To stop doing school work?

[Cocacola12]

Really, really struggling.
Eldest 2 are in p1 and p2 (in Scotland) so equiv to reception and yr1.
Baby who doesn’t sleep and just wants to be attached to me all day and night.
Husband still working all day and night.
We had been doing OK on the school work front since the beginning of lockdown (maybe 1 hour a day) but for the past week I just have no motivation to have arguments with them to do even the bare minimum. My eldest really struggles and I feel like I’m not helping him at all as we both get so frustrated trying to do things. My youngest is so stubborn that she won’t entertain doing anything if she doesn’t want to.
I’m so fed up and tired now. The slightest things are making me angry and shouty. School work on top is just feeling unmanageable when we’re barely getting by-
The school what’s app chat are full of parents saying they are struggling but “managing only 2 hours or so” as it that’s not a lot? I feel like I’m failing them but I’m just so tired and don’t know what to do.
Aibu to just stop doing school work?
Will my kids end up being so far behind?

I'd chat to the school, explain your position. Ask them to give you work to prioritise and sack off the rest. Your mental health is as important as the kids education, especially as they are only at the very beginning of their education.
Oh and leave the WhatsApp group

Leave the WhatsApp group and don't worry about it.
They will absolutely not be behind and your and their mental health is so much more important.
They're so little, enjoy playing together, you're doing great x

It's hard, especially as they're so young. You're not a primary school teacher (I'm guessing) and teaching really is a hard job, particularly your own children. As PPs said, speak to the school to find out the essentials.

One thing I found hard was the attitude of my dd (also P2) at the start. If you think about it, it's really common for teachers at parent/teacher meetings to describe your child in ways that you would never recognise. All kids have a 'home' persona and a 'school' persona. I've tried to tap into that, and whenever the whines or indignation start up I say 'would you speak to Miss X like that? This is school right now, so if you wouldn't say it there you don't say it here'. It seems to work pretty well.

The other thing I've found is turning round questions - get them to lead the learning. If they ask something say 'what do you think it might be?'. If they still don't know try to get them to say what they're not understanding. Also, stickers are a great motivator at this age. They get them in school (at least dd does), so I try and 'reward' effort and good work in the same way here.

Good luck. It's not easy.

Mute the WhatsApp group or leave, it's only making you feel worse. For every child who's doing 2 hours a day there'll be others doing nothing or bare minimum.

A teacher friend told me to make sure they read, practise phonics/times tables depending on age & spellings. Anything else is a bonus.

DD likes to eat the biggest banana so I get her to weigh them & write down the weights, so that's maths done weighing out ingredients for cakes counts too!

A friend with a reception age child was told to watch the Robin Hood film!

Be kind to yourself, this is so hard & no one is learning if everyone is stressed.

I signed up to the maths factor, it's free at the moment & tailored to the right age/year group & DD likes doing those activities on her own.

As a primary teacher & parent - step away from home schooling & cut all of you some slack. P1 & p2 in Scotland will still be doing a lot of learning through play - I promise they will still be learning lots! If you get the chance to read with them some days, great but if you don't it's not a disaster. Speak to the school & ask for some activity ideas that you could do with them that they can play independently. I've attached a couple of ideas - not amazing, some easier than others so pick & choose what works for you & your family.

We've downed tools, my dad passed away last week so understandable but after a month or so of doing quite a lot I just couldn't take it anymore. They did some good work but the effort was huge and even though there was 1 of me and 2 of them they still needed more attention. They were always distracting each other so my eldest doing the reception work and my younger one wanting to do the y2 work and I was spending hours printing stuff off.

Of course from the outside what you'd see is a crammed full learning journal.

Now we're just doing any old thing. Bitesize on the TV is quite good. That's all we've done today, watched one episode and I read them a chapter of a story I'm not sure they were listening to.

Have a look at the Romesh Ranganathan message going around Facebook, he used to be a teacher himself and it cheered me up.

In reality term 6 seems to be messing about time so we've just brought it forward and if they go back in school for a few weeks to do something useful then nice one.

@Musicalmistress thank you for those attachments, very helpful. Today we watched a film and did some jo wicks so I’m happy with that!
@boylovesmeerkats condolences to you and your family, take care x

Just to echo what other people are saying. With younger children in particular so much learning can be done away from paper and pencils! Without knowing each family's circumstances, schools are trying to meet the needs of as many people as they can. Worksheets might be what they have sent but it doesn't end there!!

Stories - where they read to you, you read to them, listen to them (audible has free childrens books online at the mo), watch films, talk about the stories - it won't seem like work but it is invaluable. I liked this character because... who did you like?... etc etc. You could get small objects in a bag that they pick out a fewtime and use them to tell a story (like story cubes but without buying something new).

Problem solving activities - can them make a den etc, junk modling, building from lego. Get a washing up bowl and they can find out what materials float / sink, what materials are waterproof and best to make an umbrella out of ... can they predict this? If you google there are lots of science activities that you can do at home that are quick and easy.

Maths can be brought into everything - counting how many (jumps, hops etc) they do, who did more? how many more? what time is it? we will do this in 10 minutes, I need you to remind me - what time will it be then? Even snakes and ladders counts as maths at this age.

Orchard games are great if you have any of them, or can get them online (I say great, I mean educational... they can be soooo tedious when you are an adult but children seem to like them!)

Those days you need some time to yourself, there are plenty of educational apps and online games - Ladybird did some good phonics ones, and Squeebles have some good maths ones.

Cooking, getting them to help pair socks etc. help in the garden... it's all learning at this age.

Every reception class will have a role play areas and 'small world' (cars and figures) for imaginative play - let them lead and use what you have -e.g. an empty kitchen roll = telescope for an astronomer or pirate, a witches broom, a megaphone, a conductor's baton.

I spy games will help phonics - you can use 'ends with' 'contains the sound...' etc.

The main thing is that they don't stop learning all together - but they don't have to be working and it doesn't really matter about the school stuff!

Argh I have realised I have some terrible typos in there - that will teach me not to read it first.

Just stop. At that age it's completely fine not to bother.

If you can sometimes read books together, that's plenty.

Oh, definitely stop, give you all a break!

It's wildly unlikely they'll go back to school before August; unless you plan to homeschool them right through, then what's the huge difference? They're so little that much of what they learn now would have to be learned again after the holidays.

If you do anything just make it quick and fun. Today I asked my kids to write a letter to each other they could keep and read when they were older; made them draw a bar chart, then paint a stone for the local park. That's enough I think; more than that and they get overwhelmed and seem discouraged if they struggle with something.

@Cocacola12 that sounds like a perfect day!

We've stopped most of the homeschooling except a bit of maths. We're both working and simply can't manage it and it's better for my children if I am actually nice to them and listen and play than being grumpy, trying to get them to 'learn'. Since I made this decision there has been a nice flow in our house. The kids come up with elaborate and creative games themselves and everyone is sort of happy. I have decided that this is educational, too. They would never have the time and space to be so creative if they would be in school so I decided that this is the opportunity of their childhood to just chill & play. Should they be behind when schools starts again they won't be the only ones and adjustments will have to be made but if we get there with our mental health not badly impacted we will be able to deal with it then - not now.

I wouldn’t stop it - but definitely change it!
What about cooking (oldest can read the recipe and weigh stuff)?
making a map of your house with labelling the rooms (reception child can do that)?
playing shop with real/play money for maths?