Learning from home during COVID19
It’s not just children studying at home right now . . .
Classes in the time of Covid-19 have changed just as much for adults as they have for children. Students enrolled in the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP), with Djerriwarrh Community & Education Services, are working hard to continue learning and improving their English – even if at a distance.
Our AMEP classes in Ballarat, Melton and Sunshine are usually run in face to face classrooms. Our students can’t come to class at the moment so they are receiving home study materials, phone calls, emails and video calls from their teachers. Some are even participating in Zoom ‘virtual classroom’ sessions with their classmates.
For many students though, the biggest battle hasn’t just been to continue their schooling at home – it’s trying to keep up with their own lessons while assisting with their children’s studies too.
It’s a battle that Ballarat AMEP student, Puk, knows all too well. ‘Five of them are doing school work at home…even the little one! I do my work after dinner or when the kids are in bed.’ Not that she’s letting that hold her back. ‘I don’t like to leave any of the work…I try to do it all’.
Many of our students have children with English as their first language, so they help to explain the work if needed. Puk’s Teacher, Jacinta Sharry, explains that it seems to be a team effort all around. ‘Often when I call I can hear students talk to family members in the background – maybe to translate, confirm a question or negotiate using technology’.
While we can’t wait to see all our students back in classes, in person, we are proud that they are keeping up with their lessons at home.