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!