. Signs outside your door clearly stating instructions on what snacks to eat or to not disturb you don’t always work! When you step into that area, no matter how small, it’s the feeling that needs to change - you need to be fully present and in work mode and your child seeing that space decked up makes a difference. This also signals to your children that you are in work mode. Invest in Google Nest for a smooth Wi-Fi connection and to help set reminders and alarms for the kids once you have set them up. The Nest Wifi point has a speaker with the Google Assistant, so you can play music, manage your Wi‑Fi network, find answers, control your connected devices, and do more using your voice.
“Hey Google, please set an alarm to remind Ishana to have a water break in 20 minutes.”
Dedicate an area to stretch, move and breathe
We have rented a spin bike from Cru Cycle, given all indoor gyms are shut. This was probably the best pre-emptive thing I did so far as most rental cycles and other gym equipment are now sold out. We also have two yoga mats, free weights, and a couple of foam rollers all over the house. This really helps to have thinking, stretching, and breathing sessions in between the home school routine for the kids and adults during the day. We have a trampoline and a foldable beam which have been very useful. Some great places to get fitness equipment are Amazon SG and Movement First.
Give yourself some time out moments - whether it’s grounding yourself for a few breaths in your room or taking a short walk. This makes a huge difference. Try out the meditation app Calm, which offers short and longer meditation sessions for everything from anxiety to focus.
Get outside every day
It is an absolute must when in the world of HBL and WFH to leave the house daily and be with nature, regardless of what time you do it. It has to be mandatory, even if it rains. Go for a walk, run, bicycle ride, or swim and be fully immersed in that experience while you are doing it. Better if you don’t take your phone or just use it for music, listening to a podcast or actually talking to a loved one. Creating a routine you can control with some variation is integral to getting through this. Be strict about instilling a movement routine but don’t be rigid about what you do, when you do it and how you carry it out too much rigidity can be a deterrent from action in this type of environment.
Add variety to the daily routine
Sing, play an instrument or just listen to the best of music during these times. Music, especially singing, is meant to elevate you and make you come alive. From Simply Piano to Yousician (a platform to learn any instrument), there are apps to teach you to sing or play any instrument from your home. Have a dance-off to Nintendo Switch's Just Dance or some music videos on YouTube - always a mood lifter with their classic dance list. Sensorial art and craft activities are also highly recommended. I recently discovered Lunaland for kids craft on Instagram which delivers kits to make lip balms, soaps and candles all neatly weighed and put together. They also make for great gifts once done.
Have restaurant-themed days, order food from a nice place, set the table up, and dress up. It made a huge difference during lockdown 2020, when the kids created special signs of the restaurants we ordered from and pasted them at our entrance, acted as hosts and even plated the food in a fancy way. It really lifted our spirits and reminded us how fortunate we all are.
We know screen time will increase during this period but one of the things you can do to diversify the drudgery is to try out this weekly enrichment program called Synthesis, spun out of the school Elon Musk created for his kids.
Become ‘indistractable’
Being ‘indistractable’, a term coined by Nir Eyal, advises you to time-box your day based on your values and priorities vs writing a to-do list. Nir Eyal writes, consults, and teaches Behavioral Design, which is an intersection of psychology, technology, and business. To raise indistractable children, he says adults need to become indistractable. How do you do that? Master what your internal triggers are that are distracting you and make time for traction, even if it’s small. Nir says one of the best things you can do for your kid is to teach them how to schedule their time, starting at five years old.
“You want to play a game online? No problem. When? Let’s put that time in the calendar right now. Because if you decide when you want to spend that time, there’s no problem. The time you plan to waste is not wasted time, as long as you plan for it.” Read and hear more about his theory in my podcast with him.
Remember, control the things you can and don’t feed on a few things in life that aren’t that great. This too shall pass.
“The only guarantee, ever, is that things will go wrong. The only thing we can use to mitigate this is anticipation. Because the only variable we control completely is ourselves.” Ryan Holiday
About the author
Puja Bharwani is The Soothe’s Health Innovation Advisor. As well as being the regional head of marketing and PR at global VC Antler, helping startup brands to thrive and host of the Antler VC Cast, Puja is the founder of What’s The Story, an initiative whose mission it is to empower entrepreneurs to craft a powerful narrative for customers, investors, and their personal brand. Previously a journalist with Reuters in New York and Singapore, the mother of three is passionate about companies championing mental health, fitness and nutrition, femtech, healthtech, and strongly believes that every individual can create their own path to entrepreneurship and leadership, minus burnout.
