Charting a New Course for Kids Post COVID-19

Finding the Good to Take Beyond Quarantine

While we’ve been denied access during the COVID-19 pandemic to activities such as playing group sport, spending time in a café or meeting with friends, there’s been plenty of upside, too.

Discussions with friends reveal that family life has been a big beneficiary from the physical distancing measures. Comments such as “it’s so good to slow down,” “I cherish the time I’m spending with my children,” and, “I’m discovering the joy of having real conversations with my teenager,” point to the positive side of getting off the family roundabout many of us have been on.

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This forced break has provided a wonderful opportunity for kids to forge new habits that potentially will bring more joy and less stress to their lives once the coronavirus threat has passed. Here are five ideas to consider while charting a new course for kids post COVID-19:

Significant Personal Hobbies

Our previous reliance on organised, adult-initiated activity to keep kids busy came at the expense of child-initiated hobbies and interests. The rise of personal, digital entertainment and communication technology in recent years has also contributed to the demise of hands-on hobbies such as collecting, crafts and music. The Scandanavians have long valued the positive impact of hobbies on a person’s wellbeing and quality of life. In turn, they encourage and in Sweden’s case, heavily subsidise the uptake of hobbies and personal interests from a very young age. There are many ways schools can encourage children and young people to take on personal hobbies, such as conducting interest- based activities at school. Perhaps the best way to promote personal interests is to maximise school-based teaching and learning activities so that kids of all ages have sufficient time and opportunity to pursue interests, rather than overload them with tasks to be completed at home.

Personal Learning Centres

Experts agree that the future of work will be characterised by constant change, requiring workers to continually learn and upskill if they are to adapt. Our children will need to see themselves as continuous learners if they are to succeed in this uncertain future. The home is a great place to plant this concept in young minds and there’s no better way to do this than establishing their own personal learning centre. Teachers can encourage parents to start small with a bean bag, a small book shelf and build from there. It’s the idea rather than the physical setting where the learning significance lays.

Mental Health Practices

This period in isolation has offered a wonderful opportunity to embed good mental health practices in children and young people. Three key health practices to continue include healthy

eating, plenty of exercise and good sleep patterns. Add regular mindfulness practice, deep breathing and the opportunity to spend plenty of time in nature and you’ll be establishing a strong mental health and wellbeing framework for life. Mental health practices of mindfulness, exercise and deep breathing can also be practised at school.

Mix of Alone and Group Activities

Life in social isolation has meant family members have had compromise. Extraverts, who love to be surrounded by people have had to give parents and siblings the space they need. While introverts, who prefer their own company, have been sharing their time, space and company with other family members. Post COVID-19, consider encouraging kids to experience a mixture of alone time, allowing for personal reflection and family time, which promotes family connection. Both are essential for healthy wellbeing.

Deep Eldership Connection

Increased one-on-one time between parents and kids has been an undoubted positive side effect of life in social isolation. The opportunity for parents to connect with children and young people with greater depth and meaning is a return to eldership, practised by past generations. Eldership, where parents shared their wisdom and their vulnerabilities with young people, when combined with healthy rites of passage, is a time-honoured way of preparing young people for adulthood. Teachers can encourage eldership through rites of passage programmes and providing plenty of opportunities for elders to share their knowledge and wisdom in school settings.

This period in social isolation has provided a rare opportunity for parents to renew and refresh their children’s lifestyles, and in some circumstances, reboot family lives and classroom practice as well. It would be a waste to climb back on the busy roundabout of life once COVID-19 pandemic has passed, without making some positive changes to the way we live.

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Michael Grose


Author, columnist and presenter Michael Grose currently supports over 1,100 schools in Australia, New Zealand and England in engaging and supporting their parent communities. He is also the director of Parentingideas, Australia’s leader in parenting education resources and support for schools. In 2010 Michael spoke at the prestigious Headmaster’s Conference in England, the British International Schools Conference in Madrid, and the Heads of Independent Schools Conference in Australia, showing school leadership teams how to move beyond partnership-building to create real parent-school communities. For bookings, parenting resources for schools and Michael’s famous Free Chores & Responsibilities Guide for Kids, go to www. parentingideas.com.au.