A MOTHER who educated her two children at home has some words of wisdom for parents facing the challenge of home schooling.

Dawn Waterhouse, from Colchester, admits it was once considered “unusual” to home school your child.

But with schools across the UK shut for the foreseeable future, home schooling is the “new normal”.

Dawn, who runs her own business, has educated her two daughters, now aged 19 and 15, from home over the past ten years.

She says when starting out, parents will feel a range of emotions.

“They would range from feeling overwhelmed, panicked and unworthy,” she said.

“Some will tackle it with head-on organisation, with a daily plan to hold it all together.

“If someone is still going through the stage of ‘Am I enough, can I do this, will my child learn what they need?’, they should rest assured these are normal emotions.

“Let your child have time to transition to the change.

“Many schools are offering lesson material for parents to work with their children and this is an invaluable asset.”

“We are living through a major historical event, in a few years’ time there will be movies made on these days of chaos.

“Children should be allowed time and space to explore and express their feelings, release anxiety and discover their resilience.”

“Good mental health is a gift we all want for our children, so time to play, craft and create will support them while working through their thoughts and emotions.”

When Dawn began home schooling ten years ago, there were few free resources available.

But the advent of social media and surge in online resources means there are a wealth of options available for parents when it comes to lessons in maths and sciences.

“The first thing I would suggest is spend your money carefully,” said Dawn.

“With exception to the exam years for my children, we did not really spend a lot on resources. There is so much online you can utilise.

“But there is also your child’s imagination to work with.”

“If they want to play, encourage a game to be invented.

“Allow children to be inventors, creators, authors, actors, musicians, chefs, whatever their hearts desire.”

“We do not all grow up to work in an office, behind a desk, our children are going to enter a world we cannot imagine, so the skill set we are teaching much be adaptable.

“They need to be able to apply knowledge rather than just recite facts and be able to cope with change.”

Dawn pointed to online resources including videos by fitness instructor Joe Wicks, who is offering free PE lessons.

She added: “How about exploring a country each week?

“Look at a map, discover a few greeting words in the language and look at the cultural foods. Maybe spend an evening cooking a meal in that style.”

Jo-Anne Button, who runs RG Cole Kitchens, in Stanway, with her husband, has just completed her first week of home education with her daughter Freya, aged ten.

Freya, a pupil at Home Farm Primary School, was given work to complete before the closures.

“The school did have a plan and the headteacher was updating us constantly before the schools were instructed to close,” said Jo-Anne.

“She was given log in details for online resources and the school have now set up a YouTube channel.”

She added: “Last week was a combination of not knowing what was going to happen regarding our business, helping our customers, supporting our fitters and ensuring Freya had some structure to her new regime,” said Jo-Anne.

“So far the online work is providing some structure.

“We seem to be adapting to this new way of doing things but it doesn’t replace the interaction with her friends, the clubs at school and her time at Girl Guides.”

“She is talking to friends via WhatsApp and catches up via online games.”