PW invited parents of Podar Jumbo Kids, Mumbai to share their insights on how they are helping their children prepare for in-person classes

“The Covid-19 pandemic has changed our lives in many ways. It has compelled my 5.5 year-old twins — Kovidh and Krishangi — to move out of their safe classrooms to an alien home learning set-up. As much as I would want them to return to physical school, I fear that coming out of their new normal environment may not be easy. Therefore I have made it a point to engage in open conversations with them and emphasise the joy of meeting old friends and teachers. Moreover to ensure their safety, I have engaged them in a drill to develop self-help skills like washing hands frequently and sneezing into the elbow.” — Paromita Mukherjee, executive, ICICI Bank, Mumbai

“My five-year-old daughter Arjohi who attended normal school for a year before Covid-19 hit India, is excited to resume in-school classes. Accordingly, we have advised her to continue to maintain Covid safety protocols she has been following since March 2020. Our greatest worry, however, is how she will interact with other children. Although her school encourages speaking with classmates during online classes, we additionally emphasise the values of good behaviour and have inculcated soft skills since we believe these are integral to teaching-learning. We hope her enthusiasm to meet her friends and teachers will translate into an easy transition to on-campus school.” — Dheera Majumder, tourism executive, Sartha Global Marketing, Mumbai

“I recall how difficult it was to make our son Shreyansh — currently studying in junior kindergarten — sit in one place for online classes ever since his school switched to online teaching-learning after the outbreak of Covid-19 in March 2020. Our sincere thanks to his school teachers and management for encouraging him and ensuring learning continuity through the pandemic. Now with education institutions planning to reopen after 18 long months, this is good news for teachers and children. As parents, we believe our child’s teachers will help Sreyansh transition smoothly to in-person classes just as they helped him adapt to online classes, while ensuring also that he maintained all Covid safety protocols.” — Kashyap Patel, practising company secretary, Mumbai.

“I believe our children were badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Now that we are looking forward to our 4.5 year-old son Shaurya Mahesh resuming normal school, I am working hard to prepare him mentally, physically and emotionally. Whenever we are outdoors, I educate him about the importance of safety measures like washing hands frequently, masking and social distancing. Apart from encouraging him to return to normal school without any fear, I also try to balance his online activities with offline recreational activities including regular visits to the park and outdoor play.” — Neetu Rao, home tutor, Mumbai

Also read: Challenges faced by students while switching from online to offline classes