To feel saddened and guilty that my (keyworker) child does not do the set class learning whilst attending school?

[WishIWasARunner]

DS (4) attends school as I am full time keyworker. i have some time off this week and have been following the class set online learning. It became apparent we couldn't do various things as needed to do the preceeding work over past few weeks. I presumed he would be following his class learning while attending school. I checked in and was told they have Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 in together so not following the online learning. Not only do I feel guilty for putting him in school, but to add to it I now know he's not following his class learning which puts him at disadvantage

That actually didn’t make much sense sorry, the jist is that I did have a work life balance before covid that made me an engaged parent working part time, I’ve upped my hours to help and now my kid like a lot of key worker kids is suffering as a result

I read a piece about an adult who was a child during war in Bosnia. Stopped school at year 3, did nothing, then started again at year 7 in a new country/new language.
That person has a degree and a great job. They said- 'stop worrying about a few lost weeks/months, kids do catch up' (well unless they have learning difficulties)

I’m with you to a point op. Yours is 4 so no need to worry at all in fact in Scotland kids don’t start until they are 5 and all end in perfectly well educated. However as a key worker doing full time as normal my youngest dc attends a hub school and gets no teaching at all. Her classmates who are at home with their parents are flying through the work set by school, doing endless crafts/ baking and generally spending quality time as a family. Meanwhile I come home like a burst bag, shower and put my clothes into wash ( infection control) make the tea and think about what they could have learned in the 8 hours they have been away from me.
I would have expected some degree of education for them as I am unable to do it.

Crossed post Really12345

You do realise that those of us working from home with little ones let them run wild in the garden, watch far too much TV and anything else to keep them quiet so we can spend all day on Zoom pretending our home life is so organised we can just get on with work and we don’t lose our jobs. Yes a proportion of parents will be able to home school properly but most of us will be in the same situation and I am sure teachers are already aware there is going to be a lot of catching up to do once schools re open.

My cousin had/has a chronic illness. She spent a whole year in Great Ormond Street (hundreds of miles from her school in Scotland, it is a very rare illness), after that she had many extended stays there, away from formal schooling. She's a doctor now. Obviously that's an extreme example, and she is an exceptional woman, but missing one term.of school - when every other kid in the country is too - is likely to pass without much detriment. And without the need for extensive home schooling

Honestly dont worry. Both my husband and I work in key worker roles but we can thanks to technology do them from home. We are probably doing almost twice what we usually do due to increased demand and covering for sickness in essential services and have a 5 and 7 year old at home. If we had to go in then the DC could go into school but as we are working from home they are here too. We are trying to do all the suggested home learning but its impossible so we are doing our best. Right now that has to be good enough, sometimes some home learning gets done other days they watch TV and make lego models. Many are in similar boats. You can do what you can do and if you can accept that it makes it better for everyone in the longer term. Take care

Don't feel guilty, especially as he's only 4.

It does surprise me how many schools on MN aren't helping children access the online learning. I'm a secondary teacher and our pupils in school are following the online learning, with help from teachers/TAs where needed. I understand that it's easier as our pupils are more independent than KS1, but I would still expect schools to offer more than just playscheme-type childcare.

I am in school at the moment looking after key workers children. We are doing learning based activities in the morning and then practical topic based activities in the afternoon. We have a mix of children from nursery to year 6 so have to make each session very differentiated. We are going to do some of the online learning but 15 children all online at different levels with 2 teachers will be very difficult to manage.

I do believe that learning will be happening for those in school. Maybe not the same and they may not come home with worksheets but learning will be happening at some level.

If I had a 4 yo darn right we wouldn’t be doing the set tasks unless dd she liked doing them. The curriculum has been suspended. Your ds will be getting a lot out of going to school. He will probably be doing Joe Wickes first thing.

My dgs is 8. Loves school atm, calls it club. No he’s not doing any structured learning but during the 2 week break my ds got him caught up at home .
Me, I’ll just be happy if my elderly parents and all my family just stay healthy, both mentally and physically.

I go in to teach key worker children. I am at a hub school, so don't know all the children. I have a group of 10 children from Reception to year 6. It will be me and one TA. I spend ages preparing and planning stuff for them. I try to do something from the set learning with each of the age groups but as they are from different schools, not all the set learning is the same. I also have to find holding activities to keep all the other children occupied while I'm trying to teach the one or two from each year group. It's actually very hard to manage - far more so than teaching my normal class. Also, because we are on a day to day rota with staff from different schools, we don't know what they have done the preceding day until we get in.

We are really trying our best in circumstances that are completely new to us.

My child is 4 and P1 and believe me isn't doing much at home bar playing and fighting with his brother. I wouldn't be concerned at all.

He's 4!!

It’s really interesting that some schools are teaching the key workers kids and some are not. Mine definitely is not, states that no learning will take place as they are childcare of last resort only. I’m not expecting differentiated planned lessons but just something other than constant tv, if I was working from home at least I would have her in the garden and playing with toys and doing craft not 6 hrs of movies!

And thank you to all the school staff that are working Really hard to teach key workers kids something. You are great and I wish you were at my school

Don't worry about it, really, as long as he's happy and engaged he's learning in some form. My 6 and 8 yos are doing a bit of their online learning and reading, but only if they want to. I'm not pushing them, they're mainly playing, but everyone is in the same boat and no primary children will be behind

At 4 everything is learning .

Going to school - learning routines and developing his independence and confidence. Playing and eating with other children - learning social skills. Playing shop - maths skills.
Playtime - exercise. All the games they are playing are all helping his speech and language development. Most schools are reading books which is such an important thing for children, and even if not you can read to him before bed each evening.

Honestly even if he is doing none of the above in school it really doesn’t matter, at 4 the world is to be explored through play. Some schools systems start no formal learning until 7 and they do really well.

All that matters at the moment is his, and yours, health and happiness. Thank you for doing your job at this stressful time.

Ok, I feel less stressed about it now and accept IABU!

TBF I think some of the replies have been a bit tight. Since when does telling someone to ‘get a grip’ help? Who cares kids in Sweden don’t start school until they’re 14 and all get degrees? 🙄 It’s natural to worry about your own child!

Having said that the people who are kindly saying not to worry are correct. I’ve had a look at our schools YR ‘class learning’ and it’s all very simple stuff about walking around looking out for different plants (The school term project) and doing some reading together.

Plus I can guarantee no way are all the other 29 kids in the class are getting full time home learning

if I was working from home at least I would have her in the garden and playing with toys and doing craft not 6 hrs of movies!

you clearly haven't got the slightest clue what "working from home" actually means for some people.

Some posters seem to think that being at home means pottering about and sending the odd email twice a day.

I give you a clue: most parents working from home have exactly the same amount of time to do chores/play and educate their children as the ones who are working out of the home... They do all that in their spare time.

@OneandTwenty
I get that she would be being just as ignored by adults while she is at home if I was working but my point was that I could choose to send her out in the garden or direct her to play with her toys rather than six hours of solid TV, some of which I think is too old for her (they have kids from 3-11 so i get its hard to choose movies they all like but shes upset at some of them). She isnt getting to play or socialise at school. Their sat at desks 1m apart watching TV on the whiteboard all day. there not allowed in the playground incase they touch each other and there not in the nursery room so there arent any toys. As "childcare" goes its pretty rubbish childcare and not what I would choose if I have a choice. Ive worked from home this morning telephone consulting and she has had some tv, some phonics on her ipad but also a turn around the garden, some play dough and played with her dolls which is much more varied than the school provision. I know some kids are having a worse time at home than mine is in school but the difference is I could provide better for mine if I wasnt choosing to work or was working from home - but with so many hcps shielding we need some to actually go into the hospital to do the bits that cant be done remotley and it seems perverse that those who are taking the greatest personal risk have their children treated shoddily.

From this thread its sounds like some schools are doing much better with craft and free play and some directed activities so when were back from isolation I will gently ask her school if they think they might be able to do some colouring or something else with her other than just movies as it seems to be a school specific issue rather than universal.

Everything Really said, with bells on. I am still going into the hospital, because someone's got to be, and so my kids are in school key worker care. Both they and I are exposed to a higher level of risk than those working and schooling at home, is it so unreasonable to want the school provision to include at least some of the set work? Is that really so much to ask in the circumstances?

It's good to hear that some schools are doing that, but I feel sad and guilty that my kids aren't getting any schooling, despite sometimes outnumbering the staff!

Oh, and anyone who thinks it's reasonable for either me or my DC to start the set work once we get home, try to muster up some empathy for what those of us who are NHS and working out of the home see and experience every day, and have a word with yourself.

Gah edit - sometimes the DC are outnumbered by the staff!

There should absolutely be no expectation that you do the online learning after being on shift and your child being at school. We are not doing all the online work but we are doing learning activities altogether. We are doing an English session then a maths session. They are doing learning activities. We are doing St George's day tomorrow and we are sequencing the story, making patterns on a dragons scales, making puppets and masks, making a big dragon and doing some drama. This may not be on the online learning but will involve a lot of learning.

Just be happy and do whatever you can. We need to get through this as balanced and sane individuals. All that can be asked is that people do the best they can with what they have.

Sitting one metre apart at desks all day is unsuitable for her age. I don't hear much of what happens at school but in holiday club sessions when they were no academic activities last week they did yoga (spaced out on pe mats) made their own sandwiches for lunch (hot lunch provided free other days) brought home a different pair craft daily (origami Easter bunny/corner book mark/bunch of paper tulips) they have painted signs and stones thanking key workers and made a display. They are outside enough that ds has a slight tan.

This thread made me check what had been raised to rest of the year one class and there is definitely more written work being set than he is doing (all children got a exercise book he takes his in daily).