The trial Home Based Learning (HBL) which took place on a Wednesday just before the Circuit Break (CB) period went terribly. There were tantrums, crying, shouting from children and parent (yes, only 1 parent, because the other parent locked himself away in his study room, oblivious to the chaos.). When MOE announced school closures, I was horrified…If I were to put myself through that every single day, there would probably be a murder before the week even ended.

I work better when I have a schedule and clarity of what is going to happen next. I decided that having schedules for every one (including myself) could preserve our (my…) sanity. There was an article which was aggressively forwarded on all social media to not impose a schedule on the children. I beg to differ on that.

So, on the day of the school closure announcement, I set the kids on a task – create their own schedules for a typical school day during CB. They needed to factor in time for HBL, time for extra work or enrichment class practice, exercise, meals, hobbies and of course PLAY! We used the Canva software to create it. Canva is so idiot-proof that my daughter was able to create an invitation card for her birthday party when she was 6.

They felt empowered and had a lot of fun doing up their schedules, choosing their own backgrounds, graphics etc. I had to tweak the timings a little. I simply couldn’t allow them to have meals as and when they please. What am I?! A Cafe arh?! Sheesh. And the HBL timings had to be staggered so they wouldn’t fight over the one laptop they shared.

They stuck their schedules at their study spaces, at eye level, literally smack in their faces.

So far, it has worked pretty well. Sometimes they finish their work earlier. They get more playtime, so that’s an incentive for them. But for slipshod work, they get playtime deducted. No more whining, pushing of boundaries, complaining la dee dah. Along the way, we have also worked in time for doing household chores and cooking. Meanwhile, 姐姐 is now the appointed IT officer for her brother whenever he runs into technical issues. Delegation, delegation…

So ya, scheduling has done wonders during this CB period and I have retained my sanity. With luck, they may even turn into junior masterchefs and spiffy cleaners before the CB ends… Keeping my fingers crossed. Looking forward to my days of kiao ka-ing when my minions can cook and clean the house!