To ask if anyone else is actually home schooling their kids?

[candyflossicecream]

I feel like the only one! People keep telling me "oh they'll catch up" "have some fun" i'm trying my hardest to keep them on track, entertained and keep them away from the tv, devices, etc.
Ps. We are having fun. I just keep getting made to feel like an arsehole for teaching my kids things and it's disheartening 😔

@ChloeDecker my post wasn’t meant to undermine what you are doing. If you are able to work from home, do educational/school set work and also have a happy atmosphere then that’s brilliant.

My comment was really in response to the many friends in real life who are wfh and feel so upset, stressed and guilty that they just cannot do all three of those things well. In that case, I was suggesting, particularly for younger children that you take the pressure off yourself and your children and recognise the ways you probably are already teaching them new things in lockdown.

We are. We didn't over easter but started again Monday. Teacher sets daily work and ds2 in year 5 cracks on. We did miss out geography yesterday because we were cooking instead but hell do it today.

We work til lunchtime everyday, after lunch they go out for a walk with dh and then in the afternoon they are free to do what they want.
I have rec, y1, Y4 and Y10.
This doesn't apply to theY10 she had a full day of online learning everyday.
Our primary have been amazing and have set loads on google classroom.
They kids know the routine now so not too much moaning. My .Y4 is pretty independent and just cracks on and I check through when she's done or help if she's stuck. She also has two hrs a week with her tutor via zoom and some homework from them to do.
I've been surprised how much the two youngest have been set to be honest but I do feel that they've both come on loads especially with their handwriting.

DS is 6, I've got him doing Sudoko, some math and literacy work books but not formally 'schooling' him.
Replace Sudoku with handwriting and crafts and this is me and DD. I fully count this as schooling. Why wouldn't it be?

I think the gap may not be as bad as some fear. Schools are not meant to be introducing new material (other than y10 and 12)but recall and consolidation.. There won't be an assumption whenever they do go back that everyone has done it. It's more about not getting out of the habit of holding a pencil. Concentrating for a set period etc. Also yy to the pp who said that much can be done one on one far quicker. DS, who is not a willing student at the best of times, did all the work set for the day by 10.30. He had been set a full day of 'lessons` according to his prep school timetable but without all the teacher input, examples, practise, general time-wasting, the actual task of doing the sheets took 15 mins. I'm a teacher, Id love him to sit and do stuff with only light guidance and so on but he has issues with self esteem and confidence.. As a pp said about her son, mine does muc better in school than he does with me so I strike a balance. But I get the OPs concern and have seen some similar posts on fb about not bothering. I think in these extraordinary times each family must just do what works for them. We will sort them out once we're back.

Not really except bits and pieces. I’m no teacher and dc is struggling a bit with being stuck just with me and no friends. So he spends a lot of time gaming and chatting with friends online. I’m trying to do “educational” things rather than lessons. His school provides ideas but there’s no obligation to do them. Their advice was to make sure your child feels happy and safe as far as possible and not to worry. So we’ve taken that on board 😃

But YANBU to do what works for you.

school haven't given anything for my 7 year old, except links to the software programme they use in class. The BBC Bitesize school stuff is much better. I'm glad they've not set homework though cos we wouldn't have done it. As long as this just lasts till September, we'll be doing the bare minimum of work. At the moment she does about an hour a day of actual Maths/English etc and other stuff like Joe Wicks, a piano app for her keyboard so she can learn piano etc

In our house, the family has a nice unrushed breakfast together (unusual normally) and then all disappear to 3 different rooms for the morning - DH and I to work, DD to do school. We mostly manage to eat together at lunch, but depends on various schedules (online classes, remote meetings/calls clashing), but dd finishes about 4pm while DH and I are nearer 5/5:30.

She does need some assistance with certain things, but has been working hard, about 50% of her timetable is online classes, with the rest set work and study. There are plans for exams a week earlier than usual to allow them get feedback from teachers before the end of term, and then a proper break. But there has been a LOT of input and feedback from the teachers in her school (2nd year, I think equivalent of y8).

It's not the same in all schools here, but we have only had to guide DD with a few things to help her understand them, a bit more than normal but not full on teaching.

It's also relevant to say that DD is not NT, she has ASD/ADHD and really really struggled in the 2 week Easter break but has been the first to get herself set up and going most mornings. The routine of it is important to her, and even at the start before most of the teachers got going online, she was following her regular school timetable for the days, giving herself the structure until the teachers all needed some flexibility around getting online so the timetable is now a bit different to in school - but that was fine once she knew what the slots were (and not the history teacher sending a message to join a class in 5 minutes time when dd was in the middle of an English essay....that was an interesting morning! Not! )

No. Have we been asked to homeschool?

They get things sent through and I’ve said to do one thing a day

I’m no teacher. I have a child with ADHD. Getting him to sit down and do anything he doesn’t want to is a massive challenge in itself - by the time we’ve done that he’s in a rage and in no state to learn anything
At school he goes in a special unit with specially trained Sen teachers

It’s so difficult if your child is not NT. and totally affects the other children

I also meant to add that we've done a lot which is learning but not formal learning. Dd has moved past needing to read the recipes for reading purposes, but is now at the point of experimenting with recipes to see what works best so some of the flapjacks have been lovely but some have gone in the bin having not worked at all. Learning proportions etc (especially about how much sugar to add to make them nice to eat without being too sweet as the recipe was written).

We have made the plaster cast for a test tube holder, and are going to do some science experiments in the kitchen with a chemistry set, but she's done physics (which is denser, sugar or sugar free coke, by floating cans in water) and put the results into a video; and the impacts of different materials on force (kicking a football onto a wall and various materials in front of the wall to protect it - can the ball still bounce, and which is better to absorb force, and any ideas why). Which started to try and not have the wall fall down and annoy the neighbours too much with the noise, but she was quite thoughtful about the "why" and "which was better" discussion as well as just finding a solution to the initial problem.

she's working on her coding and communications skills through various things too. And she has got herself a really strong fitness regime that she is following, which she does after school before we are finished work - it would put many serious sportspeople to shame!

Both my siblings are doing home schooling with their children every day. I'm doing home preschool with my 3.5yr old - we just maintain some consistency of routines, so we do a board with letter/number/shape of the day, look on our preschools Facebook page where they post ideas for activities etc.

Trying but not doing very well. My children concentrate and do so well in the school environment but at home it all goes out of the window. Really struggling here.

I do a day of home schooling, then a normal day of whatever and then home schooling again and repeat.
Bit overwhelming doing it every day with a child who refuses to do school work at actual school let alone home. But it works well doing it like this.

Amazed by schools that aren't providing work except links to stuff online. What the fuck are the teachers doing if they aren't providing lessons and resources?

The kids at the school near me get weekly packs. I dont know if its because it's an affluent area with shouty parents who would hit the roof if nothing was provided.

What the fuck are the teachers doing if they aren't providing lessons and resources?

Funinthesun19
Mad tip but my sister puts her kids in uniform for "school". They were happy with it and it reinforces the difference between weekend and in the week and helps them concentrate

I don’t think you meant to tag me oncemorewithfeeling99

Chloedecker

Is that sarky? I understand some teachers are working as usual for key workers kids but based on my sibling who is a teacher and their friends, in most schools it's rota with each teacher only going in as little as one day each fortnight.

Some will have their own kids to educate of course, but like all parents who are juggling work and children, they can't simply not work at all during the lockdown.

My DS us doing about 2-4 hours per day, depending on what subjects have been set. I have told him that he doesn't need to do the subjects that he wasn't going to choose as options for GCSE (he's in year 9) . however I expect him to do his best in the subjects that he does want to do at GCSE . It seems to be working. I'm furloughed and he has a teaching assistant, so I seem to have taken on the role.

I'm not, I work 8-10 hour days from home so there's no way I can do it. Feel very sad and guilty but have no choice really. It's an impossible equation.

I wouldn’t say I was home schooling them as I have very little input- the 12 year old is following a timetable of lessons and work so is just plugged into phone and laptop all day communicating with teachers and classmates, and the ten year old has work set and just works his way through, I read it through with him at the beginning of the day and check in every now and then but really would not say I was schooling him - the teachers still are!

Ds (Y8) likes me to be with him during some of his ‘lessons’ he’s not the kind of child who just ‘gets on with it’ he enjoys conversation and discussing some of the work set. He misses this input from school. So I find myself back and forth from his ‘study’ area we’ve set up for him. I don’t know whether this is lack of confidence and I imagine he’s one who likes to ask the teachers lots of questions (sorry) rather than just getting on with his work. I’m lucky though that I can do this, I’m currently on furlough.

He has got through the work set for his this wk though , which hasn’t been as much as immediately after lock down when there were tons of work set, an overwhelming amount. He has also completed some work over Easter, keeping him off the Xbox etc for as long as possible. I’ve tried to encourage him to do more work set on BBC Bitesize, which is amazing, but he’s not overly keen, believes he’s done the work set and that will do, hd has done a couple of the maths and English lessons set.

Once work has been completed we’ve gone for a long walk to make the most of this beautiful weather.

My son is Year 1 and I think we've been trying to do too much. We've been set quite a lot by school, and have felt I want to generally keep up with it. My son is bright and I also think he needs the stimulation and routine of some school work.

Seems to contrast with a lot of peers on Facebook, that seem to have said 'f...k it' and their kids are on holiday in the garden. I've reflected on it this week and am going to aim for some more balance.

I've decided my new approach is for the morning to concentrate on Maths and English/Spelling. Reading time after lunch and either a fun activity or play in the afternoon. Screen time on the Switch from 4pm, Animal Crossing has been a god send since lockdown!

I do think some of the tasks set by school have been highly repetitive and boring. Doing writing about the same story every day this week. As parents we need to confidence to go off piste and start using our initiative to broaden the tasks, especially writing about his interests.

I've also combed through CBBC on iPlayer this morning. There are whole tv series that are fun but also educational (but not formal Bitesize)
Deadly 60 - Nature programme
Operation Ouch - Biology
Absolute Genius - Engineering

I'm going to get him watching these as well. He's too old for Cbeebies but has generally learned a lot from watching these types of tv shows.

'We as parents need the confidence to go off piste and start using our initiative to broaden the tasks, especially writing about his interests.'

(I am referring to ourselves at home, not anyone else)