Homeschooling going to shit - a support thread

[Brokenchair1]

Schoolmum WhatsApp group rapidly filling with messages about people doing the Joe Wicks live PE, photos of kids sitting at desks dressed and working, mum's joking about how lovely it is to home school.

Meanwhile in the broken household....single mum here, I have a Skype meeting at 1 I need to prep for, DD 7 currently refusing to do anything and keeps sitting on me saying she wants to play. 3 months of this 😭

Anyone else where homeschooling isn't filled with colourful timetables and colour coded snack trays...join here for support and commiseration.

And it this work could all be done without a teacher, they would do away with them and just have bouncers in a hall supervising them.

It’s shit isn’t it.
Was on skype call this morning, 9 year old DS2 was doing maths online, he’s crying about doing it, I’m trying to concentrate.
It’s so hard I feel like I’m not doing well at either work or kids!

Joe Wicks is enough to make anyone cry 😂

Baking has reading (recipe/ingredients) and Maths (measuring) and maybe art (decorating with icing).

Housework (hoovering/sweeping up depending on age) for exercise or some dancing to music.

relax

Teacher, and line parent if 2 I've been up since 6 (later than I usually do) set work for my classes and answered the 100s of emails that students have sent. I've marked anything they've sent me.
My dd has completed everything in her pack as well as online tasks.
My ds hasn't moved out of bed stating he has 24 hours to do it

We did Joe Wicks then had to bin the timetable because everyone was knackered.

Dd(8) tipped the recycling out and glued it all together.
Ds(5) went through his phonics and numbers with me, cried, then fell of his chair.

So we put out trainers on and walked round the block a few times. We've now got a film on with lunch.

DD(12) has done her work, created timetables for her and DS, driven me insane explaining the minutae of everything. DS(10) has done whatever he wants and ignored me all morning. He is now in front of the tv watching Horrible Histories as at least it's educational and DD has gone to her room in wounded silence. Haven't even managed half a day 🤪. Ooh - we did walk the dog though and they all had a good run, so exercise achieved for the day.

Welcome one and all and a special shout out to us single mum's trying to work full time (currently marking a 100 undergrad essays). Anyway our Domino's Pizza has just arrived. DDs suggestion for school dinner 😂

This is our second week of home schooling, my experience is that the dc are extremely unsettled by the closure of school and general tension in the country. So we have to be kind but firm. I kept some treats for the afternoon, nice additions to lunch, movie, games with mummy. If they didn't complete the work no treats in the afternoon.

It worked to Thursday, and then we had a mutiny. Friday was a wash out.
If you have young children, I would make all the learning play based in water, sand and with food, songs, reading. If you have older children then agree no screens, snacks, tv time etc until it has done and stick to it. Getting a good routine is really key.

I am now a week into it and I am the one that wants to stage a mutiny. I am SO tired.

We need to do our best, and thats it, no more or less. This is not the time to take ourselves to the edge of a breakdown over a bit of school work. They will catch up in no time. for all and for later

My ds is 6 with autism, I've drawn some shapes this morning for him to cut out and he tried to cut his own fucking tounge off. He opened his mouth and started chopping away asking what happens when he hasn't got a tounge anymore! I swear on his life I'm not making this shit up.

Swiftly confiscated and locked away in a cupboard!

I let him glue some lolly sticks and stick googly eyes and Pom poms on and he bit a chunk of prit stick off and swallowed it.

I've had to make him a drink in an egg cup and I've fished a tea bag out of a cup I've been using since last night with a medicine spoon because my kitchen sink looks like world war 3 and every time I try to fill it up to wash some pots he does something worse.

He's on his schools homework page on the iPad right now mischievously laughing while I type this so god only knows what work he's just submitted to his teacher 😬😂

I totally give up and I'm only 3 hours in.

I zipped him in and locked the clasps on the trampoline this morning while I pegged some washing out and he shot passed me and got stuck behind the shed, the zip and clasps still locked so how the fuck did he get out ?

Can't do this for months on end 🙈 helppppp

My year 6 has got loads of stuff and a structured time table send out last week. They have been emailing with other bits throughout the morning including and online German lesson for later! My year 9 has google classroom and think things coming in for each period he is meant to have.

Glad I’m not the only one failing . Single mum here , had 3 Skype calls this morning . My youngest has chicken pox so keeps complaining every 2 mins .had an argument with 8 year old how to do long division as apparently I don’t do it the way the teacher does .

By the way this is standard behaviour for ds which I struggle with anyway but the respite when he's at school ticks me along.

I'm wondering if his usual 1-1 from school will come and assist if I pay her danger money

Light hearted obviously, I'll cope, no other choice!

Well I hear ya! My youngest is 13 - the 21 year old needs no encouragement to work on her dissertation!

Anyway, 13 year old a different matter. Work is now coming through from school and he's doing it when it turns up. He's reluctant to do half an hour of reading a day so that's a bloody mission getting him to do that. Anyway I've pulled out the big guns today - no xbox until 3pm each school day and he must go outside in the fresh air - garden - each day. Oh and watch a nature or historical programme. He's chosen Merlin so Christ knows how academically stimulating that will be!

So, school work as it comes in, 30 mins reading, watching something vaguely stimulating and going outside.

It's a pretty poor show from me

We're in Germany and our schools have set so much work that 8 year old dc3 and I are still on Thursday of last week for German and have just finished Friday of last week for HSU (which I think is "project" in the uk - they're learning how the eye works - and maths. We'll probably start today's work by wednesday.

Teens are doing better but need intermittent input.
I still have to go to work in 24 hour blocks once a week (adult social care with late shift- sleep in on call- early shift blocks) but I think I'm going to give up completely on my own college work. I just can't concentrate and am interupted constantly, the kids need me. Pity to throw the last 3 year away, oh well.

We started last week. I have one DD who is chilled and very co-operative and I've never been more grateful!
Last week we did a timetable and this weeks is slightly different. Smaller chunks of time, more lessons in the morning, a long lunch break where we also go for a walk.
Only one subject in the afternoon but for longer - preferred subjects like art and English. Finish at 3. Zero focus after that.
We've left one afternoon a week free in case she needs time to catch up with another subject. If not we'll do something fun - like some junk modelling,new art techniques or cooking.
There's less distraction from other kids but I'm really aware that there's loads I can't help with (high schooler)
I would imagine schools will be realistic about the kids doing less than they would have at school.

Mine are 4, 6 and 8 and although we’re in a flat I’m bloody lucky I’ve got access to the garden via an alleyway and that it’s nice outside.

This morning started off ok! They did a hour working on a project provided by the school: ‘Explore The World’, basically some colouring, writing some bullet point facts and watching clips on food, clothes and animals from around the world.

We went in the garden to burn off some energy and it slowly broke down as the 6 year old hates sharing and is awful at home -for me but never at school and very rarely where ‘strangers’ could see I’m extremely gutted that we were all ill for the week I was meant to see the Senco and start the ball rolling for his assessment.

They’re all now playing Lego while I make lunch - still arguing though! My ASD and ADHD 8 year old is very twitchy that’s we’re behind the timetable and I’m hidden in the kitchen watching chicken goujons cook

DH is WFH with the bedroom door shut which obviously has its own issues re: noise level and me not losing my shit.

This thread is such a lifeline, and has had me ROFL-ing, it should go into Mumsnet Classics!!

Don't beat yourself and don't expect too much of yourself. I had dreams of my children (10 and 6) listening rapt to my patient explanations about weather, the human body, and the solar system, while the baby slept or played beautifully. Needless to say we've had tears, shouting and swearing already this morning and the house is a shithole. They're now playing fortnite. I don't know why i expected my children to have had an overnight personality transplant! Sending virtual coffee and a hug. A bit of reading, Lego, colouring etc is a win for the first day I reckon.

We did harry potter cosmic yoga at 9. School havent set enough basic worksheets imo. I've managed about half an hours work. I'm sticking dd on front of a film soon.

Is watching someone change hair on an OMG doll on you tube educational?

I've realized how much DD probably keeps it together during lessons at school, she's very emotional as it is.

This is day 4 for us.
Day 1: didn’t get much accomplished. Persuaded ds6 and ds8 to do a couple of hours on websites and apps school uses, and dd12 to do the same on spelling apps. School sent home workbooks for the youngest 2 but they weren’t having any of it! Ds14 didn’t do anything bar watch YouTube videos he swears are relevant to his computing GCSE.
Days 2&3: realised the youngest 2 are easily bribed. Started paying in jelly beans if they could recite a times table and answer questions on it. Got a couple of worksheets done each plus website stuff, totalled 6 hours before lunch (they were up at 5!) Dd12 and ds14, no change. Waiting for school to set something.
Today: up at 6. House pretty much ransacked by 7.30. Going stir crazy and not wanting to work... except the 14yo who has shut himself away with his English lit text and more computing videos. I’ve been trying to WFH. About to do lunch, walk them, then roll out worksheets for the little 2 followed by learning apps. Will print a load of worksheets that appeared on his school website this morning for ds14 and temporarily remove YouTube. No idea what dd12 is meant to be doing as her school hasn’t updated yet, so may force her to do more spelling practice as she really needs it!

Thanks for the tips of Yoga kids Harry Potter and also Suoermovers on IPlayer. I’m stressing about it too but trying to remember that a lot of kids are very unsettled by all this. Parents also have other important things to do like hold down our jobs and keeping the whole household fed and warm and safe and checking in on elderly parents and neighbours and trying to buy food, and I don’t know of any adult that’s sleeping properly at the moment. Let’s give ourselves a break. This is for the foreseeable and it would very soon have been school holidays anyway.

DS (12) insists that he cannot possibly get access to his school email account or any of the school links

Call the school and the web site has crashed and the maths website has crashed.

DD (13) has spent most of the morning doing her hair as they are doing a group conference call or something.

DD (8) tried to do some maths, got bored and is now going between watching Sponge Bob in Arabic and Polish and giggling hysterically.