With many of us now learning how to balance working from home whilst supporting our children’s learning needs, IEMA looks at some of the resources that you could use to introduce environment and sustainability to your children.

‘Unprecedented times’ – that’s what many commentators are calling the current situation around the world and it’s certainly a chapter in our lives that represents uncertainty, change and adaptation.

As many of us are faced with the prospect of adapting to new ways of working and interacting with our colleagues, customers, suppliers and family members, we must remember that we are all in the same boat.

As the professional body for Environment and Sustainability, IEMA has long been advocating that challenging the norms and developing more sustainable business practices are key to tackling the climate and environmental emergency we are all facing. Indeed, our members are supporting this change every day but in light of the global issues we face, perhaps some of these changes will come sooner than any of us thought possible and will be lasting changes for good.

Along with changing the way our business relationships work, many families are also getting used to a new dynamic in the relationship with our partners and children. As schools around the UK focus their resources on supporting the children of workers in key sectors and the most vulnerable, the rest of us have a somewhat unique opportunity of supporting our children’s learning journey and development in a completely unexpected way!

For me this is more exciting than daunting, but I think it makes sense for us all to take a step back and recognise that:

  • Most of us are not professional teachers and therefore let’s not put too much pressure on ourselves – lets do our best and make the most of being able to share with our children how resilient we really can be.
  • We need to make sure we do what works for us and our children. For some, routine will be ideal, for others the opportunity to have a more flexible approach will suit. Try different things and find your balance.
  • We should put this in perspective. It's less than ideal for many but let’s make the most of it!
  • This isn’t necessarily ‘home-schooling’ but more ‘home support’ – we will never replace our valued teachers and schools – so let's focus on reinforcing what our children already know
  • This is also an opportunity for us to learn!

Educational Resource toolbox

So, with this opportunity in mind we wanted to pull together as many online resources as we could to help parents, carers and learners enrich their time at home.

The following resources, ideas and worksheets can add variety to the learning that may be provided by schools.

Environment and Sustainability resources

General resources

We’re sure that these offer some great ideas and if you know of any others that should be added here please let us know by emailing us at [email protected]

Please note: the views expressed in this blog are those of the individual contributing member, and are not necessarily representative of the views of IEMA or any professional institutions with which IEMA is associated

Photo of Alan 005
Alan Darby

Senior Corporate Partnerships Manager, IEMA

Alan leads on IEMA's relationships with our range of organisational partnerships – from micro SME’s and environmental consults to national and international enterprise partners. Alan has a background in marketing and communications and combined with extensive experience of managing effective partnerships is focussed on supporting IEMA’s growing number of corporate partners.

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