Are you doing any homelearning?

[947EliseChalotte]

My son's teacher has been setting school / home learning work, we have been doing some but I'm getting behind not managing to complete it all. How much home learning are your child/ children doing? Im just finding things stressful these last few weeks xx

DS14 is doing about 4 hours a day and does everything he's asked, but by 14 I'd expect most pupils to be able to learn at home pretty much solo.

DS9 is doing a couple of hours a day, but does 95% of the home learning. I'm having to support him a great deal more than is ideal as I'm also working from home.

However, if you are stressed and struggling, scale it back and do what is manageable, not what others are doing. Are there subjects you're struggling to support? If so, look online - Hegarty maths has been a godsend, and BBC Bitesize is great. I honestly wouldn't make every single day of lockdown a battle of the wills.

If you are struggling, focus on English, maths and reading.

I do some, partly for the education and partly for something to do. DC are in year 4 and Reception. I am a keyworker, so all through lockdown I have been going to work 2-3 school days each week and DC have gone to school on those days. Until last week they weren't taught anything at school, so I was having to fit 5 days of school work that was set into 2 or 3 days. I prioritised English and Maths and tried to do DC1's topic work that was cumulative. We probably do about 3-4hrs of work a day, but that includes a lot of moaning and messing about. DC2 spends a lot of time doing random things while try and get DC1 to work as neither of them will do anything constructive without 1 to 1 attention. DC1's teacher is ok with my approach of prioritising some things and not achieving it all.

We're doing most of what is set, but that's because it's an appropriate amount and it works for us. If it was too much/it wasn't working I would have no problem in doing less/not doing it and doing something else instead.

It's not worth anyone getting stressed or upset about.

We're supposedly doing school work but not a lot seems to get done.
Dd wrote "poo" on her exercise book and then laughed hysterically.

Yes. Heaps. I've got the time and I'll be damned if waste it and let them fall behind.

We do a minimum of one English sheet, one maths sheet, and some reading. The sheets are a mix of books and worksheets from from school. That's for year one and year three DC, year six DC is set online work. We also do things to help keep preschool aged DC entertained and learning alongside this so once the reading/writing/maths is done we might do some dancing or some yoga (loads of videos on YouTube), baking, play a game (Twister has been a hit this week), play bingo (either normal bingo or using colours or sight words instead of numbers), play Lego, paint/draw, do gardening, do sorting activities. It's all educational really although we probably only spend around 1-2 hours a day doing formal learning.

How old is your DC OP? That makes a difference.

DS(15) is Y10 so needs to be working as no time to catch up for GCSEs next year, so is doing normal school day plus homework, but he is pretty self sufficient so we can leave him to it.

In terms of actual work set by the school: He's reception and we're doing all the core work set (phonics, literacy and maths) but ignoring the wellness and art as we do plenty of that in our own time anyway.

Other stuff: Doing extra structured phonics/reading here and there (if he's in the mood) as it's far from his favourite thing and he needs cajoling into it. Random workbook things for handwriting/spelling if I need a few minutes of quiet to think. Maths is a constant theme in our house but usually through games/building stuff etc. Lots of every day science too (we just let the butterflies go' and he's on a Wild Kratts kick at the mo so animal facts abound). Tbh I'm an absolute annoyance to him as I turn everything into a teachable moment, and very often I'm told to leave him alone to watch TV in peace.

We started off well doing four hours a day (Yr 2). At thh by e beginning we did what was recommended by the teacher but it was very easy and included mostly web links to videos and I soon found there wasn’t anything being taught. The odd worksheets were more suited to Reception. After Easter I started trying to teach and make progression concentrating mainly on maths and Eng. and did about three hours a day. But for the last couple of weeks, both Dc and I have lost some motivation, mainly because DC wasn’t well and we have been unable to do any exercise which breaks up the day, gives us a break and helps us eat and sleep better. Today we did just one hour of schoolwork. I feel disheartened tbh.

Full day of live online classes. Plus clubs after. Loads of homework on top. Y10 so back for one day a week next week (year group divided in to three clusters each going in one day) for hands on art, science and PE plus other subjects dependant on child. Same for all other years (r, Y1 and 6 now fully back, Y12 also going back one day a week).

Reception child is at school 2 days a week and doing a bit of phonics/maths on the other days.
Year 4 child i told teacher we were struggling with everything so just doing the reading, maths and english and she said that was absolutely fine.

YR and Y2 children. Both me and dh wfh. Aiming for an hour to 90 minutes a day but I don't think we manage it a lot of the time. Only doing maths, reading, spelling, writing. Fluffy topic work isn't happening at all.

DS6 did 3 hours today from his CGP guides. He's with his dad this weekend who does fuck all with him

Thank you for your replies everyone, they are helpful with some good tips 😊 my son is in year 3 xx

DS in year 3. We do all that is set but it’s an appropriate amount- a maths task, a literacy task and one or two other tasks per day.
He probably spends 2.5 -3 hours a day working.

Also Y3 - we're doing quite a bit but it's very structured each day by the school. My job's incredibly busy so some days are a real challenge. I would not say we've cracked it - sometimes emotions run high, and I'm finding it exhausting. The school's expectation is 3 hours core subjects per day plus reading, then up to 2 hours optional subjects. I try really really hard to get DC through the core stuff so the weekend is free, because I need two days off being a pretty poor teacher.

The school's expectation is 3 hours core subjects per day plus reading, then up to 2 hours optional subjects.

Can I ask is that five hours per day in total?

I think three hours per day is a nice amount. It must be nice to be guided by the school. My DC’s teacher is terrible so I am trying to figure out the curriculum as I go along which takes time too. Today I realised I had printed off a Year 5 sheet by mistake and DC was trying to do it unsuccessfully.
I have also hit a wall with my Reception child and phonics. DC is not a willing learner and takes up so much of my time looking for help or having tantrums.
Maybe just a bad week but I am exhausted and out of steam.

I think if you take off assembly, break, lunch, moving around school and getting changed etc and also factor in the fact that at home they are one on one (or 2/3- I have an only child), 3 hours is plenty. He does an hour of maths, half hour break, hour of English, lunch, then something else eg topic/ Science/ French/ Art/ Music/ Reasoning/ PHSCE every day. That’s plenty!
He reads for pleasure so no worries on that score.

I would have no idea what to do if school didn’t set it. Are some schools really not setting the work? We have it all resourced and set out for us, for example videos, things to read and look at - links etc and then a worksheet or whatever she wants doing. It’s sectioned out often into 3 levels as well and you choose the appropriate level for your child’s abilities.
For example today they did PHSCE. It was about the power of advertising - she sent a few videos of adverts to watch and a written advert. They had a short zoom where she talked it through and then they had to answer questions about the advert and how it made them feel etc.
I feel very thankful for our school now.

DS10 and DD8. We tend to do the maths and English which is set (about an hour a day) and the topic work if we fancy it. I think it's just treading water though. Not sure how much they are learning, and the things which I think are important (for my children) - handwriting and times tables - are being neglected. It's tough. Some kids will be doing nothing, others will have tutors via Zoom and be doing loads. It will be the year where inequality in learning widens even further. Having said that, nothing beats school learning and it will all even out. I'm trying not to worry.

Chrisinthemorning

Your school sounds great. DC’s teacher puts up a Twinkl sheet of maths every two days that takes ten minutes. Very easy maths that my Reception child can do (and DC2 is by no means a genius). Other than that it’s links to videos. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what to teach and the best way to teach it. And then trying to remember to practice what was learned to keep it fresh in the following weeks.
This week I am really really tired.

@Sittingontheveranda yes, it would be five hours per day - but we don't do all the optional stuff because I can't fit it round my job, and so I steer DD towards the optional subjects she can do reasonably independently. Otherwise she reads / plays outside / usual stuff.

Totally agree it's only even vaguely achievable because the school have structured it. If I had to find it all and design the work, I'd have no chance. No idea how I'm going to keep her busy through the holidays...

Dd is reception. We haven't been sent work from school really other than optional tasks but dd hasn't been engaging as she finds them boring and below her abilities.

So we have been doing 1.5-2 hours a day of maths, English, phonics and various projects to keep her moving forward.

We both wfh and it's hard without school guidance but when I've contacted the school they've advised they have no concerns and will ask the teacher in the year above for work, this has not been forthcoming.

From what I understand from other parents there are only a few of us home schooling seriously so I only hope that children are properly assessed upon their return in September and schooled appropriately.

About 4 hours per day (year 2).
Reading, english, spelling and maths every day, science, topic etc twice per week