To have really enjoyed homeschooling!

[LordGarmadon]

I've actually really enjoyed having the kids at home and being able to teach them things and do proper activities with them. Normally we're busy doing organised activities (swimming, gym club, play dates, visiting family/friends, etc) and spend very little time at home.

They're only preschoolers but we've had loads of fun and they've learnt so much.

I'm going back to work next week (specialist role with vulnerable children) and I feel quite sad that homeschooling is finished.

I know many families struggle, which is why I'm going back to work, so I don't mean to be boastful but I feel sad today.

Ha ha you have NO IDEA what it's like OP. I have a 14 year old asking me to 'teach' (explain) chemistry biology Trigonometry etc whilst I try to keep my business afloat

What you've been doing is looking after pre schoolers. It is not home schooling

Roll on the schools opening again I say

OP, I think you've been doing a great job with your kids.

I feel like I'm doing a bit more than general parenting at present.

you are allowed your feelings, but we are allowed to think that you are not doing more, it IS general parenting.

It's great that you are enjoying it, just odd that normal parenting is seen as exceptional.

Well Mama, you have found an excellent way to rain on someone’s parade when they feel they are doing well and, to boot, making other readers who are struggling with this, or with general parenting, feel even worse!

If you can't accept a discussion, why post on a forum dustycaramel?

I am allowed to think that it's sad that normal parenting seems such an exceptional achievement. And the tone is not the most pleasant, sorry.

My dd has enjoyed the time with us but she needs school. She needs the daily interaction with her friends and the extra curricular things like helping the teacher, being in school plays, all that stuff. She thrives in that sort of environment and I just couldn’t give it her at home.

Mamabbear in agree. As lovely as the OPS post is to be completely honest she has only done what every stay at home parents does with preschoolers every day often for years on end.I hope when all this is over parents who go out to work actually have alot more appreciation and place alot more value on what stay at home parents actually do ( now they have experienced it for themselves even if it was just a a few short weeks😉)

I’ve seen lots of help and advice online for people ‘homeschooling’ very young children but realistically, they don’t need very much schooling at that age. They mostly learn through play so even when they are learning, it’s still fairly easygoing and fun.

I’m homeschooling three key stage 2 children and that’s a lot tougher.

This sounds like fun and you and your DC have enjoyed it .They will probably remember this experience as they get older as well . Somewhere I read that half of their learning takes place before the age of five ,so you have done well .

It would be interesting to know if they have just learnt by rote or if they have any real understanding of what they have learnt (esp the maths, cvc words) I'm sorry but I think they have just learnt a few things by rote. In the few short weeks there's no way they would have covered so much of the reception and year 1 curiculum with real understanding. Like I said as lovely as it is you haven't done anything different to what every stay at home parents does with preschoolers.

Of course they can have learnt that with some 1:1 attention. They’ll consolidate it through play and some more activities with you op. People are jealous and dimwitted.

No people have the experience of raising children to adulthood and know that what OP has done is no different to what stay at home parents do all the time, and at the pre school age it certainly isn't home schooling. Home schooling is something you dedicated years to, what people of school age kids are doing at the moment isNT even home schooling, it's crisis schooling, huge difference.

I didn’t get anything from the tone of the OP at all? Thought it was totally benign! Can accept a discussion but I didn’t see it as a discussion type thread, more a chat?

I have always respected stay at home parents, total respect to anyone who home schools too although I think my children thrive in school.

It seems rampantly defensive on this thread.

But home schooling is what the teachers are calling it and is shorthand. Nowhere did the OP suggest she thought she was a home educator.

And this is contradictory. On the one hand preschoolers apparently don’t need formalised education, and on the other hand doing EYFS is just normal for SAHP. I can’t keep up!

I do parent my children under normal circumstances and I do spend part of my week being a "stay at home mum" but I haven't patented them like this before.

I've always been a believer that formal school starts very early in the UK and have tried to give them lots of other experiences before they start school. I've also never been very good at being in the house with them and we go out all the time, even if it's just to the garden to do the veg plot.

I had no intention of explicitly teaching them to read and instead we do lots and lots of reading/book sharing to give them a love of books.

They help me cook so they have a good grasp of numbers already: i.e. "get me 4 carrots" "put 5 spoonfuls in the bowl"... that kind of thing.

I've never sat them down and explicitly taught them.

Ok, so it's not home education because they're preschoolers and it's not difficult because they aren't teenagers.

They've taken to being taught better than I ever imagined!

They're not learning by rote: they surprised me how easily they started segmenting CVC words. We started just doing initial sounds of things we were learning that day and they were soon segmenting the end sound too. So I made some CVC cards and they can put them together to form and read CVC words and nonsense words. I taught them some "tricky words" (e.g. "I") so they had a basic understanding that not all words make phonetic sense... they can pick these out in their books.

The teaching of subjects is just a bit of fun. For example, the rainforest: we stuck animals onto the different layers in the rainforest and very briefly talked about why that animal would live on that layer; we learnt where in the world rainforest are, and then we made clouds!!

Well, I've enjoyed it. They've enjoyed it. It's made lockdown fun and it's opened my eyes as to how much these kids can learn at a young age.

Everyone is doing their best. The families I work with who can no longer look after their complex children are trying their best. We all have different resources and different circumstances. This doesn't make someone else's parenting resources and family circumstances wrong or invalid.

There's absolutely no need to attempt to make me feel inadequate. I have not failed my children so far and I am enjoying parenting now in a very different way to how I patented before... both of which are fine.

The end!!

Good on you. Excellent post!

You sound like you’re doing great OP so ignore the nastiness. I would love to be able to do a bit more formal learning with my 3.5 year old as he thrives on things like learning letters and trying to write them but I also have an 18 month old who won’t sit still and would just be screaming for attention so I find it tricky to do that kind of thing with him. 18 month old doesn’t nap any more (that’s another whole thread!) so we don’t have any time 1:1. I hope he won’t be disadvantaged to other kids when he goes back to nursery if they have had a lot more in the way of teaching from parents who are more able to.

@Rainycloudyday not trying to solicit unwelcome advice but I just had a thought... how about putting letter cards in a "sensory tray" with sand or shaving foam or glitter or gloop or whatever with some toys for the toddler. While the toddler gets messy finding the toys the preschooler could be finding the letter cards and tracing the shape in the tray or matching letters together.

I'm sorry but I think they have just learnt a few things by rote

How the fudge would you know? You’ve never met them.

Reactions like this just sound bitter and nasty. I’m not sure why people can’t be more supportive of the OP trying to take something positive from this.

Well, I've enjoyed it. They've enjoyed it. It's made lockdown fun and it's opened my eyes as to how much these kids can learn at a young age.

OP, this is great. Really heartening and lovely to read.

Ignore the bitterness. Seems like lots of people are struggling right now and are lashing out here, there and everywhere.

Fair play to you OP! Sounds like you’ve really tried to make the best of a really crappy situation and why shouldn’t you?!

My 4 year old has been a joy to ‘teach’ the last few weeks and has thrived at home even though I thought she’d miss her reception class. Her 9 year old sister is another matter but we’re doing our best!

I’m not saying we’re going to commit to full time homeschooling once the schools reopen but I will certainly miss them when they go back (and that is definitely not something I thought I’d say!)

It's made lockdown fun and it's opened my eyes as to how much these kids can learn at a young age.

oh ok, glad you discovered your children now if they were complete strangers to you before

glad you discovered your children now if they were complete strangers to you before

Wow, are you always this nasty?

Or is there a particular problem you have at the minute that you want to take out on the OP?

Agree Laurie, it’s really quite shocking and somewhat hypocritical as upthread it was mentioned that OP tone was unpleasant!

I'm enjoying this time as well in many regards, when we formally home educated it was a stressful time in some respects. In the back of my mind I knew many were at school, having formal learning experiences. But now we are all in the same boat, so I enjoy it way more. The only person I'm sad for is my middle child, he misses his friends very much.