Australian Education is about to begin its Term 2, even facing the menace of COVID-19. However, contagion rates are presenting optimistic figures which inspire the Australian population to get prepared for a gradual return to regular activities. While it doesn’t happen, each Australian state is managing their schools with different strategies. For example, NSW schools are expected to remain open, but each child would be requested to attend only one day a week, on a specific day in order to avoid crowding the schools.
When sending your child to school for this specific day, don’t forget to remind your child about hygiene practices and other ways to combat contagion potential:
Teach and practice hand washing. Children might not be patient to wash their hands the proper way, but times like this demand special attention. Use fun videos and songs to engage them, if necessary.
Explain the effectiveness of hand sanitisers but outline the higher effectiveness of hand washing.
Many children are caring and love shaking hands, hugging and kissing. It might be frustrating for them to receive less caring demonstrations than the usual, so it’s the parents’ responsibility to make them understand the need to avoid it for a while.
Now it’s even more important to instruct children to leave shoes and bags by the door. These objects have more contact to the ground and have increased potential of bringing germs inside home.
As well as leaving shoes and bags by the door, it’s highly preferable for children to change clothes, removing their uniforms which might have touched an infected surface. If possible, these uniforms should be put immediately to be washed, so germs are automatically removed from home.
Remember the groups of risk. Grandparents and relatives with respiratory issues or other health conditions must be kept away from the touch of children. As mentioned before, children are very fond of physical demonstrations of care such as hugging and kissing, but they might be carrying viruses without knowing it. For the health of beloved ones, children must be cautious.
Make them spend energy outdoors. Put them to play in the backyard, to ride bikes and scooters, or make walks with parents in a specific moment of the day. Exercising the body increases children’s immune systems and collaborate to their mental health. However, avoid highly-trafficked places.
Keep the house clean, especially entrances and areas of heavy use.
Masks are for infected people. It avoids coughs, sneezes and yawns from infected people to spread the virus in the air. Excessive demand for masks might make people who really need them be without it due to unnecessary shortage of product.
In case you want to know more about Term 2 at schools, search in your state’s Secretary of Education. Here in New South Wales, you can see more information by clicking here. Speech and language pathology therapies can be maintained through telepractice, just click here to know how Speakable can continue its service to your children.
And while your children are at home studying, click over this checklist below that Speakable made to help you:
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