It's the holidays - but not quite as we know them! We need to look after our wellbeing while Level 4 restrictions are in place (remember 4 weeks is a minimum). Establish routines and make sure you are completing MEANINGFUL tasks EVERY DAY. Some suggestions to help can be found below.
Family Rituals
Eat together every day – often our busy lives make this difficult but over the coming weeks we all have an opportunity to reconnect. Make meal times technology free (ample time for that at the moment!) and establish some rituals everyone can be involved in – share something you’re grateful for, talk about someone you connected with today that you haven’t heard from for a while, share something new you learned, share something you did to help someone else.
Family Movie Nights and Family Games Nights – take turns choosing what to watch or play. For something different, take turns choosing a TED Talk to watch each day – will be a great discussion starter about topics that are important to each member of the whānau https://www.ted.com/talks
Learn Something New Together
Teach your son to cook – this link provides suggestions of 10 basic dishes, ingredient lists and recipes: https://www.stayathomemum.com.au/recipes/10-recipes-you-must-teach-your-teenager-to-cook/
Teach your son some basic car maintenance e.g. how to change a tyre and how to check water and oil levels
Learn a few words in a new language – Te Reo Māori is a great place to start and there are plenty of online programmes, courses and apps to help e.g. https://plink.co.nz/?tipu
Work together to develop financial literacy – talk about family finances, with lots of decisions being made now about things like Kiwisaver investments or whether to apply for a mortgage payment holiday, it is a good opportunity to involve your son in some of these discussions or use website resources e.g. https://sortedinschools.org.nz/students/student-hub/
Fitness Challenges
Try the PNBHS Fitness Challenges with our Director of Sport, Mr. Finch (@pnbhs_fitness_challenges on Instagram), or download on of the many apps with programmes you can complete on your own.
Find a fitness session on YouTube – there are enough options that you won’t have to do the same workout twice no matter how long we are in lockdown! https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=home+fitness
Daily free-to-air workouts, ranging from high-intensity training to stretching and meditation, will begin on March 30 on TVNZ at 9am and 3pm, and also offer workouts designed specifically for young children and teenagers. The workouts will also be available on TVNZ OnDemand.
Get all the whānau involved and challenge your mates
Academic Work
TED-Ed – find information about topics you are covering at school or that are of interest to you: https://ed.ted.com/lessons?direction=desc&sort=publish-date&user_by_click=student
Learning How To Learn for Youth – learn how to maximise your learning with the student version of the most popular MOOC (Massive Open Online Content) in the world: https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn-youth
Khan Academy - a nonprofit with the mission to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere: https://www.khanacademy.org/
Learning from Home (NZ Ministry of Education) – more resources will be added to this website in the coming weeks, this link is to the resources for Years 9 – 13 https://learningfromhome.govt.nz/age/years-9-13 there are also resources for younger children in other parts of the site
Information and resources to support wellbeing and support learning at home
- The Ministry of Education has developed a resource for parents, caregivers, whānau and family - http://education.govt.nz/school/health-safety-and-wellbeing/pastoral-care-and-wellbeing/talking-to-children-about-covid-19-coronavirus/.
- The Ministry of Health’s website includes Top ways to look after your mental wellbeing during the Covid-19 lockdown.
- I AM HOPE is the youth and community focused support group run by The Key to Life Charitable Trust, started by Mike King - https://www.iamhope.org.nz/
- Nathan Wallis has some helpful videos on his Facebook page for parents and whānau - https://www.facebook.com/nathanwallisxfactoreducation/ -
- Tips on looking after mental health and wellbeing during COVID-19 from the Mental Health foundation https://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/get-help/covid-19/
- a website by the Health Promotion Agency to help New Zealanders recognise and understand depression and anxiety - https://depression.org.nz/covid-19/
- Although overseas-based this is a good list and highlights some things particularly important for children. Remember the rules of New Zealand’s level 4 lockdown still apply - 25 Mental Health Wellness Tips during Quarantine from Eileen M Feliciano, Psy.D.