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 😔

We’ve hardly had any science work sent though!

I’m not schooling mine.
They’re being sent work from school and I am facilitating their learning by giving them a space to work in, the materials they need to do it and support and encouragement if they need it.

Their teachers are still teaching them, albeit remotely.

My child has ADHD, and in fact I think it's this that makes the school work more important. If he didn't have that filling up his morning and giving him something to focus on, he would blast through all his allotted daily screen time by about 11am and then become an annoying nightmare for the rest of the day.

I've tried offering him other morning projects (in Easter holidays for example) but then I get "But Paul is only online now, if I don't play with him now I won't get a chance" - at least for school, he accepts that it's roughly the same time as school lessons would be normally, and he's not the only one having to do it - everyone in his class (and classmates from other schools) have been set remote work to do.

I am facilitating their learning by giving them a space to work in, the materials they need to do it and support and encouragement if they need it.

YY, exactly this.

I have DS1 9/ y4 (ASD, dyslexia, dyspraxia) and DS2 7/y2 (possibly dyslexic?)
They need hands on "schooling" to get anything done. Fortunately being an ex-teacher who left a few years ago because they needed more of my time and energy than teaching spared me, I can deliver that.

I'm going off piste from the work set by school as it's a struggle with resourcing, and I'm balancing the curriculum with their interests. Trying to be rigid wouldn't get us far with the children I have.

As long as they're going back to school with well-used, active brains and keeping up on their learning skills, I'm happy.

If you're balancing parenting and working, that's a major challenge, but just caring about education and showing a work ethic is a big leg up in life to begin with.
However, just viewing this as a giant holiday with no type of learning going on (reading, informative TV etc) will do children a disservice on a return to school. It will be a big adjustment anyway, and gaps will be exacerbated between the self-motivated and those that lack support. Schools don't have the resources to magically catch everyone up.

Hopefully the curriculum will be adjusted to take account of the impact of this disruption, but I'm not holding my breath! For my y2 that's not so bad as SATs haven't happened and there is lots of time before the next formal assessment points. For my y4, y5 is a foundation to ease pressure in y6. If all that is going to be condensed because of the loss of a significant chunk of y4, that puts pressure on him further down the line. While I think SATs are just a stick to beat teachers with, I do care about the pressure of the curriculum on children (indeed it was that for y2 that triggered much of our SEN investigations).

Reception aged child, I am doing a little
Year 2 child I am doing a bit more

I am also WFH (3 days per week) and looking after a disabled 2yo.

DP is a keyworker.

Some days I feel as though I am doing OK, other days I feel like I am failing in every area.

Former home edders here, kids went to school last year. So busman's holiday for us 😂

We have a yr 5 and a yr 3. Year 3 has a very proactive teacher, detailed emails each morning referring to the weekly timetable etc. Yr 5...not so much. Very nice chap much loved by all, but much more general emails offering help or support.

Luckily we're well used to it so have been fine. Each child does a white rose maths per day, which is about half an hour. Then some spelling work, times tables, and project work. Probably about 2 hours per day spread out? We read every day anyway, they do stuff on the computer too etc.

I created my Yr 5 Dd a timetable with various links to educational resources and emailed it to her chromebook. I don't necessarily expect her to do all the tasks but it helps her keep busy and know where to look for an activity whilst I'm working from home

Some of the activities I've included for the week:
Compulsory
School set work - takes about an hour
30 mins reading a day
15 mins Time tables rockstar

Optional
Kids touch typing course - useful skill to have.
A recipe a day to independently make the two of us lunch - easy things like wraps etc
Junior 10 week marine biology course - run by six senses in Malaysia
David Walliams elevenses.
BBC bitesize daily classes.
Children's writing masterclasses
Children's poetry website, listen, learn, perform and write your own.
Links to maths and English online games.
Live Safari - beyond earth, first 45 minutes is childrens questions do they can email in yo the game keeper as they drive around the safari park.

She's interspersing these with chatting to her friends on Skype and roblox and playing in the garden.

That makes me tired just reading it!
OK we did half an hour reading with DD this morning but that was three pages plus refusing, screaming and hiding under the table.

My dd’s school wants things completely and sending in online . I’m not going to just ignore it !

@drspouse how old is dd ?

I'm not teaching them anything myself but we have been sent worksheets from school and maths textbooks etc. We have to do a certain amount over 14 days. So I break it down and do a set amount each day. They are 6 and 9. My eldest hates it and has no motivation whatsoever

We are - DD1 has an online learning system the school have set up that she's doing - plus reading journals and I'm doing scout badgework and craft stuff on an afternoon... DD2 has minimal set from school so we're trying to do a bit of Maths and English each day with her, plus reading. DD2 if she slips back will never catch up with her peers and she was just about holding her own before all of this happened so I don't dare let up the progress she's been making right now.

Tried a period of just letting them relax and play and they weren't coping - they need structure and something to do or mine just end up brawling on the stairs. We get through the summer holidays by lots of trips out to the park and going to grandparents which obviously we can't do at the moment.

Ds is in year three and we're doing a structured day. He's much happier with some structure and I prefer routine so it's working for us. We're doing the online learning school has set, the topic work they've sent and started a bit of bbc bitesize. The rest of the time we're doing fun subjects led by DS, so hes choosing things he wants to learn within each subject and I'm getting the resources from Twinkl. Hes chosen to learn about the Anazon for geography, we've done PowerPoints for ICT etc. We're having plenty of fun and I think it helps to keep the weekends feeling different.

No we are not and this is due to a number of reasons however my child is still learning but at a much less stressful rate and more expanding learning around her interests. I've also steered clear of the class whatsapp groups which have become more of a competition of how much learning parents can cram into their children. I'm enjoying the quality time with my child and her happiness and wellbeing comes first.

@drspouse I don't make her do anything that wasn't set by school. But I found after the first couple of weeks where we just went with the flow Dd was coming to me looking for entertaining alot whingeing the dreaded "I'm bored" and as a single parent working from home that was a bit of a nightmare. Now she knows if she's bored she can look at her timetable to find something to do and that structure has made the day alot more enjoyable for both of us.

Really struggling. I have the time just not a child who wants to do it. I feel a failure especially when I read on here that one child is doing so much as well as becoming a chess master.

@Chillicheese123 5, she's in Y1. She can read, she just prefers to resist anything involving concentrating.

@HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime my DD has had nothing appropriate set by school but we have loads for her to do at home. I'm not creating loads of extra suggestions for her even if they are "watch an educational programme". I have work to do as well and it's time consuming enough doing the work/play that she needs me for.

@yellowbluebell my DS is a reluctant learner and would happily play chess or another board game for hours but it's mainly him cheating... we have a "task then game" structure so he knows someone will play a game with him (or whatever it is your learner would rather do) once he's done his task.

I have a 12 & 9 year old both on different learning platforms as two different schools they are getting sent about 4 hours work each a day, the eldest is all online the younger one some has to be written in a notebook and sent to the teacher daily she is marking and sending comments everyday. Covering most subjects.

I’m not doing anything. Her teachers are teaching a full timetable remotely.

We’re doing stuff like gardening and cooking together but that’s not home schooling IMO, just stuff we like doing together!

Yes. We start about 9:30 work till about 11am and in this slot they clear the work which they find most challenging. We have a break which usually involves them playing in the garden. We work from 11:30 - 12:30 ish then have a leisurely lunch followed by another half an hour of something really easy like the iPlayer bitesize class and I throw the towel in about 2pm.

Yes I'm home schooling ds 6. The school set daily work on there website and we do that between 9-12. We also do a bit of reading and exercise every day. In the afternoon ds can do as he wishes. We also generally go on a small bike ride in the afternoon. I'm knackered by the end of the day. Ds is enjoying home schooling as it's not too pressured and he enjoys learning.

We're doing as much as possible of the work provided by school which includes -

Weekly spellings
Small maths test - 10 questions
English topic - this is spread over the week, so if he misses a day the next won't make sense really!
Maths - either a couple of pages out of his CGP workbooks or the school are using an online resource so set work from that
Another subject - so today was french, yesterday Science etc

They also post links to TT rockstars ( inc a time to challenge the teacher) and some sort of exercise ( PE with Joe)

DS does most of it, I expect him to do all Maths/English. Sometimes he doesn't do the extra subject - instead we'll bake, go out for a walk, or he might find an online quiz. He's yr 6 and has some additional needs, so I feel it's important he keeps up with his work as much as possible. He had major health issues in yr 2 & 3 and missed a lot of school so I'm anxious he doesn't fall behind too much this time.

I am off work though, and he's the only child in the house studying so he's lucky to have my help and full use of the laptop etc

It will be much harder for those wfh or with several DC of different ages.

I am. We have assignments set everyday by school which she completes by lunchtime. Then we have some free play. She then does a few exercises on Maths Factor (thanks Carole Vordeman) and a world geography quiz or a Ted ed video. Then when can do whatever she wants. It's working well. She's happy and motivated.
My 4 year old is mostly playing, but he's also doing exercises on Maths Factor, some very basic writing and I'm trying to reach him to read. That's my goal. But overall it's play.
My 2 year old is doing jigsaws, she's loving them, and lots of painting.
Then I pack them off to bed by 7 so I can drink wine and watch sh*t on Netflix.

If you have kids in year 4-8 or so it's possible to set them projects and let them pace themselves, that's what I did when I was an accidental honeschooler. Younger kids literacy and numeracy is the key, with lots of play, older kids are better off using online teaching resources