Feature: Palestinian mothers turn house quarantine to home schooling with children

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RAMALLAH, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Amid the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the West Bank, more Palestinian working mothers are forced to stay at home, who are turning their jobs to home schooling for their children.

The children are mostly relying on distance learning, connecting with their classrooms and teachers through new technologies and video calls.

However, for the rest of the day, mothers find themselves in need of more constructive activities to help their children adapt to home quarantine.

"Despite everything that's happening in our country, and all over the world, one of our biggest concerns as parents is still our children's education," said Anastasia al-Madani, mother of two.

"Being under quarantine is not easy, but we are trying to make the best out of our free time with kids," she told Xinhua, adding that she has taken advantages of her own experience as an educational professional.

Her advice is to "focus on skills rather than following and trying to keep up with the school's curriculum."

"We are currently trying to turn screen time into 'learn something new time' and downloaded various drawing lessons and audiobooks," she explained.

In another family in Ramallah city, Maya A. Zaghrout, decided to bake pancakes of different countries for breakfast every morning for her two children aged four and six.

She said that it is a way to learn about different cultures and to reconnect with her friends from different parts of the world, especially the U.S. where Zaghrout used to work as a psychotherapist with adults.

"Trying to bake pancakes from different counties enables me to reconnect with my friends, especially with those from Seattle International Club, a social group which I started many years ago," she told Xinhua.

However, for the rest of the day, her main focus is mostly on sensory activities and free play without TV, she explained.

"Hands-on activities like play dough ... and making ornaments with clay give kids sensory input. It is relaxing," Zaghrout said.

"Although I am not at high risk of contracting the virus, you never know (what will happen) ... I want them (the children) to have good memories in case that something bad happens unexpectedly," she noted.

Zaghrout says the impact of the lockdown leaves most people "irritated and angry, but I try to make sure that we have more positive and affectionate moments."

"Now, my priority is to take care of myself, and to have as much fun as the situation allows," she said.

For media expert Sanabel Hussein, a mother of a 5-year-old boy, Saji, life under lockdown has been about finding new ways to fill out her son's time constructively.

"At the beginning of the lockdown, Saji was very tensed, so we had a hard time to adapt to this change, but I've decided to turn this time to learning, so we are resorting to coloring as a means for relieving stress and teaching him Arabic letters, and reading stories," she said.

"To keep active, I'm also teaching him dance, and encouraging him to help with small house chores," Hussein noted.

Since the lockdown was declared under the state of emergency on March 5, schools across the West Bank have been shut down as part of several preventative measures against the novel coronavirus.

Many schools began distance learning for a few hours during the day.

Dina Jawhar, mother of three daughters and an active athlete, came out with a special idea to keep her daughters from being scared of news, by creating a talent show in the living room every evening.

"We bring music into our living room and the girls perform at a home-prepared talent show every day because we are trying to get out of the news about the coronavirus," she said.

"After the talent show, they bring books to read for the family," she added. "In this way, I'm encouraging their reading skills and public speaking ability."

The total number of Palestinians infected with the coronavirus has reached 108 across different cities in the West Bank and in Gaza Strip, the Palestinian government said on Sunday.

Since the first cases were discovered, the Palestinian government took strict measures, following the Chinese experience to control the spread of the deadly virus, including a total lockdown and a ban on travel between cities, and urging people to stay at home for safety. Enditem

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