Has homeschooling made anyone else realise they’re incredibly thick?

[Justcallmemissstupid]

And I’m not even talking secondary school homeschooling... I’m trying to teach a year 2 child!
I’m not highly educated but bloody hell, I thought I would be able to at least get on board with primary work.

Can anyone recommend some adult courses?! ...(only half joking)

Khan academy is really good.

It hasn't made me realise I'm thick but rather that I'm not amazing at motivating people to do pointless tasks relating to topics they aren't interested in.

I'm constantly in pester/plead mode.

I'm not thick but I'm not good at maths and I was never taught English grammar to the level my dc are.
I understand most other subjects fine.
But I am an absolutely crap teacher I lose all will to live after five minutes.

Me!
My eldest is in Yr3 and I can't grasp any of the maths.They don't even do addition the same way any more!Should add,I'm 33...It's a nightmare.I would make an appalling homeschooler in the long run.

Also lack the patience

See I’m fine with the maths and doing projects etc. But the English work! My god, I’m sure I wasn’t taught most of this stuff at primary age. I got a double award in my English GCSEs!
But trying to help a 7 year old with subordinating & co-ordinating conjunctions has me embarrassingly stumped oh the shame.

Oh they definitely don’t teach maths the same way! Amazing how the methods change over the years. I’m only mid thirties too!!

With regards to the English grammar stuff, don't feel too bad about it, there's a whole generation who didn't get taught any of it (if you were born between 1980 and 1990 roughly I think).

I definitely didn’t do any of the grammar stuff at primary school.
I didn’t even know what the definition of a verb was until I started doing French at secondary school and the French teacher told us.

I’ve got some books by Carol Vordermann - Help Your Kids With English / Maths, which I find useful to help me get up to speed with all the grammar terminology and current Maths methods.

Don't think that of yourself! Another vote for Khan academy. But also BBC bitesize is great.
And bear in mind that the idea is that (assuming your kids are at home because of lockdown, not that you have chosen to home school) they are still taught.
If there isn't enough info in the materials the school is providing, ask them to provide you with answer sheets at least. Don't worry about being a pain to the teacher: there are lots and lots of ressources out there that they will be relying on (each individual teacher does not write individual materials for every individual class, especially at primary level) and can pass on to you.

I always get confused between verbs and nouns 😭 I learned what an imperative verb was during the last lockdown, I was quite pleased with that, I’d never heard of it before!
I’m learning more than my kids!

The worst thing is, I was planning to sign up to a uni course this year... this homeschooling lark has made me question my abilities, I really don’t think I’d be up to it! 🤦‍♀️

@LaChatte

With regards to the English grammar stuff, don't feel too bad about it, there's a whole generation who didn't get taught any of it (if you were born between 1980 and 1990 roughly I think).

I don't think I did much grammar at school in the 1980s. Most of my primary and early secondary education was seriously disrupted by strikes and a boiler that spent most of winter broken because it was decades old and the building had tripled in size since it was installed.

I've heard colleagues complaining about 'how maths is different these days' too which I'm baffled about, because maths is maths isn't it? We're all scientists, so a bit of primary maths should be well within our capabilities.

I'm not thick, quite decent IQ level but I'm a shit teacher. I have a poor attention span and no tolerance for boredom.

Off to google Khan academy...

Thanks for the kind words. I can assure you, I am not homeschooling through choice! I would be doing my kids a great disservice if I were 😂

I am only slightly younger than God, and found the Yr1 maths teaching methods very confusing last year. Highly recommend a book called Maths for Mums and Dads, it really helped me to understand how the teacher had already explained stuff and why my six year old didn't understand when I kept telling her to just add the columns

No.

And I doubt you are either. The only problem is learning what they call things now and how school wants them done. If you can manage the maths you can manage English, it took me a while to learn how to break maths down.

I too am of the generation that wasn't taught grammar beyond verbs and nouns. I had to Google what an adjective was.
I was glad to work with my eldest on his grammar in lockdown one as I have now learned to use possessive apostrophes! Hadn't the first clue about them before.
A friend of mine thinks teaching children grammar is wrong and they'll pick up SPAG by reading.
I've done lots of reading and my grammar is bad and my spelling worse.
I don't feel so bad with the maths and science though.

The Beeb has got some of their stuff still available at www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/collections/year-3-and-p4-english-lessons/1 (that’s the year 3 lessons). Some people got snobby about the bbc offering but I found it ok. It explains the basic terms in use at least. You’ll probably find you know it, it’s just called differently.

Nouns are things and verbs are doing words, adjectives describe nouns and adverbs describe verbs. Conjunctions - think junctions and joining - join sentences. I think they’ve made some things too complicated now.

Yes me! I'm well educated but school has spent me tomorrow's lesson plan... short division with factors anyone?

Haha! Yes this is how I feel and my DC is 4. Just as he started reception last year, we had a meeting via Zoom with the teacher to discuss what he would be learning and she attached a list of words I'd never heard of. I said to my husband I had no idea what they meant and asked if he knew what a digraph was (he didn't), quick as lightening my son turns to me and says it's two letters that make one sound.
I do recognise that but I've never been told it has a name.
With home learning, I go off on a tangent when he expresses an interest in something and realise I actually don't know that much about it. It's embarrassing and this is why his teacher is fantastic and he'll only listen to her and blimming Ryan's mum on Ryan's World.

Multiplying fractions got me baffled yesterday..... I got a B in GCSE maths.
I have learned a lot around grammar. I hadn't heard of a fronted adverbial before the first lockdown!

@LifeBeginsNow ha, that minds me when DS was in year one, we were practicing his reading when he turned to me and said “that’s a split diagraph y’know mummy” ...I had no idea what he was talking about, I had to google it!
It’s quite impressive what they get taught now really.
These kids are going to be geniuses when they get older.

I too have a reception age child! I’m keeping it simple with him, he’s a young 4 year old still, only just learning to blend his phonics... I can just about manage to help him with that.
Apart from phonemes... what the bloody hell are those?
I need to spend the evening on google I think!

@Vinorosso74

Multiplying fractions got me baffled yesterday..... I got a B in GCSE maths. I have learned a lot around grammar. I hadn't heard of a fronted adverbial before the first lockdown!

Jesus, I’ve got lots of research to be getting on with! I’ve never ever heard of a fronted adverbial!

[quote Justcallmemissstupid]@LifeBeginsNow ha, that minds me when DS was in year one, we were practicing his reading when he turned to me and said “that’s a split diagraph y’know mummy” ...I had no idea what he was talking about, I had to google it!
It’s quite impressive what they get taught now really.
These kids are going to be geniuses when they get older.

I too have a reception age child! I’m keeping it simple with him, he’s a young 4 year old still, only just learning to blend his phonics... I can just about manage to help him with that.
Apart from phonemes... what the bloody hell are those?
I need to spend the evening on google I think![/quote]
*that reminds me, not minds me
My brain is shot from all this super hard primary school work today

Yanbu. I was aghast at some of the addition and multiplication methods they use in year two. Such overly complicated, confusing methods!

I haven't got a clue about grammar (despite having a law degree) or phonics (born in the 80's) either.

You have time to learn DD is Y6 now so that was Y5 SPAG