The Coronavirus pandemic and the numerous local lockdowns it has necessitated in regions all around the world has forced many of us into roles that were entirely new and often alien to us just a year ago. Whether adapting to suddenly working from home, finding ourselves without our usual support networks, or wading into the challenging waters of home-schooling our children, it has demanded that we simply make the best of it with the tools we have available to us. With LEARNING IN LOCKDOWN, Dylan and Kate Meikle have attempted to put together a blueprint for how to plot a course through home-schooling that parents can add to their toolbox. The authors, who between them have a wealth of experience in the fields of education and parenting, do this by exploring the dynamics of home-schooling and its psychological impact on parent and child, as well as by providing lots of useful tips for making the home-schooling experience a rewarding and enjoyable one for everyone involved.

Impressively, this is done throughout in simple language, shunning jargon and instead relating the ideas discussed to the reader through a series of ‘parenting perspective’ sections that finish certain chapters. For example, the author’s explanation of the concept of ‘differentiation’ is understandable and, most importantly, set out in such a way that implementing its key ideas into any home-schooling routine is possible. The section on motivating children at home is also particularly erudite, and full of easily transferable ideas. Primarily this book is focused towards parents with young children, but a good deal of its content will be relatable even to those home-schooling teenagers. Importantly, it also takes the time to spare a thought for teachers, whose professional world has been turned upside down. As the authors point out: “No teacher ever entered the profession thinking ‘I can’t wait to teach Kindergarten online!’”

In the preface of the book, Dylan Meikle makes the point that the Coronavirus pandemic has caused “the biggest global disruption to education since the Second World War.” The impact it has had on the learning and development of the world’s children, and on the mental health of those responsible for caring for them, can not be underestimated. LEARNING IN LOCKDOWN certainly can’t wave a magic wand and transform everyone’s home-schooling experience, but as a handbook for ensuring that parents everywhere do the best they can, both for themselves and their children, it’s enormously valuable. It’s well written, well structured, and very well timed.

With LEARNING IN LOCKDOWN, Dylan and Kate Meikle have succeeded in crafting a fantastically simple but superbly useful guide for navigating the often frustrating and difficult world of home-schooling that the Coronavirus pandemic has made a reality for so many.

~Joseph Sharratt for Indie Reader