Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

As tough as this lockdown is for many people, it’s really tough for the kids having to do school work from home, and for their parents who may be trying to juggle work, while also keeping their kids focused on learning.  It’s a juggling act we’ve been keeping up for 4 weeks now, and as Aucklanders enter a fifth week of it, it’s understandable the wheels are starting to fall off a bit. Reality is biting, this is a really long time to have kids away from class. There’s something irreplaceable about that level of engagement from a teacher face to face, as opposed to online lessons or worksheet instructions. There is huge pressure on students to stay motivated for their at home learning, yet they’re being deprived of their usual tools in a classroom environment, their mates, their sense of purpose, their teacher front and centre. The younger they are, the tougher it is for them to grasp and stay with this. And tough for working parents too. The juggle adds enormous amounts of pressure to households. In fact, it’s