A study commissioned by award-winning STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) toy brand Osmo shows that the move to at-home and remote learning has seen families shift how they support their children’s education with fathers stepping up to the plate and becoming more involved. 51% of Australian fathers are now spending more time involved in their children’s education than pre-pandemic.
Osmo makes hands-on learning games for ages 3 to 12, in which players use objects in the real world to interact with the digital world shown on their iPad or Fire tablets. Their games are geared toward embodied learning, meaning the games teach abstract concepts by connecting them to objects and actions in the physical world.
It comes as no surprise that maths is the subject dads help out with the most, followed closely by sports – Physical Education. Surprisingly (to me anyway as I don’t think I am particularly creative personally) art comes third on the list. The study shows that dads are utilising learning books, educational apps and toys when assisting with at-home learning. 61% of Aussie mums say that their partner is better at assisting with numerical subjects than they are.
Children are also benefiting emotionally from a greater involvement from their dads or other father figures in their lives. 70% of children responded saying they like it when dads are involved in their education. My boys always says they love it with me because I make it fun to learn.
Research from the US echoes this sentiment, with researchers finding that through assisting in at-home learning, fathers are also “helping their children become fulfilled and well-balanced human beings—and improving their behaviour and moral discipline.”
Family Therapist and Play Therapist, Dr. Kim (@theparentologist), can also attest to the benefits of an engaged father. “The absence of a Father or father figure can have a significant impact on a child’s experience emotionally, socially, and educationally. A father’s presence and intentional involvement in their child’s life gives a child a significant advantage toward the achievement of important developmental goals in life and education.”
Although dads are helping out with homework more than ever before, the research shows that mums are still more involved in their child’s education, but the desire to help out from both parents is clear. With the pandemic giving parents greater awareness and exposure to their children’s education, 78% of parents say that they enjoy helping their kids with their education.
This is true for Queensland mother and Osmo Social Club member, Melanie (@noosa_mum), “We’ve been in quite a fortunate position during this pandemic as my husband works from home. During the times that we’ve gone into lockdown (like right now!), I help my daughter with the majority of her remote learning and, when my husband has pockets of time in his day, he assists as he likes to still be involved and know what she’s up to.”
Osmo offers dads the chance to get involved in their children’s learning in a fun, unique and exciting way and this Father’s Day Osmo is encouraging dads, (inclusive of all dads and father figures, not just in the traditional sense), to support their children’s education with the chance to win an Osmo prize pack featuring all four Osmo Starter Kits and an add-on game of their choice! To enter the competition people just need to follow @playsomo on Instagram or Twitter and keep an eye out for updates there. The competition is on a short timeframe with entries closing 25 August 2021 at 11:59pm PST time (that makes it 26 August 2021 at 4:59pm AEST time).
