Certificate and token scheme launched to help with homeschooling for Doncaster children

The challenges cover a wide range of topics that can be covered at home with family members to learn vital skills and increase quality family time during lockdown.

Their challenges are based in the following areas: STEM, cooking, reading, and crafts.

Once a child has completed six tasks within a subject they are rewarded with a certificate and if they complete all of them they will receive a special token.

Ruth Precious, Family and Community Learning Manager, said: “The challenges are open to any children in Doncaster - they help to keep families engaged and the reward of a token and a certificate motivates the children to keep going.

“Once a family has completed a task we ask them to take a photo of themselves and send it to us.

“We then get to have a meaningful exchange with them - offer advice and potential extensions to the lesson.”

The lessons can be adapted for any age and are flexible depending on schedules and time available.

“There are a lot of resources out there at the moment for parents and it can be quite overwhelming,” she continued.

“I’m pointing parents in the direction of resources I think are good and offering them support.

“The feedback so far has been that the challenges allow families to focus on key areas which makes it more manageable.”

Ruth believes that family learning should have more focus and due to Covid-19 all parents are currently learning how to be full-time homeschoolers.

She said: “Parents are their child's first and foremost educators but many that we encounter don’t feel confident delivering education to their children.

“Some may not have finished their education themselves but you don’t have to be a rocket scientist.

“I always say that parents are like unpaid classroom assistants that work out of hours.”

If you want to get involved with the challenges email [email protected]

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