how do you WFH when you are supposed to home school (incl child with SN)

[chocoholico]

I have to WFH. I have a DC at primary and an older one. The older one has complex SN. The homework app keeps beeping.

Neither of the DC is able to do stuff independently. My work inbox is exploding, phone ringing.

Half a day in and I already lost my shit.

Help, how do others manage? I just want to run off

Same problem here. Had lots of plans. They didn’t work out. Goalposts keep changing, both at work and at home. Client expectations are intensifying (and unrealistic), probably because everyone is feeling stressed. Even things like making sure there’s things to eat for lunch for me and kids instead of just me - it a whole new set of responsibilities and everything is exhausting.

Cacaco are you doing all that while also working full time from home?

Concentrate on your work, the kids have been set stuff but ultimately it doesn't matter as much as your work getting done. I'm a teacher and we are just giving stuff out for something to keep them busy if they want it.

Today, I got up at 5 and worked until 9am. Ds couldnt sleep last night so slept in. He was up until at least 1.30am.

Then I planned on working over lunch. But got dragged into the office because they are closing it and everyone is WFH permenetly now.

Ds is playing on his xbox so going to get an couple of hours in now. Then after I put him to bed at 9pm.

Usually it will be 5am until whenever, over lunch while he is eating and watching TV. And afternoon if he is occupied and then after 9, until I make my hours up.

I got up at 6 worked in bed for an hour whilst DH walked dog, he got home I went out to garage for paper for parents and neighbour all vulnerable, so not allowed out. Breakfast at 7.45 home school at 8am.

Mix of activities mine are 9, 14 and 16 with ASD (yr 11 so GCSE year). Mine could go in as DH is a teacher and eldest has special needs but I work from home so they're home.

We did 8-10 on pre set work (all printed out and ready on the table for them this morning) 10-10.30 break 10.30-11 quiet reading and youngest we have a list of work related documentaries for her to watch 11-12. DS2 thinks he did about 2 days school work this morning.

I got a good few hours done this morning as DS1, eldest with ASD, was asleep as he couldn't settle last night all the disruption.

I've just sat down been on the go since 6am. Washing up to do from breakfast, lunch and tea, tomorrow's work to sort, a few hours work to do so I've done a good half day. I think that I might have to adjust expectations!

I can work hard on my business, i can be a good multilevel home tutor and special educational needs coordinator, i can supervise screen time, physical and mental wellbeing, I can look after my own health and wellbeing, I can cook balanced and nutritious meals from the random mix of ingredients we have in and manage ASD DS1's anxiety about wrong foods on wrong days. I can't do them all. I just need to accept that its going to take a week or so to work out which areas to compromise and that they have to be compromised.

Don't do the work the school have set. Just autonomously educate (also known as unschooling). They'll still need some attention from you, but much less, and there will be less stress/resentment too.

I’ve got a 13 month old so it’s not ideal! DH and I are tag teaming too plus some additional help from older DD.

They look at screens and play their games. DH and I just trying to keep our jobs, and if come out the other end all healthy and safe and still have jobs, I would say it’s a victory.

DH have swapped a weekend for a weekday work day. So we have three days between the two of us (two weekends, one weekday) to do the assigned homework.

It’s not ideal, but this is an unusual time.

Just don’t engage with the competitive mums.

Turn the sound off on the homework app.

Lower your expectations.

It's really not at all possible to give 100% to every task. Aim for 2 hours schoolwork a day maximum and the rest should be free play/TV/ garden time, whatever will work for your kids.

Split it so an hour in the morning, an hour in the afternoon, some time for physical activity, even an hour on the Wii will do.

Set realistic expectations with work, and set an out of office on your emails explaining that you will respond within xx hours to any emails, if it's URGENT they can call you but it needs to actually be urgent.

Single parent to yr6 boy and full time wfh job (have wfh for years).
He can hopefully get on mostly independently with the work set. But there are still many hours left.
We will do sport (cycling mainly) together.
Work recognise it's hard.

Mine are with their Dad this week (I have symptoms) but after that I'll be facing this too. Daunting. Sounds like good advice to prioritise work, as it pays the bills.

I reckon if I've got a teleconference or need to finish an important email I'll put them in front of a screen and lock myself in the bathroom.

We'll all have to come to terms with much keeping much lower standards for a while. My other coping mechanism is staying in regular contact with friends, and escapism whenever possible (currently Merlin on Netflix )

It must be really hard where you have dc with sen. We are managing by dp doing the first hour if the day with them (PE with Joe Wicks and one piece of work from school). The dc are then meant to do their maths and English apps and half and hour reading while dp works to the best of his abilities, then the dc can do anything they like (including as much screen time as they like) as long as they don't disturb dp too much. I get back as early as I can and do the remaining 2 pieces of schoolwork they have and their instrument practice. It's not ideal as the dc are tired by then, but it's the best we can do.

My kids (and me) have spent most of today downloading and printing out effing work from effing school. There's effing loads of tiny documents, rather than it having been uploaded in a smaller number of larger documents. There was much flouncing, a brief expulsion, a rather large meltdown, and some profanity at the printer. Then we went for a walk.

Actual work done by kids - zero
Actual work done by me - zero

The school won't provide hard copy documents. My kids (different schools) have one device to share between them so can't all be done online. I wrote a very polite email to the school asking for help which has been dismissed.

After our walk one of the schools sent through a times table rockstars challenge which resulted in another meltdown. I have since banned times tables rockstars from my homeschool and am very close to writing a very snotty email to the school.

I’m a teacher. We’ve been told to provide work, so that’s what we are doing. We are absolutely aware that some children will do it and others won’t be able to, for a whole host of reasons. Try to do a bit from each subject when you can. Don’t let it be an extra stress.

I aim for 2 hours school work a day 10-12. I've told work I'm not working then, although will take calls if I have to. I concentrate on the dcs then.

I also did Joe Wicks this morning with them to get them started.

This afternoon they spent time on the trampoline, with the dogs and making homemade weapons (don't ask).

I worked around that, and was hyperventilating at one stage with stress. I'm a single parent, so no swapping of shifts here.

@penberrh I have a great deal of sympathy for you, but you need to also co sided what it’s like for the school. We were asked to sort this at a moment’s notice (heads found out we were closing at exactly the same time as parents - no information or consultation). If it’s a secondary school that work will have been arranged by a whole range of teachers, some of whom may not normally teachers your children (I’m taking responsibility for the Y9 work, but only teach one class in Y9). Even if it’s primary, so mostly one teacher, they will have been looking for work suitable to be done at home and will have pulled it fro. Various parts of their curriculum and online sources. They haven’t had time to make one user friendly document.
I know it’s hard, I know you want it organised, but we were told to start providing work immediately and this is the effect. It’ll settle down. Als, as I said up thread , we are well aware not everyone will do all (or even any) of the work.
Don’t get cross with school, they are doing their best in very challenging circumstances as well as supporting vulnerable children/children of essential workers in school - and teachers are doing the ‘work from home with own children’ thing as well in many cases.

There is a post going round on facebook from a head teacher that makes a lot of sense. Key point is that you are not home schooling. This is an emergency situation so you do what you can when you get. If they do the work set by school great, if they watch a few educational videos great, and if you can get them to read even better but don't stress out about it if you can't manage anything.

Whilst we are putting things in the home learning we have made it clear - I hope anyway - that there is NO expectation at all.

It's there if they want it or for ideas and suggestions.

But that we do not expect children to do it all, or any even if they so wish.

I am sure the schools will realise that it just isn't always possible.

I appreciate that cardibach but consideration goes BOTH ways.

The week will get better for the children and me but only because I will be ignoring communication from the school until they have put in place a sensible plan. I don't expect them to get it right from day one, but I do expect them not to overwhelm children and their parents on day one if they have not had chance to properly consider how to structure and issue the work so that it can be done sensibly from home and allow wfh parents to continue to do their job.

If schools have not had a chance to implement a sensible plan then they need to back off until they have. They also need to take into account feedback from parents as to how feasible it is. Every family's circumstance is different.

We split it between us (DH and I both wfh).

We both work four days a week so I get one day he’s “off” and vice versa.
The rest of the time we split the day.

It’s the only way. I won’t take calls when I’m in charge of the kids.
This is week one, it will change no doubt.

I'm not coping at all - feeling like a failure at both parenting and working. DS has ASD so is struggling with the change. Both DC are preschool age so at least I'm not having to do lessons.

Work are being absolutely brilliant though and we're going to see how many hours I can manage this week. If I can't manage my usual hours then it'll be a case of prioritising my tasks and ditching the low priority stuff until it becomes urgent or this scenario is over, whichever comes first.

But you're not home educating (home schooling) if your child is still registered at school. You can't be expected to do everything with your child that a teacher at school would do, especially if you're working as well. Just do what you can, keep everyone happy, let them play.

But you're not home educating (home schooling)

we get stuff send via email and app. It add to to roughly 3 -4 hours per child/day of what is expected from us. it's not technically home schooling but it feels like it and it's impossible when trying to work.

Also my DC with SN doesn't cope all all with the change. there is so much on going on on top.