Time lost? Making the most of the lockdown.

Children learn through social observation of their caregivers and adults in their environment 

Did you know that a lot of people finish school and are not employable? They do not have some basic skills such as team work, cooperation, tolerance and so on. These are skills that children learn from from the people around them as they grow up. However, most parents are so busy or they are not even aware that they have the responsibility to help their children learn these skills to survive and thrive in the world. Right now an opportunity has offered itself through the lockdown during the COVID 19 situation. As our lifestyle and livelihood has been put on hold and at a standstill.  Our great towns and cities in Ghana fallen to silence, public gatherings cancelled, basic schools, colleges, churches, mosques, universities all been closed down. Students are on compulsory holidays and parents are concerned. Some are employing the services of private tutors for their children which is not a bad idea, but I think this lockdown is a blessing in disguise for this generation to learn one or two skills from their parents and for parents to spend quality time with their kids. Of course, we cannot regain lost time today, tomorrow or any day but we can try and turn this into moment into something positive.

You can start a backyard garden, use that to teach your children

How about using these trying times of partial lockdown to teach your kids how to treat others with respect, to cook,  to do laundry, to iron , check the oil in the car or bike, to learn a skill or skills in crafts or explain the essence of family belonging and connections. What not use the time to learn about the merits and demerits of the kind of friends they make. The crafts and skills they learn today will go a long way to helping them in life. When I first heard about this new corona virus, I didn’t take it seriously as it seemed so far from me and my country. I took no notice of it.  Less than three or four months the virus is in my country and affecting our way of life directly or indirectly. Time lost, we can’t get back but we can make the most of this current lockdown time.

In case there’s no cure for COVID 19 in the coming months and government delays or stops our salary due the fact that government is not making any revenue in the form taxes, how many of us can survive without a pay for at least 3 months? This offers us the opportunity to learn some skills. Handy work like knitting, stitching,  farming to mention just a few to be able to survive when there’s cut in salary. You could also use this time to tell stories to your children, stories are a great way to help children learn good morals. Maybe your children cannot speak any local language, you could use the opportunity to teach them some basic words in the local language that you understand and speak. Children can also be taught basic kitchen skills and how to cook, if they do not know how to cook already. This is not the time to engage ourselves in unproductive activities as this can make us lazy and rusty. Remember that time lost is gone for good, we cannot regain it.

The Bible says teach the child the way to go and when he grows…

Remember that not all learning is done  in a classroom, all the more reason we should make good use of this current time.  Why not make use of the next month good use help your children expand their knowledge, perhaps learns about the concepts of gratitude, of togetherness,  peace and love. Life goes on.  Don’t put your life on hold.  Live it but remember these are times of uncertainty and danger, so stay safe and be careful.  For some children, especially those in cities like Accra, this is the first time they may be spending one full uninterrupted week with both parents, not because the parents do not care about the children but because they have to work and make money to meet the needs of the family. And even as a parent or whatever role you have, this is also an opportunity to learn something new, call your friends, mend broken relationships, fix your home, rest, read a book, engage in a physical activity, learn to dance and so many others. There are so many useful videos that we can learn from on youtube. There is nothing much we can do about the lock down, but there is a lot we can do with it.

Coronavirus is a family of viruses, which can cause the common cold or more severe diseases such as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), and the new coronavirus disease that first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, called COVID-19. This COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 83,000 people and sickened more than 1.45 million people globally, with numbers still rising. In the United States, there are about 400,000 cases, and nearly 13,000 people have died. ( As collected on April 7th 2020).

COVID 19 pandemic has become an issue of global concern

COVID-19 is a contagious disease that causes mild to severe respiratory symptoms with fever, cough, and shortness of breath. It can be transmitted through person-to-person contact, though much remains unknown about how it spreads. The new coronavirus was first identified on Dec. 31, 2019.

Follow all the protocols; Wash your hands, sanitize etc. wear face mask when going out and remember that once time is lost, we can never regain it. Make hay while the sun shines.

Some people can still work from home

Stay safe and help save other people’s lives.

*#TeachYourKidsSkills*..

*#StayHome*..

*#StaySafe*..

*# *GodGotYou*