COVID-19 has created a lack of stability in our everyday lives. Families and
particularly children are affected by the lack of structure and familiar activities.
Without the usual supports provided by school-based programs and resources,
there can be long-term loss of children’s social and emotional development.
This was reported in MSU Today, a
website sponsored by the Michigan State University. Charis Wahman, an assistant
professor in their College of Education, shares four research-based strategies
to support your kids at home.
These strategies have been developed
for younger children who thrive on predictable, planned activities. You may
want to give your teens more leeway for planning their daily schedule, as long
at they meet goals relative to school and home responsibilities. For more
information on teens mental health click here.
Families can create a more predictable environment for young children. The
following strategies can help during these uncertain times.
1. Maintain a predictable family routine. For example:
- Breakfast (Note: children can help with preparing all meals in
age-appropriate ways)
- Morning learning (learning alphabet, writing name or letters, learning
numbers)
- Reading time with a parent, sibling, or other relative
- Lunch
- Music time (dance or listen to music with a parent, sibling, or other
relative)
- Snack
- Play a game, or outside with a family member
- Dinner
- Bedtime routine (take a bath, read a story, tell a story, etc.)
2. Have children help you create three or four guidelines for everyone in the
home to follow (stated in the positive). For example:
- Use loving words
- Help with preparing and cleaning up after meals (set the table, put dishes in
the sink, sweep the floor)
- Play/Keep all toys in the (area in the home that you decide)
- Lights out at (child’s bedtime)
3. Help children stay connected to friends, teachers, and family members
through electronics and technology (i.e., phone, Skype/Zoom, video).
4. Take care of your own mental health as the primary caregiver by accessing
support materials online and through sharing of responsibilities.
To help everyone in the household learn about establishing routine and home
guidelines, the family should use social narratives or videos to teach the
family routine and home guidelines. Children can help to write the story and/or
be in the video demonstrating the family routine and/or home guidelines.
To model the family routine and home guidelines older siblings and parents
can model the behaviors. Even a video of the child themselves demonstrating the
family routine and guidelines is a type of modeling. Rehearse and role play the
family routine and guidelines.
Finally, combine these strategies with an appropriate reward.
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