Trying to WFH with primary children

[HuntIdeas]

Now that schools have been closed for a few weeks, does anyone have tips for trying to WFH with primary children? DH and I have just spent all this evening trying to catch up with work and will be doing the same tomorrow. Plus the kids are getting neglected during the day, especially times when we are both on calls at the same time. We’ve all but given up on home-schooling

My biggest tips for keeping children entertained - trampoline and printer. We’ve been printing loads of colouring pages / mazes/ activity sheets etc (which keeps them going for all of 3 minutes before asking for the next one)

www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-williamson-backs-national-online-academy

Looks good but 2 of my kids are reception age - not sure it would work for them. Plus we only have 1 telly, so can’t have both year groups going at same time. Definitely worth a try though.

A simple tick-off timetable might help: a household chore, a Lego challenge, Quiet reading time/audiobook chapter, Cosmic yoga on youtube, one mindfulness colouring sheet. From Monday you could use the BBC Bitesize timetable for their age/stage. Keep it stress free as possible.

Can you flex your hours instead? I have a toddler and we work a longer day taking time off to care all day.

So we spread 7 hours of work over a 12 hour day 8-8 switching every two hours.

We at least get nap time to both work but this works for us

We’re doing shifts very flexibly depending on what we have in our diaries each day that’s fixed eg meetings and phone calls. We both have an element of control over what time meetings happen and so we can check each other’s diaries first.

Basically there is never a time when we are both trying to work at the same time so there is always one in charge of the kids. I’m working late into the evening most nights and while I’m on childcare duty I’m doing housework that I’d normally do in the evening. It’s working fairly well so far.

I have had to do my work when they go to bed/before they rise. If I try working on the laptop they’re all over me.

@HuntIdeas depends on the age of the primary school children - DS is a relatively mature and self-contained 9 and my experience is vastly different from friends who have 4-7 year olds. His school also do send out work but over half-term we’ve had to improvise.

A PP mentioned a tick-off timetable and I do think that seems to have worked for most. I create a document every day and email it to DS - use a funky font, put in pictures and a lunch menu etc (you can mock these up online it’s quite fun). You can amend it. Typical day for us below. Note: he does have meltdowns, interrupt my conference calls, bang around the house but this timetable has saved my sanity over the Easter holiday...

AM:

• 30 minutes on mathletics or times tables rockstars
• writing task (per his interests - recently researching and writing about space, has written a horror story, book review etc)
• find out 5 things about X and write them down - again, per interests. He watches videos, Googles, etc
• one exercise in KS2 English language book

Lunch & approx 2 hours free time - mostly spent watching Horrid Henry and drawing. I take an hour out to cook and eat with him.

PM:

• 30 minutes reading (he exclusively reads graphic novels right now and we’re rolling with it!)
• virtual piano lesson with grandma
• video call with friend(s) from school which usually lasts a couple of hours

And that normally takes us to about 4pm, when we go for a walk (with me checking work emails!)

BBC education series starts tomorrow. Not aimed at Reception but depending on how they're getting on they could access some of the year 1 stuff. There's a timetable of the lessons here www.bbc.co.uk/teach/bitesize-daily-schedules-teach/zdtwjhv

Audible also have free audiobooks which could buy you some time if you can find one they all like!