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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think a lot of children won't be going back to school?

277 replies

DearLiza · 26/04/2020 10:46

Most people I know, with some exceptions, have been saying how much their primary-school aged children are enjoying being off. I gather they're doing a limited amount of academic work though. It got me thinking, if there is at least one SAHP in the household, maybe some people won't send their children back in when the time comes. What do you think?

OP posts:
FourTeaFallOut · 26/04/2020 14:38

the challenge is knowing which one is right for your DC and when, and knowing if they have actually grasped it and how to help if they haven't

It's not some kind of dark art though. Parents only have their own children to teach, they don't have to bend the knowledge several ways to capture the knowledge base and skills of thirty children.

Umnoway · 26/04/2020 14:39

I enjoy homeschooling to an extent but also recognise the importance of school. I am a qualified teacher but I only teach English to young adults. No experience with primary school kids other than my own nor do I have any experience of teaching other subjects.

They miss their friends and socialising with others in general. I also miss the normality of all talking over dinner about our days, now we don’t have much to say because we all spent the day together!

Annamaria14 · 26/04/2020 14:39

I know from American friends that there is a full curriculum for homeschooling in the states. The children follow a set curriculum from home. They do all of this online in an online school. The parents do not need to develop any resources.

Is this level of curriculum available in the UK? Maybe it needs to be developed. A national curriculum for homeschooling. With onljne resources for every subject

Because there seems to be many parents on here, worried that they would be doing the teaching themselves.

Thesearmsofmine · 26/04/2020 14:41

I don’t think there will be a huge rise in home ed, I think most people will just go back to their normal life.

I do find it patronising when home edders insist that people would struggle to home ed long term because at the moment work is being sent home etc. It isn’t that difficult to get suitable resources and get involved in local home ed groups, particularly at primary age.

Annamaria14 · 26/04/2020 14:47

I also find it interesting that people think that primary teachers know so much more about educating children than everyone else.

To be a primary teacher there are two ways, you can do a three year degree course in Education. The second way is that you can do a degree in anything, completely unrelated to Education, do a one year PGDE certificate, and then you are a qualified primary teacher.

How does that person studying education for one year know more about education than any other people. They don't!

We are all teachers.

Everyone is a teacher. Many parents would be better teachers to their children 1 - 1, then an adult stranger teacher who is teaching 2-30

Quartz2208 · 26/04/2020 14:50

@Annamaria14 I disagree completely.

It is incredibly difficult to balance the parent/teacher relationship because there is emotion involved. I find it easier when I help out at things for my children explaining and teaching others because I am entirely neutral about I want them to do their best but they are not my child.

Education is a vast topic (both my Mum and Uncle have phds in education)

Weregoingonanadventure · 26/04/2020 14:52

@Annamaria14
That is so insulting to every primary teacher.
They are constantly being trained, they have access to resources we dont, they have tried and tested methods which we dont. I wouldn't know what order to teach phonemes in. I wouldn't know what level my kid should be reading/writing at etc. They do.

The list of how they know what they're doing when a lot of parents dont goes on and on. Of course all parents can teach if they have to, but the quality of that teaching could be very very poor.

AlexaShutUp · 26/04/2020 14:52

Is this level of curriculum available in the UK? Maybe it needs to be developed. A national curriculum for homeschooling. With onljne resources for every subject

Personally, I think a national curriculum for home schooling would be a good idea. There is a lot left to chance at the moment, and some home schooled children are probably missing out on a balanced education. However, I think there would be huge resistance to this from the home schooling community, as many of them choose to home school precisely because they want to be free to do education in their own way.

I'm not sure that it would be a great use of resources for the state to develop a whole load of online resources for home schoolers to opt into only if they want to. There is plenty of stuff out there online that parents can find if they want it, and the existing national curriculum provides a framework for those who want it.

CarrieBlue · 26/04/2020 14:54

It’s a PGCE in England, a fair amount of which is spent learning about learning rather than what you reckon works as a parent. But crack on a further belittle a profession, you’re not the first or last that knows you could do better than the teacher at their job.

Abreadsandwich · 26/04/2020 15:00

I agree that while a lot of people are talking about homeschooling, most of us are simply facilitating work that is sourced and set by a qualified teacher. I love spending more time with my kids but I'm under no pretence that I could offer the same quality of education without input from their teachers. (,and I want to go back to work whenever possible to earn some money!)

Original poster
DearLiza · 26/04/2020 15:01

Lucifer! snorts

Thanks everyone, interesting to get different perspectives. What is flexi-schooling then?

OP posts:
DobbinAlong · 26/04/2020 15:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
DearLiza · 26/04/2020 15:04

Also this is a whole other thread, but when do you think offices etc will reopen?

OP posts:
VenusTiger · 26/04/2020 15:05

I'm a SAHM and my son 6 is flourishing being home schooled - his teacher agrees - as he has difficulty focussing for extended periods when it comes to writing anything - I've managed to help him as he's being "taught" 1:1 which really benefits him with his writing. I would love to continue to home school him and both he and DH agree, but - the only reason I won't is because he's an only child - and that's not fair on him as he's very sociable and confident. We've been ttc for over a year now, so not like we've not been trying Sad to help that situation.
He usually finishes all work set for the day by around 1-1:30pm (including morning break and lunch) so there's definitely a lot of time "wasted" faffing in school (for want of a better phrase) i.e. queueing to wash hands, queueing to go to dinner, putting coats away, putting pencils away etc... which we don't have at home and is obviously unavoidable at school (don't want you to think I'm moaning about that).

tinytemper66 · 26/04/2020 15:06

I think for a while schooling as such will be very different from what we are used too, with smaller classes, alternative days etc...this is what I envisage happening.

Annamaria14 · 26/04/2020 15:07

@Weregoingonanadventure I am not being insulting to teachers (I have been a teacher myself in the past).

I am saying that teachers are seen as better than other people in educating children, which is ridiculous. All adults are teachers. Some one doing a one year course in education (pgde or pgce) does not make them a better teacher than you. And I say that, having been a teacher myself.

Everyone is a teacher.

Lardlizard · 26/04/2020 15:10

I think most involved, decent parents can do a better job than teacher that has 29 other kids to deal with, inc some that have serious issues, but I doubt many parents would want to.
Also if you did decided to actually home educate, you could be part of home education groups and hire tutors etc

Annamaria14 · 26/04/2020 15:11

@CarrieBlue I have been a teacher myself, and when I was a teacher, I always said to other teachers - "we are not better than everyone else".

Because there was a certain vibe amongst some teachers that I knew that they were better than other people - resulting in many cases of teachers bullying teaching assistants etc.. I have seen teaching assistants incredibly upset, and teaching assistants crying about being treated like second class citizens in shools.

And I thought how did those teachers get such jumped up superior attitudes about themselves, many of them having only studied one year about education.

It is a profession that needs an overhaul

CarrieBlue · 26/04/2020 15:14

One year of education is far more than no years of education. The profession needs valuing for actually knowing about its stuff.

Devlesko · 26/04/2020 15:15

I think it's important to realise that what parents are doing now is not H.education if they have resources and support from school.

I agree that if kids don't go back to school when they open for all, parents will need to deregister their dc and then they become solely responsible for the education, nothing from the LA at all.

Saything that the law does actually state that parents are responsible for the children's education, it's just that usually this is outsourced to a school.

Goldenbear · 26/04/2020 15:15

I personally would not want anymore online education for my children. The curriculum is going to be very technocratic and I think there is certainly more to learning than this. I have stopped my children using some of the recommended 'free' resources as it is stifling to their creativity, online education is instruction and doesn't require much imagination or challenge them to properly think about things.

Annamaria14 · 26/04/2020 15:17

@CarrieBlue I am pointing out that many primary teachers do not have much more training in education than the average parent.

That any parent on here with a degree in anything could qualify to be a primary teacher in one year.

That is why many parent would be brilliant at giving home schooling at home

Leighwalk · 26/04/2020 15:18

Dear Liza - taken from a school website regarding 'flexi-schooling'-

'Our flexible, personalised approach to learning means that we are in a unique position to be able to support flexi-schooling options at Anonymous CE Primary from September 2019. Flexi-schooling gives children the opportunity to attend school on a part-time basis, combining this with home schooling. We are excited to offer this provision at AP School and look forward to working in partnership with families. If this is something you are interested in, please contact the school to find out more. Mrs. A (headteacher) will be pleased to discuss options with you and explain more about our flexi-schooling offer.

You can download our flexi-schooling policy and parent/carer agreement'
Seems a good balance between home ed and support to learn from primary teachers.

Annamaria14 · 26/04/2020 15:18

@Devlesko what do you think home learning js?

Home learning IS attending an online school with support from teachers online. It was like that already before Coronavirus

Quartz2208 · 26/04/2020 15:19

What about the emotional involvement?

and I think you are discounting a lot of what happens in that one year!

And then you come to secondary