Homeschooling / development / COVID children

[FirTree31]

I feel as though my denial, surreal bubble in relation to my children's school development burst last night, I am now very concerned that they, and of course other people's children, will be lacking as I am no teacher.

I watched Channel 4 last night, and the worry was our children will be labelled, and they are unsure as to what will happen when they go back to school, how children will inevitably have missed what they would normally be taught. Even those that have set up Google classroom, some students will not have access to computers or a quiet room to concentrate.

Add this to the 1trillion we are set to spend which our children will no doubt pay for.

I am laying in bed with a headache and tight chest thinking about it.

My primary school haven't been great. Two families were offered key worker status and they go to a different school. SeeSaw class was set up last week but the work sheets have no space for answers and not all activities appear (says on one we have 14 but only 1 will show). I am also (lucky enough to have a job) WFH, it has taken a back seat but I should be doing 7 hour days!

How are you homeschooling? Are you worried?

[ArriettyJones]

I watched Channel 4 last night, and the worry was our children will be labelled,

Labelled as what? Whose children? Schools are closed nationally (the vast majority) and indeed across a lot of Europe, so who will be singled out?

It’s really not a lot of time to miss (yet) and all staff will be condensing the curriculum to try to catch all the children up. What’s the panic?

[careerchange456]

I'm a teacher.

WRT Seesaw, feedback to the teacher! You can send them a message by clicking on Add then use the Note.

We're using Seesaw at my school and it's going really well. However, it's brand new for us all and it's been a steep learning curve!! We've got a couple of TAs who are parents at the school and they've provided loads of really useful feedback tbh at has helped us to make sure that the activities we set work for the children. The teachers in your school might not know that there's no room to answer. Especially if they create the work on a laptop and pupils are trying to answer on something small like a kindle.

We've now set a few guidelines for teachers: upload activities as a screenshot so pupils can write or type the answer directly on; try to limit each screenshot to 2-3 questions; leave a border on the left and at the bottom to allow for the tools etc. However, we didn't know this when we started so tel the teacher about your issues and try to let them improve it!

Working from home is tough when you're trying to do some school work as well. I have a 5 and 3 year old and my DH is away so it's tough. I think most teachers are pretty realistic that there's going to be a whole spectrum of abilities returning to school (as there always is!) and we are well aware that everybody is in the same boat with regards to being at home. My school haven't put a plan together for yet for how we will tackle 'the gaps' as it seems far too early until we know for sure when we're going back. Try not to stress, just do what you can. I don't think any teachers are expecting parents to recreate school at home. I can't do that for mine and I am a teacher!!

[Grasspigeons]

We all have stresed out moments. The paying for this is a worry but its a fruitless worry right now. What can you change?

Educationally? Well, I have quite a different view on this because my son has autism. As a result he had no school place at all last year whilst he waited for a special school place. (He is academically average)

I learned that at primary level you dont need to recreate 25 hours of school when it 1:1 tuition from a parent, you do need to pick priority subjects and you dont need to stick to school hours. A few twenty minute bursts of parent time, then doing an independent activity is fine. If its easier to cover the stuff over Easter and weekends or at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Do it then.

Obviously its very different at secondary level and exam years.

[Remmy123]

I saw that too I think it was silly of that teacher saying our kids will be labelled the 'COVID Kids' they will all catch up, might take more effort from
Parents / teachers and kids but they will.

[ArriettyJones]

I think it was silly of that teacher saying our kids will be labelled the 'COVID Kids'

Ah is that what was said?

15 (birth) years or 14 (academic) years worth of children are currently out of school (born between 2000 and 2015. Probably 90 to 95% of that massive age group are currently not in school. They’ll be the norm.

The children currently in school will be the exception.

This will probably be less than a term of homeschooling and remote teaching. Maybe a term and a bit, if they stay off until September. Don’t worry so much,

[FirTree31]

Thank you for the replies! I'm just panicking, I don't feel up to the task, I already feel bad for my children as we're a separated family so I feel they may now be at a bigger disadvantage!

I have written on the journal a couple of times but had no reply, just emailed the school, a student guidance booklet / pdf would be great. I had a look online and what I found was aimed at helping teachers. I am not trying to be ungrateful, I know everyone is under a lot of pressure and teachers will be doing all they can.

[RhymingRabbit3]

Every child in the country is in the same boat, so I don't see why any child would be singled out or "labelled" as anything. Lots of countries dont start school until age 6 or 7 so missing one year of schooling can't be that bad and you're doing your best which is what matters.

Personally I'm more concerned about the effect on social development and mental health of children from being isolated.

[FirTree31]

@RhymingRabbit3, I am too, all of it. My youngest is 5 and has behavioural problems which we were just curbing when this began, I worry that on his return it will be worse.

I have been pretty positive up until this week. I don't think I can watch any more coronuvirus TV shows, there's a balance between staying informed and obsessing! I suppose all this worry is currently hypothetical, nobody really knows how it'll look when the children go back and what the plan will be.

[cantdothisnow1]

@FirTree31

It will be tough for many children returning to school.

Like Grasspigeons above I have 2 asd children who have no suitable school covid 19 or not as they fall in the gap between mainstream and sen so I have a couple of years of experience of trying to educate them away form the school environment. They are of average intelligence but can't cope in the school environment and there are no suitable special schools.

You can only do what you can, it is worse now than in normal times because we are restricted to our homes.

As your children are in primary you really shouldn't worry too much. By far the most important thing is their mental health. You can't replicate school. If you can do some work with them then great but it really doesn't need to be more than 2 hours a day. So much of time in school is spent on things that are not learning, assemblies, playtime etc. Everyone will be in the same boat and I am sure it will rectify itself.

It must be much more concerning for families with children who are due to take GCSE's or A levels next year as there will be a lot of content to catch up on.

[happypotamus]

OP, I think it would be very sensible to limit your watching of coronavirus-related tv programmes as you recognise. I am trying, not always successfully, to limit my exposure to news etc to try and avoid the panic about something we cannot change or do anything about.

Back to the topic of education, I do sometimes worry about this. Yes, all DC are in the same position of not going to school, but some will find it easier than others to carry on learning. I have 2 DC at different stages of primary school, all their work is set online, I have 1 ipad between them and a small room because the other room is now DH's office so DC1 cannot concentrate on the longer pieces of work she is expected to do because DC2 is distracting, I don't have a printer, half the time we can't access the online learning platform and don't know how to use it (e.g DC1 was expected to research a topic and present using a programme neither of us had ever used before including pictures and embedded youtube videos which I have no idea how to do), I am a keyworker so they go to school a couple of days a week which gives them less time to do the work set because they don't do anything educational there. They are at a disadvantage compared to some of their peers who have a parent with time and space and a printer and technological knowledge to help, but my DC are at a huge advantage compared to peers who have no technology at home to access the work, parents who cannot help at all, parents who don't speak any English etc etc. I just hope that DC are young enough to catch up, but I feel for the teachers who, whenever schools reopen, will have DC with have covered none of the work for next term and DC who will have done it all and some extra stuff as well as DC who are not used to formal learning and socialising with peers anymore and some of whom have experienced trauma and loss without support.

[Summersunandoranges]

Oh what a horrible phrase ‘COVID kids’.

I’m not too worried. I’m also not watching the news or programs about it.

I watched one program that said numbers of deaths are still rising but at a much lower rate than expected. Lock down was working. They said we were two weeks behind Italy. Said there will still beds in ICU and Nightingale hospital may not have to be used.

Then I switched on to the news and the presenter really sensationalised they amount of deaths said it was a record high (obviously it was as higher than the day before and we’ve never had this experience before) and that Nightingale Hospital was ready to take its new patients. They also said we were 3/4 weeks behind Italy.

Have to tried doing on Twinkle.com? I’ve downloaded an language app so the DC spend a bit of time each day learning Spanish. It’s very relaxed though.

I spoke to a teacher friend and they said that when they go back to school they will go over everything they should have done whilst they have been off.

Try not to worry too much