To expect my year 7 and year 10 children to motivate themselves to do their school work....

[Dickorydockwhatthe]

I'm losing the will to live here. My ds in year 10 does have SEN but he also has a lazy attitude 😤. Work is being uploaded onto the school website and it is a faff trying to download it and find relevant resources to download etc as can't really afford to print pages of it. But they just look at me clueless and I have to sit down with them go over what they need to do and almost spoongeed the information it's so painful. I'm mainly worried about ds in year 10 as he struggle massively in school and has coursework to completed, which we had to find online by accessing Google classroom. We have laptop which is slow and dh is using the desktop for work. Ipad is too old and lagging everything feels an effort to be fair just to set things up! Anyone else feel like this? I've broke stuff down and given smaller tasks but even then it needs to be supervised.

My kids are younger than yours but I can sympathise as my son is exactly the same. His whole school life so far has been a battle as he wants to do the bare minimum, gets no pleasure from producing work and doesn't feel proud when he's done it.
He has also been expecting me to spoonfeed him the answers and just keeps saying he doesn't know even though I know he does. He also has mild sen.
At first it was really getting to me. I've since spoken to his teacher and explained how hard the situation is for us and I feel more at ease now that if something doesn't get done then tough. I'm sure that there are many who are doing nothing at all

I have twin year 7s and it's almost broken me, trying to get them to do 90 minutes a day. I don't think that's a massive ask but you'd think I was asking them to climb Everest.

I am implementing a "you get 30 minutes after you wake up to do whatever (I wake them about 8.30am), then they come down and have breakfast and then we do the schoolwork. It's like pulling bloody teeth. They claim not to know what the work they've been set is, we genuinely don't have some of the computer programs needed, my laptop is older than David Attenborough, plus they are now REALLY fed up and feeling very hemmed - in and frustrated.

They do understand why we are in lock down but are, as am I, very lethargic these days and unmotivated.

I have told the school that I'm doing my best, they'll do as much as I can get them to do which will in no way be all of the work set. I said that I will keep them in the routine of reading, writing etc but in the same way a teacher could not walk into my job and do it to max effect in a day, I can't do theirs either.

The response was positive, they appreciated what I was saying and said, "we'll get them all back to where they need to be once they're back".

I'm not going to drive us all insane and cause screaming rows over schoolwork. We will do as much as we can and then we watch a film on Netflix or play a board game as a family when my husband gets home.

year 10 in particular is old enough to understand what's going on in the world with 1984 etc

I couldn't be arsed getting an education in that spot either.

I've frankly been stunned by my year 10 child. Worked 9-3.30 on schoolwork every day with no pushing. I had to check its the right kid.

My Y9 dd has been really good with getting the set work done each day. My Y6 dd has been harder work and needs more pushing and help. I’m not always here to push the work as I’m still working outside the home so they are left with their older sister but so long as she gets some done I’m happy.

ds in year 10 does have SEN

My ASD/ADHD DS has to be spoon fed. It’s very frustrating. Im imagining how the teachers feel dealing with him 5 days a week

It's so painful isn't it. It doesn't help when you don't have all the resources to hand or can't access all the programs 😭

Mine have zero motivation. I have said they can work hard in the morning and finish at 1 but they dont even like that idea. 3 hours to do 5 geography questions. FML

Lack of focus is a symptom of this horrible weird time. I'm trying to work on my dissertation and I'm struggling to focus on anything for long. As long as they do a bit each day I wouldn't worry too much.

I have 3 kids, they're in yr 10,yr7 and yr3. The yr 10 child has been in her element working online. She has done extremely well since lockdown. Turns out she actually enjoys learning this way and her work has been used as an example online for several subjects.
Yr 3 child finishes her subjects in 2 hrs and just reads rest of the day or practices keyboard.
Yr 7 child is killing me veeery slowly. Everything is an uphill struggle. She has yet to start at 9. I've printed all her work, found all the online resources but she's just not interested. If she does work it's all rushed, she's 2-3 weeks behind the timetable,everytime this is mentioned we have tears. I've drawn up timetables,bullet lists etc in the hope of she can see her deadlines it might prompt her. Yet she has a good cry everyday at the fact that she can't catch up. She doesn't work more than 2-2.5 hrs.
She can't work on her own, she has to read every question to you and constantly needing attention,yet at school she's in top sets for all her subjects. I've tried everything with this child and I've gone to bed in tears worrying about her future. She's nothing like the other 2, who just get on with schoolwork.
If anyone has any solutions please share.

OP, I think YANBU from your title. You should expect them to do it; it's for them. If you are spoonfeeding, then of course they prefer this!

I know technology can be a faff. Our whole system crashed when all pupils tried to log on at once the first day schools were shut. But the work should be designed for them to do independently, based on what they already know. If it looks to teachers like they are, it'll won't be obvious they need to make it simpler.

As such, just let them get on remotely as far as you can. You shouldn't have to actively teach them anything (although I've learned on here some schools are unfairly expecting this).

She can't work on her own, she has to read every question to you and constantly needing attention,yet at school she's in top sets for all her subjects.

She won't be getting step-by-step, one-to-one attention in class. Of course it's a different scenario and she might well be struggling with the whole situation right now, but it sounds like normally she doesn't actually need this. Possibly controversial, or difficult, like letting a baby cry, but can she really not be left to it? Encourage her to read a task at a time and its explanations or resources aloud, and write the question down to focus her.

Secondary teacher here, just to say we know people are not teachers and that they are doing their best. We also know that that looks different for different students and families.

Do ask for help also, including with breaking work down, and make sure you know what help the school is offering and when. For example, we have live online help every day so students can get immediate answers to any questions. Also do say if you can't access anything. I know we added PDF versions and physical paper packs for some students, for example.

Finally, school will be there in person to help as soon as it is safe, and we know there will be gaps to fill. You are doing everything you can, and we are and will when we get them back too.

That you Everyday for your reassurance 😊 I definitely have a new admiration fro secondary school teachers🙌