No school work during lockdown ?

[mononospoke]

Is it unreasonable for a 9 year old not to do any school work during lockdown ?
If they simply reuse ?
Doing other things like playing in garden/baking/drawing etc...but won't do school work

Yes I think it is unreasonable, assuming you can teach them, have what you need to teach them and there are no SEN.

DTs are 9 and doing an almost full school day.

Yes, it’s unreasonable. We’re not doing loads, but we’re doing bits every day. English, maths and something else as well as the stuff like baking.

They need to keep the habit of reading and writing.

I disagree. I don't think it will do them any harm at all.

I would encourage reading for pleasure, though.

I guess it depends on whether they need to keep on a good routine and where you want them to be when they go back to school. I think it would be very unreasonable to expect teachers to do additional work to try and catch them up if you are doing nothing at home

I think they will struggle greatly to get back into school routine when they finally return.

And they are likely to be behind their classmates and find it even more of a slog to catch up. Better to do a little bit each day.

What do you mean they "refuse"? Surely at 9yo they do as they're told.

Do people really let 9 year old children simply refuse to do something?

A bit of maths & English is the minimum a child should be doing. I get some children don’t want too but children don’t always know what’s best for them do they.

Your child wants to play in the garden, fine but they do an hour of school work first 🤷🏻‍♀️

It depends on the school culture. Are most of the other kids and parents going to be doing it? If so, your kid may be disadvantaged when schools return for not having done it.

If the other kids are unlikely to do so, the teachers will reteach the lockdown work anyway because not enough of the kids will have done it/done it well enough.

The child doesn’t get to refuse. You’re their parent, you tell them what’s happening and they do it.

I am trying to get my dc doing bits and pieces but I'm not a teacher and I'm also working full time from home. They draw, read, watch exercise videos and spend too much time on screens. I will try and use their school app with them in the afternoon to submit a few bits of work but honestly I don't have the time to home school properly I just can't do it. If I wasn't working I'd like to think it would be different.

I do worry about the effect it might have on them later.

I’d be far more concerned about the “refusal” then the long term impacts of not doing any work. Surely your 9yo isn’t in charge?

I’m really struggling with mine youngest hates school but very bright not sure it’ll do him any harm to learn differently for a while elder son is learning to tell the time do his tables etc I’m dyslexic also so it’s not so easy to teach and do ‘full school day’ great for you but not every one is able to do that whilst having other kids/working/working from home or possibly struggling with being in the house 24/7

I’m a nurse so long shifts then teaching is also hard going youngest doesn’t want to and is regressing (additional needs) not sleeping at night etc their dad is police and he’s really struggling just now too. They are missing school routine/friends etc.

Its a shitty enough time without stressing about schoolwork. I personally wouldn't be too worried at that age. They can learn through play. I would just encourage reading once a day though

So far it's only a 6 week lockdown. Most children manage to get back into a routine after the 6 week holidays. Unless your child does have difficulties with changes in routine I honestly wouldn't be too worried

At 9 I don't think they are going to get hugely behind.
Parents who are still working won't have the time
Some families won't have the technology to keep up

Teaching next year will have to allow for this

Plus you are in lockdown which means you are together 24/7. Is there any point in fighting.. Noone can get space to make it better

Keep offering it.. If it doesn't get done meh... 6/7 years before they sit exams

Be creative and change the activities set a bit to make them more appealing and fun.

Use what school suggest as a template to get ideas from.

Pick a topic that he enjoys and link things into that

I’m not ‘teaching’ them anything new, they are completing Maths and English work sheets daily, then doing Joe Wicks. Are people teaching new stuff or consolidating prior learning?

As long as they keep up with their schoolwork ,they shouldnt get too far behind really.Can you do worksheets in the mornings say 9.00/12.30 then have afternoons for garden, walks, and so on. They need to stay with some sort of routine as it will be harder when they do return to School surely?

Depends. The refusal bit is a bit questionable. DS, who is now 12, refuses to do stuff. But that comes at a price to him. No PS4, or something he's looking forward to doing. Because he has to learn that there are things we HAVE to do and things we WANT to do. I don't particularly enjoy hoovering, but it'd be a pig sty if I or DH didn't do it.

But there are a lot of things that can be used. DS is enjoying the new bitesize things on the BBC. We watch the bitesize lessons on TV at lunch time on IPlayer - he thinks they're quite funny but he's joining in with the tests etc so is taking it in. Then he does the things on line because they're fun.

We're going to watch Blue Planet when I get off of here. Not on the curriculum but it'll include geography, conservation, animals so he'll be picking something up. He also likes the NASA site as it's got games and science stuff which he loves.

It's all about finding things that interest them. Even Horrible Histories teaches kids about different civilisations or times and if it provokes an interest you can build on it with documentaries, books, on line stuff.

So, no, learning doesn't have to be formal. But, yes, if there's work set it should be done just to instil the idea, gently, that life isn't all about getting your own way and there has to be a balance.

We are doing all the set tasks the teacher has given and lots of reading and diary writing but we don’t do any of the “extra” or “voluntary work.

My dh do the set daily tasks with ds who is 8 (and a very reluctant learner). It takes them a couple of hours in the morning. Then they go for a run and a kick about. Home for lunch. DH works and I’ll take some time to read and do the diary stuff with our son. We don’t do a full school day as we both work full time and have a toddler too. I think the compulsory stuff in the morning takes us a couple of hours. Then maybe an hour on the reading and diary stuff?
There is no denying that there is a lot of screen time etc as well though.

Nope, mine (10 and 8) aren’t doing anything. And I am a teacher at their school. I see this as a totally unique time during which I can encourage them to follow their own interests and have a protracted length of time to immerse themselves in something they actually want to do. It’s working for us so far. They are quite self sufficient children though (they have to be, with the hours I work). It helps that our school is very much taking the line that well-being and the happiness of the children should come first, and that any home learning should be entirely at your discretion.

That's great advice zgaze. Nobody should be made to feel inadequate, if they can't get homeschooling to happen. What's the point of that? There's always the school of life for a month or so. Get some learning in by stealth.

I'm not going nuts about it but my two (6 & 9) both have to do some reading, writing and maths every day, play outside every day and do some form of exercise, and some chores. I'm not worried about completing everything the school sends, but I want them to keep up their current skills.

If left to follow their own interests entirely it would be 8 hours a day of Roblox

Mine are 10 and 8 and are doing a little bit per day as well as a mix of baking, gardening etc.

If they were left by themselves they would play video games all day. My DD has dyslexia so I started a manual with her as well.

Their mental health is most important to me but with a balance of everything they are doing really well.

My 5 year old has also refused op.
Literally refuses to do any learning and if i try the force them the child screams shouts and starts chucking stuff around in a temper. I have tried punishment, i have tried bargaining, ive tried simply insisting that they do nothing else untill they do their work but nothing works. I have never seen this behaviour in them before. I contacted thr school for support but they didn't respond.
I just think you need to do the best you can. I am currently trying to covertly teach my child. They are watching bbc bitesize and evey educationl program i can find on tv. Also doing maths and english games on the i pad, reading to me, playing educational board games and looking at fun educational books like the Osborn body book.
I dont just to just let the child refuse to learn because thats not an option but i have no idea what you are supposed to do if they just refuse and nothing works to get them to change their mind.

Learning doesn't have to mean doing the specific tasks the school sets (worksheets etc are usually designed as a way to teach 30 children at once) but I think you need to at least try to do activities which are covering age appropriate material. E.g. if DS is football mad, set up a maths game running a football team, buying players for different prices, setting ticket prices for matches etc. Do writing activities based on their own interests. Do "home science" - loads of fun things if you Google for ideas