Find better ways to manage your children’s screen time. Increase their time for afterschool sessions at their private school in Kuala Lumpur, encourage video calls with friends, and more.
More and more kids are spending time in front of their screens. What can you do to manage screen time for your little ones? Was it challenging to control their screen time before? But with a pandemic going on, is it right for parents to be strict with screen time? Here are a few thoughts on the matter. If you need advice on how to proceed, these musings can help you figure out what the right approach is for you and your family.
Know the Problems
Let us start by identifying the problems that come with too much screen time. If your kids are spending too much time in front of the screen, then they are not being physically active, which could put them at risk of obesity. They could also end up with irregular sleep, and that will give them a shorter duration of sleep which is bad for their development and growth as rest is when the body recharges. Growing kids need all the sleep they can get. Also, too much screen time means they have less time for play and socializing.
Set New Rules
You probably set up screen time rules pre-pandemic. While those rules ensured quality screen time before the time of the coronavirus, now is a different story. You will need to set new rules and guidelines in place. Create new screen time rituals and reminders for your family. For instance, encourage your kids to video call their friends or attend online afterschool sessions that their private school in Kuala Lumpur offers. By encouraging new habits, you help lessen their time for watching screen.
Agree on Screen-Free Zones
Talk to your kids about having screen-free zones and times. Ask them not to watch any screen while you are all eating, walking together, out in the garden, and more. That will help establish a screen-free routine for your little ones.
Give Them Options
After school, let your kids play a game. They can choose the game. Kids get easily bored, though. If yours do, then make sure you offer them variety. By setting a condition—that they can only watch some screen or play a game after school is done or when they’re done with their homework—then that helps keep the screen time to a manageable level.
Send Them to Bed Early
Even in the time of the pandemic and online classes, it is still best if you send your kids to bed early. That way, they will be refreshed for their classes. When they are, they will finish early and have enough time for screen time. If you do not cut off their screen time and allow them to watch until late, that disrupts their sleep, leaves them tired for their morning classes, and can make them cranky. If your little one is always having tantrums, it might be because she is tired or sleepy in class. Put your foot down. Limit screen time and let her get enough sleep.
Prioritize
If you are working from home and you are looking after the kids as well, that makes for a hectic schedule. It might be an excellent idea to match your workday with their schedule. Prioritize your deliverables first and help your kids achieve the same. Some teachers also give out pre-recorded lectures and these are supremely helpful as they make it possible for you to review that material with your kids at a time that is convenient for all of you.
How Can They Help?
Train your kids to think about ways they can help each other not be bored. How can they entertain each other without any screen time? Teach them board games or how to have fun in the garden. This might mean keeping half of an eye on them while you work as kids can get into all sorts of mischief in a moment’s inattention. But at least they are being active and not sitting down in front of the screen again.
Walk Them
Schedule regular breaks in between your schedule and theirs. Get them to walk around the house with you or go to the garden for some fresh air. Bounce a ball or play a game. This will help your kids improve concentration in class. If they are bouncing a ball or playing a game with you, or if you’re out on a walk with them around the property, that means they’re not in front of the screen. By replacing screen time with a ton of other equally—or much more fun—activities, you manage your children’s screen time successfully.
Create a Schedule
Prevent boredom from setting in by preparing different activities that your kids will enjoy every day. Make them forget about screen time by letting them try out a range of activities that will help them discover their interests.
Improve the way you manage your children’s screen time. With these tips, screen time will not be something you have to fight over again.