{"id":8362,"date":"2021-02-24T11:23:04","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T03:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=8362"},"modified":"2021-02-24T11:23:06","modified_gmt":"2021-02-24T03:23:06","slug":"parents-turn-into-teachers-overnight-to-help-children-cope-with-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=8362","title":{"rendered":"Parents turn into teachers overnight to help children cope with lessons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Rohana Nasrah<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This third of a series of four articles on the implementation of home-based teaching and learning in Sabah focuses on parents who are helping with efforts to ensure the success of PdPR.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

KOTA KINABALU (Bernama) \u2013 During the day, she worked as a nurse at a government clinic in Tuaran and at night she took on the role of teacher to her two young children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supervising her children\u2019s schoolwork after a hard at work can be an exhausting affair but Zennenia Marcus, 33, is not complaining and is willing to sacrifice her time and energy to ensure her children aged seven and eight \u2013 who are in Year One and Year Two respectively \u2013 do not miss out on their lessons.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zennenia has been supervising her older daughter since last year following the enforcement of the Movement Control Order in March and subsequent implementation of home-based teaching and learning (PdPR).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, starting Jan 20 this year when the 2021 school year kicked off, she has been monitoring her son as well who is in Year One.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar to the predicament of many other families, Zennenia only has one smartphone which, upon her return from work, her two children have to share to access their PdPR lessons. That hassle aside, they also have to contend with an unstable Internet connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having to balance the demands of her career and monitoring her children\u2019s PdPR sessions often leaves her feeling tired and confused but \u201cI know I have to keep going since both my job and children\u2019s education are important to me\u201d.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018INSTANT\u2019 TEACHER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While her nursing skills are indisputable, Zenneniam \u2013 who found herself becoming a teacher overnight in March last year after schools were shut due to the MCO \u2013 is not so sure of her teaching abilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, she tries her best to help her children with their PdPR by explaining to them how to go about doing the assignments given to them by their teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"parents\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI use the teaching and learning methods I was exposed to when I went to school. I know there are shortcomings in my approach as many changes have taken place over the years but it is not stopping me from fulfilling my responsibilities,\u201d she told Bernama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make sure her children complete their schoolwork, Zennenia has set a timetable for them as she feels it is an important element to ensure the success of PdPR as well as to inculcate in them a sense of discipline and responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want my children to lose their focus and motivation to study just because they don\u2019t have their own electronic gadget. I make an effort to create a classroom atmosphere in the house when it\u2019s time for their PdPR session to maintain their interest in their studies. I certainly don\u2019t want them to be complacent and trail behind in their schoolwork,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After work each day, she would allocate two hours for her children to revise their lessons and complete their schoolwork under her guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday is their day of rest but on Sunday, Zennenia would conduct \u201cclasses\u201d from 9 am to 11 am, and later from 2 pm to 4pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zennenia also said that her children\u2019s teachers understand when they do not complete their homework on time or sometimes submit it late at night as they (teachers) know they have to take turns using the smartphone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEW NORMAL<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Khairunnisa Islami Ambotola, 35, who is a lecturer in civil engineering at an institution of higher learning here, said the new normal era spawned by the COVID-19 pandemic has forced parents to assume the responsibility of educating their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her eldest daughter is in Year One this year and last year when she was in kindergarten, her teachers conducted PdPR sessions after the MCO was enforced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was easy for me to handle her PdPR sessions last year as she was in kindergarten. I found the learning environment for pre-schoolers more relaxing and enjoyable but as she is in Year One now, she has to study various subjects,\u201d said Khairunnisa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said the option for her to work from home made it easier for her to allocate time for her to do her own work and to monitor her daughter\u2019s PdPR.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom morning till noon, I would supervise my daughter as per the PdPR schedule. After the session is over, I would focus on my work which also involves education,\u201d she said, adding that she and her husband would take turns to go to the office so that one of them would be at home to monitor their daughter\u2019s studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLLABORATION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nurarizan Nanta, 34, a teacher at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sung Siew in Sandakan, said apart from conducting online PdPR sessions for her own students, she also has to monitor her eldest daughter\u2019s PdPR as she entered Year One this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s challenging indeed to focus on our career and, at the same time, guide our children\u2026 but I\u2019ve prepared myself emotionally, mentally and physically to ensure that I pay equal attention to both,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Mohd Firdaus Sultan, 35, who teaches English and history at Sekolah Kebangsaan Sapagaya in Kinabatangan, said collaboration between teachers and parents is crucial to ensure the success of PdPR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt would be difficult to realise the objective of PdPR if there is no cooperation between us,\u201d he said, adding that the involvement of parents in the PdPR sessions would enable them to keep track of their children\u2019s cognitive development, as well as their commitment to completing their schoolwork.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mohd Firdaus also observed that parents were now more committed to ensuring the success of PdPR and that some of them in the B40 group have even been saving money to buy electronic devices such as tablets and laptops for their children.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe parents are also under a lot of pressure as they have to go out to earn a living for their families, as well as help their children with their studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe (teachers and parents) need to understand each other. I\u2019m confident PdPR will be a success if there is strong cooperation between the teachers and parents,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Rema Nambiar<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BERNAMA<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rohana Nasrah This third of a series of four articles on the implementation of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[524],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nation"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/410fa16a97d41bd2adb735214de484e45f69dd3148aac.jpg",1060,572,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/410fa16a97d41bd2adb735214de484e45f69dd3148aac-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/410fa16a97d41bd2adb735214de484e45f69dd3148aac-300x162.jpg",300,162,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/410fa16a97d41bd2adb735214de484e45f69dd3148aac-768x414.jpg",640,345,true],"large":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/410fa16a97d41bd2adb735214de484e45f69dd3148aac-1024x553.jpg",640,346,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/410fa16a97d41bd2adb735214de484e45f69dd3148aac.jpg",1060,572,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/410fa16a97d41bd2adb735214de484e45f69dd3148aac.jpg",1060,572,false],"newsium-slider-full":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/410fa16a97d41bd2adb735214de484e45f69dd3148aac.jpg",1060,572,false],"newsium-featured":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/410fa16a97d41bd2adb735214de484e45f69dd3148aac.jpg",1024,553,false],"newsium-medium":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/410fa16a97d41bd2adb735214de484e45f69dd3148aac.jpg",720,389,false]},"author_info":{"info":["Editor"]},"category_info":"Nation<\/a>","tag_info":"Nation","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8362"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8363,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8362\/revisions\/8363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}