Parents wondering how to talk to their children about coronavirus can explain what the virus is and why it's important for people to wash their hands and stay inside but should avoid sharing numbers of cases or deaths.
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This advice is from Goulburn-based child psychologist Chantel Ashkar at Ashkar and Co. who shared her top tips for parents to navigate through this unprecedented time.
Ways to help children manage stress and anxiety:
- Keep days at home routine and predictable;
- Make time for movement (playing with a ball in the backyard or put GoNoodle on Youtube if they can't go outside);
- Make time for mindfulness activities (yoga, puzzles, playdough, sensory play or meditation);
- Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables and drink a lot of water;
- Limit screen time to no more than two hours per day (national guidelines).
Parents should also reduce the amount of time the news is on around children, Ms Ashkar said.
"This also includes news they may watch on Facebook," she said. "Children do not have the critical thinking skills to be able to think things such as, 'how factual is this?' or 'where are they getting this information from?' when watching the news," she said.
"It's not appropriate for children to be listening to these sorts of things, especially with how sensationalised the news is at the moment. Watch the news after the children have gone to bed."
Routine is key for children and a visual timetable can be helpful for children to predict what their day will look like, Ms Ashkar said.
However, parents homeschooling shouldn't expect their children to complete six hours of work per day.
"Their day at school might be six hours long but this also includes recess, lunch, movement breaks, physical exercise, scripture, assemblies and lining up before and after each break, etc. Therefore, kids are not normally learning for the entire six hours and it's unreasonable to ask them to do this while learning from home," she said.
"Follow the structures and activities they have been given from their teachers but allow them to move, rest when needed and incorporate fun activities to break up school work."
Acts of kindness and caring for others are useful ways to demonstrate to children how to deal with difficult times.
They are associated with lower stress, better sleep, successful socialisation and resilience, Ms Ashkar said.
