[sad] AIBU to HATE HATE HATE homeschooling?

[MrsNWT]

It's only been a couple of days and I'm f*cking losing it. I'm so depressed. We've got a small place, I have my own work to do (self employed) and I've reached my personal low trying to teach one of the kids.

What are you all doing? I'm throwing in the towel. I want them to learn and not been their screens all day and I WON'T do arts and crafts and learning activities all day long. Simply hate it.

My kids are 12, 9 and 7

AIBU to lose my SH*T already?

Let's hope that teachers will be a lot more appreciated when all this shit dies down. I am SICK of the slagging that we get on MN.

Koshkatt I’m sure most people appreciate their DCs teachers. It’s very different teaching a class of children in a school setting with a set routine than teaching your own DC at home. Your comment is so unhelpful, do you have any advice for parents struggling or are you just happy that they have to cope with a difficult period in their lives?

As a teacher - just make sure they read and that you read to them. It’s the key to everything. Im going to keep my children’s reading logs going and big brother is going to listen to little sister each day too. That and maths games that can be on line will be enough. Colouring or Lego for fine motor. Don’t feel you have to do everything the school are sending out.

Please don't worry about your children being behind. I doubt many children will be being educated in the formal sense. Don't forget teachers have to be providing care for key workers so won't be at ho e teaching g their own children - at least for now. Learning g talked so many forms. If you have internet access there are lots of great educational providers offering free lessons and activities. (Not sure if Mumsnet has a list of these but it will be a good idea. )The best thing to do with your children now is to keep them at home safe from infection . Let them dig in the mud, draw, 'paint' with water, cook, play games , read and some time online is fine too. Children today rarely have time to be bored but when they are they will find things to do and will learn from them.

I'm doing Jo wicks pe at 9 on you tube.
Then dog walk.
Then we are going to do a bit of maths we will be learning tables or doing online stuff only for an hour tho. We also plan to learn to tell the time.
Then will be lunch and free time.
Then in the afternoon we will do reading or write stories or songs.
Then art or baking (if I can get eggs )
Then that's it. Free time dinner and another dog walk.
Im working from home too so will just do my best.
Doing all this for sanity rather than any good parenting. Amos o ky have one school age which helps.

Thanks Dragonboobs - that’s great, it’s good to know which bits to focus on.

YABU
This isn’t ‘homeschooling’!!!

Homeschooling is totally different - activities, outings, socialising and various clubs. Having fun while learning at home

What you’re having to do now is keep your dc home at a time they should be at school and it’s a massively stressful time it’s not the norm so you shouldn’t feel bad if you’re not managing or stressed
Even long term home Ed families are feeling it it’s not the normal either for either side

Your comment is so unhelpful, do you have any advice for parents struggling or are you just happy that they have to cope with a difficult period in their lives?

No because I am too busy setting up lessons on the school VLE so that my classes can still access my lessons. Parents should make sure that their children work a full school day following the lessons set.

I am a secondary school teacher and parent. I am setting work and posting it online with a deadline. To be honest it doesn’t matter if they do it or not; I just put a deadline to give it more meaning

BBCK lucky you! We still have to grade everything, give half termly grades and write reports based on what they are doing remotely. It matters very much when these kids are following GCSE and A Level courses!

No because I am too busy setting up lessons on the school VLE so that my classes can still access my lessons. Parents should make sure that their children work a full school day following the lessons set.

What planet are you on? Can you guarantee that every child has online access all day, is able to understand what is being delivered, has a quiet place at home in which to learn, has at least one parent who isn't also expected to WFH for an employer, thus requiring access to their sole laptop?
The reality is so so different to your expectation to be laughable.

My kids 4 we tried some maths I'm sorry to say I found it so frustrating explaining we had 1 lego and I wanted 2 how many more do I need....10 arghhhh I have the upmost respect for teachers!

What planet are you on? Can you guarantee that every child has online access all day, is able to understand what is being delivered, has a quiet place at home in which to learn, has at least one parent who isn't also expected to WFH for an employer, thus requiring access to their sole laptop?
The reality is so so different to your expectation to be laughable

Thanks. Of course I cannot guarantee this - but parents should try their best to do this as far as they possibly can as opposed to ranting at teachers on the internet.

www.nasuwt.org.uk/advice/health-safety/coronavirus-guidance/operational-advice-during-partial-school-closures.html

Advice from NASUWT on what schools should or should not be doing.

So the children who are in school are not expected to be taught, it's really just childcare. Expecting parents to mirror a normal classroom at home is just daft.

Thanks very much to all of you who have posted resources on here, think its going to be a case of all us encouraging each other. I'm setting the bar quite low, DS1 (year 8) has a schedule which he can follow every day, he is v difficult in other ways, but luckily ok at doing homework on his own terms. DS2 is in year 5 and has been sent a home learning pack from school, looked a bit daunting at first but aiming to work through it with a few other bits. I work from home as well, I have a bit of work outside the home but all the shops might shut soon. I'm alternating between freaking out and not being able to bear the idea of this being the case until September and being quite zen about it all. I have decided to treat the holidays like holidays and take a term by term approach. I am going to let them have a two week break at Easter and during the May half term and obviously Summer holidays. Very hard to see it as a good thing though.

My DS was excluded several times last term (school failing to keep him safe and blaming us).
We made a timetable that said a lot of "play game ON YOUR OWN".
Screen time was a bribe for 3 pm/do all your tasks. There were only about 6-8 tasks in the day, all of the same order as "read one Orange band reading book" or "do 3 pages in maths workbook". So maybe 15 mins per task.
He wasn't officially allowed out either

Luckily my DC’s are older but my colleagues with young children aren’t planning on them doing any school work. They are working full time from home with regular conference calls set up, work to complete etc. They won’t have the opportunity to supervise school work- there will be lots of tv and screen time so that they are quiet when parents are working.

Just don't teach them, let them play. Its only a few months.

(We have two to three mornings respite care at his specialist school - which is excellent - but I think we too will treat the holidays as holidays. We've booked time off).

No because I am too busy setting up lessons on the school VLE so that my classes can still access my lessons. Parents should make sure that their children work a full school day following the lessons set.

so - I have 3 kids, but not 3 x online access.
I am suporting parents who are self isolating, I need to shop for them as the shops open (and they live 30 minutes drive away)
I am also WFH - like you - and have deadlines and work that has to be done.

But sod all that, I need to structure a full school day for my 3 kids.

DREAM ON.

I am going to structure, we have just had The Talk about how I WILL be waking them up in the morning, and they will have to be up and dressed and ready by 9 am. Dh is going to do that bit while I walk the dog and shop for parents.
But I cannot provide a full school day. As I am an ex teacher myself, and used to Home Ed, and my kids are well motivated clever teens with no SEN, I can honestly say if I can't do it, then it isn't going to happen in most homes in the UK where there the parent leading the school work is also WFH.

No because I am too busy setting up lessons on the school VLE so that my classes can still access my lessons. Parents should make sure that their children work a full school day following the lessons set.

I've already had numerous panic attacks about juggling DH working from home, me sitting university exams online and revising in the chaos, and keeping the kids going educationally. Shit like these ridiculous expectations and the "helpful" inspiring schedules being posted online are not helping those matters.

I've got things planned to keep education ticking over in terms of handwriting, spelling, reading, maths fact work - but we've had about an A4 sheet of helpful suggested activities from school - very very adult-heavy tasks, and people need to work from home as well. If you've got kids the age where you can send them to do a task and they can do that independently - you're a bit more able to accomplish this but mine are either infants or very lower KS2 and not quite there yet.

The expectations being placed by some schools are utterly utterly unreasonable. Especially considering that some households don't have a computer (and get online via mobile phones) or a table to work at, or literate parents ABLE to support well at home.

I think the circulation of endless links to all of the fantastic resources available to educate a child are quite overwhelming. It is simply not possible to view all of the links, decide if it is a good fit for your child, devise a timetable, lesson plan and deliver lessons whilst continuing to work or not work and worry about family the future etc.

It’s another of those things that we all imagine everyone else is doing better than us and we just feel rubbish for not being good enough.

Redteam-yes, exactly

But surely you don't have to lesson plan. Teachers will be sending out work.

I'm certainly not planning lessons for DS(15). But if he is struggling with something it is good to know of other resources out there that might help him. Might even learn something myself!

Interestingly our local schools have been provided with free online access to a huge number of books, which bearing in mind their book budget was cut to nil, means they have better resources now than they did before this crisis.

A number of the resources available for Primary schools will be teaching through games, so a good way of entertaining children, possibly when their parents are trying to do their own work.

How many times do you see on here when it is the school holidays, parents complaining how they can entertain their children. This is going to be so much worse as so many of the things we would normally do in the holidays will be off limits. Parents might find that the work provided by school is a welcome relief.

I think most schools are working on the basis that children won't be going back to school until September. That is a long time to keep children entertained