Lockdown: Tips for parents coping with kids at home - 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from

BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.

And I'm Georgina.

Do you remember the school holidays

when you were a kid, Georgina?

Ah, yes, I remember. Six whole weeks

without school! I used to go

to the seaside on holiday

with my family - sometimes to the coast

in England and sometimes

abroad to France or Spain.

Yes. I remember my dad driving us

down to the seaside, looking out

the car window and

playing I-spy with my sister.

But with the outbreak of the coronavirus

pandemic many children are having

to take an extended

and unplanned break from school.

And with schools now shut for

the foreseeable future, this is

creating challenges - both

for children who can no longer meet

their friends to play outdoors...

...and for parents who want to keep

their children occupied and

focused without spending

hours watching TV or

playing on mobile phones.

In this programme, we'll be discussing

some advice for parents trying

to keep their children

educated and entertained at home

in these unusual times. But first

today's quiz question:

Under normal circumstances, which

country has the longest

school summer holidays? Is it:

A) Australia, B) Argentina, or C) Italy?

Hmmm, they have really hot summers

in Australia, right? I think maybe

they also have long holidays,

so I'll say a) Australia.

OK, Georgina. We'll find out later

whether you were right. Of course,

what's happening

right now is very different from normal

school holidays. Parents and

children may be living

together under lockdown for weeks

on end and this can be stressful

as BBC Radio 4's You

and Yours discovered when they spoke

to parenting expert, Elizabeth O'Shea.

The most important thing is see this

as an opportunity.

It's unprecedented what's going on

but you may have a chance to have

two or more weeks with your

children and if you can

change your attitude towards that

you can actually enjoy this time

and teach your children

amazing coping skills for dealing with

difficulties in the future.

Elizabeth thinks that having a positive

attitude by seeing the lockdown

as an opportunity will

help in this unprecedented situation - a

situation which has never

happened before.

Adults are full of life experience

and parents can teach their children

things they wouldn't

get to learn at school. Being able

to spend time at home with

your children can be a great

opportunity to teach them coping skills -

skills they can use to cope,

or deal with, stressful situations.

One of Elizabeth's main ideas is that

parents shouldn't try to re-create

a school classroom

at home. Instead, it might be better

to work with your children as a team

and decide together

what you'd like to do.

Here she is talking about keeping kids

entertained at home.

I would brainstorm ideas and then

draw up timetables of what

you're going to do each day.

Include a nice chunk of time, normally

after lunch, for a bit of down time - quiet

reading or quiet play but then, the rest of

the time, build in activities. So playing

with your children is wonderful... ball

games, board games, card games,

word games, anything -

doing a family disco - anything that

is fun and entertaining for them.

If you lack ideas for what to do during

the day, Elizabeth recommends

brainstorming - talking

to your children to produce ideas

and suggestions for things to do.

Of course, games and activities are

fun ways of keeping children

entertained and she suggests

spending a chunk - or large part

of time - on those.

But it's difficult to find the energy

to keep playing games all day long.

It's also important

to timetable in down time - time when

you relax and do not do much,

for example quiet reading.

And if it all starts going wrong, here's

Elizabeth again with a final tip.

Pillow fights are also

a great way to let off stream.

If the situation becomes stressful then

it's good to let off steam - do

something to get

rid of strong feelings by expressing them

without harming anyone. You could let off

steam in many ways - anything from

going for a run to having a pillow fight!

I think I'm going to need a holiday

to get over this lockdown.

Which reminds me... it's time to reveal the

correct answer to this

week's quiz question.

I asked you which country's schools

usually have the longest

summer holidays.

I said a) Australia.

Good try, Georgina, but the correct answer

was c) Italy. They have up to 13

weeks' holidays

in the summer! Imagine how much

fun you could have!

Or how much English vocabulary

you could learn!

Today we've been giving some tips

to parents for surviving the

coronavirus lockdown, an

unprecedented situation - meaning

a situation which has never

happened before.

One parenting expert recommends

keeping a positive attitude

by focusing on the useful

things parents can teach their children at

home, like coping skills - skills to cope

with stressful situations, like

being locked down.

A good way to generate ideas for things

to do is brainstorming - talking

with your children

to come up with ideas and

suggestions for fun learning activities.

A large chunk - or part - of the day

could be spent in fun ways like playing

games or finding things out together

on the internet.

But don't forget to schedule in some

down time - quiet time to relax

and do nothing.

And when it all gets too much,

find healthy ways to let off steam -

get rid of strong

emotions by doing something energetic,

like going for a run....

Or having a pillow fight! Come on, Neil, I

always have a pillow handy, just in case!

Well, unfortunately, we've run out

of time. Search BBC Learning English

for more language learning programmes

as well as English activities for your

children during the lockdown.

Bye for now!