Home Schooling Fail

[DorsetCamping]

Anyone else utterly sick of trying to home school DCs who do not give a shiny shit about their learning.

Unless I literally have DD (yr 7) sat right in front of me she will not do any work or it is the absolute minimum. Even her teachers are sending messages saying they expect much more effort. She's bright but if it doesn't interest her then she won't do it

DS (yr 10) is not much better and seems oblivious to how damaging it could be to next year's GCSEs.

I've tried everything; routine, bribery, threats. I dont expect a lot but none of the independent work is particularly taxing and probably would only take an hour or so a dayNothing works and I'm so fed up of losing my shit and having to constantly nag.

Doesn't do much for my morale either when I hear all these tales about how fantastic other kids are at self-guided learning or how "they have to be told to stop working at the end of the day"
Feel like a massive failure

I feel your pain! We have a google classroom and all the shared work makes me feel so rubbish, I struggle to get mine to write 4 words let alone sentences and paragraphs 🙄.

They will catch up when they're back, were not teachable so dont beat yourself up about it.

I think I'm going to ban favourite toys until the weekend and he must do school work before having them back at the weekend, I've no idea what else to try...

I'm not much use but you're not alone!!

Have removed all tech from DD's room including the laptop as she just can be trusted at all. She will have to earn it back as cannot be trusted at all not IG/SM etc

At DS's school he has 2 hours of Google classroom per day so that's something at least but the homework submission is pitiful. Also realistically he won't have any time to catch up

I feel your pain too. I have a year 9 ds who hates school at the best of times, homeschooling him is making my teeth itch, it’s absolutely unbearable tbh. Dd (year 7) is marginally better but is really only completing her maths assignments. I’ve tried everything and have just about given up. It makes me feel as though I am massively failing them but at the end of the day I am not a teacher, I am trying my best.

Isn't it depressing. A friend of mine was telling me the other day how her daughter has to be dragged away from her desk and is doing at least 6 hours a day school work

Mine just want to laze around all day messing about on their tech. I'm sick of hearing my own nagging and just want to scream "do what you fucking like; I've done my time at school!"

Your friend is lying

I have two year 10’s

One is defiantly doing more than 6 hours a day

The other at a push 10 mins maths, literacy if I threaten something.

I’ve offered to pay his older sister to sit with him as I don’t think I can much longer

You're lucky with your Yr 10s GreenTulip

Sorry just seen it's only 1 of them!

God I feel your pain, although mine are younger, ds 9 and dd 7. They've not got a lot to do each day, probably about an hours worth if they just did it instead of whining, but no, 3 hours later it's still not done! My dd I'm frequently told is a star pupil, the teachers sing her praises all the time, working at top level in everything. Today she asked me what a full stop is?!!! I had to walk away! Neither can be bothered, the attitude off my ds is disgusting! I've said after today they are having no technology until they improve. It has really got me down as I'm a sahm mum so we've got loads of time to do all the 'fun' stuff but they aren't interested in that either! Just want computers!

Dd1 won an award for learning at school last term. Easy in a classroom when the teacher is right there explaining it all.

Clearly she is unable to motivate herself though as that’s all gone to shit at home.

I feel your pain! I have two - year 5 and year 1.

The year 1 child has it fairly easy and is done by lunch, my year 5 child is incredibly clever but overthinks every single thing and therefore takes most of the day to do 2 out of 5 tasks. I’m not cut out to be a teacher and have to say it’s stressing me more than anything at the moment. It’s making me miserable some days that maybe I’m stressing them out too and that the eldest might fall behind. Today was not fun!

Yep, I have to sit with mine for hours boys (yr5 and yr6) to get them to do anything. No motivation, constantly distracted. It’s such a battle and very stressful.
Then my friend with girls gleefully tells me how good her daughters are, they sit there for hours working with no need for input from her so she can get on with other stuff!

So not only are mine falling behind I’m getting nothing else done either.

My Y10 DS is doing about 6 hours a day, but his school is doing a live timetable so he has to be at his desk at 8.30 for registration, and they finish at 3.45 (with breaks) and he gets homework, so it is possible that the OP's friend is not lying. I wouldn't say DS has to be dragged away from his desk though! Also I think having the live timetable helps, not sure how disciplined he would be otherwise.

Schools round here are so varied in what they're doing.

I do feel for y7 ds as his two older brothers are missing GCSEs and A Levels so getting precious little from their schools. He gets set some work that has to be in a few days later, certainly no online lessons. His motivation levels have been zilch but he's picking it up a bit now after some careful threats/motivation.

Another local school is doing pretty much a normal day with zoom/classroom sessions for every lesson.

I think a lot of people underestimate how a teacher helps students to understand new work tbh. My bright students are struggling without me setting it in context and explaining it to them.

Yes. Totally lost my shit at DS (11). I’ve lowered my expectations and let him get up late and do 2 and half hrs work max- bit of maths, reading comprehension, a little bit of history and heath/wellbeing. I explained it, I helped him with answers, I sat with him and explained WW1 but no effort whatsoever. Apparently no one else is doing any work...

11 year old is working. 10 year old has autism and adhd and is kicking off royally everyday as she’s super stressed. A 40 slide PowerPoint presentation everyday for English that only has words on it isn’t riveting and she’s struggling as am I. Maths we’re doing an online program. No special work is sent home for her. My 7 year old has complex needs and has to be watched all the time. Not to mention trying to juggle my work, I could cry. All the parents saying how fab the school is being and making video to send to school and my kid is hitting herself in the head and crying. I don’t know what to do.

OP you have my sympathy.

We are not teachers.
I can get my dc to do 1hr of work and after that we’ve all had enough.

I’m also finding the longer this goes on the less motivated any of us are.
In the first couple of weeks we were getting 2-3hrs a day done with crafting in the afternoon.

Now no one gives a shit

Wish I didn't care so much but with DS being Yr 10 it's a real worry.

It’s a fight every morning with dd 6. She actually made a comment on Sunday that she wasn’t looking forward to horrible home learning. She hates me for it.

Read about a school inspector who gave himself a fail with ofstead. Think its in dm or on twitter.

Yep,dd7 has done virtually zilch in 5 weeks,she's loving playing together with the playmobil at the moment so I had a brainwave Sunday and told her from now on for every half hour I play playmobil she has to half hour schoolwork.
Guess how much playmobil we've done in the last 2 days.....zilch!!!

They're all so different. My eldest (year 7) has always done her work as soon as it's set and has carried on doing that throughout lockdown. I have no input, I check it's been submitted and the teacher comments but that's it.
My second (year 2) is a lazy little toerag and unless I'm there on top of him he 'forgets' what he was doing after writing a single, painfully slow, word. Number 3 (reception) is sat at the table asking what we're going to learn today at 8.30 and is a little sponge. He'd happily do schoolwork for ten hours straight. My youngest is 3 and a human hurricane. I think 2 hours a day is enough for the younger ones and when we've done about that (sometimes longer for #3) they go and play outside for the rest of the day and are joined by eldest when she's finished.
Today we did no schoolwork at all because it was the youngest's birthday
I can't stress about it. They're gaining so much by us all being together. They've written and performed shows, set up shops, choreographed dance routines, made cakes and dinners, eldest has taught herself keyboard, youngest have learned to ride bikes. So much good stuff. Not all learning is in a classroom.

As a teacher I will assume most students have not done, or not fully understood, most of the work we have done and will have to go over it all again next year.

I have to weeks ago

5 year old supposed to very good at school, looks at me with a blank expression at home. I want to chuck myself out the window!

7 year old is better...except she ends up saying she can’t remember...and then does anyway