Classroom Lessons via Zoom

[jjx111]

AIBU to expect the teachers at my daughter’s rs primary school to offer at least some lessons via Zoom? The feedback I have been given is that that they aren’t offering it due to a) safeguarding issues, and b) it would add to the teachers workload. Well, surely if we parents consent for our child to sign in for these lessons then no safeguarding issue. Plus, at present, we parents are doing at least 60% of the teachers work for them via homeschooling. (I appreciate that they are setting work for the children, but this is part of the planning they would do anyway).

I don't need a degree to educate my pre school/young children.

Yet it’s a skilled job that people train for years to do. Why’s that then if it’s so straightforward?

The other thing you need for it is time. I have my own demanding job that I have to deliver on, plus a toddler. Getting up to speed on phonics just isn’t an option for me at the minute.

I presume it’s a skilled job, that’s certainly what teachers have been stressing for years

Look either it is or it isn’t. For the record I believe it is.

@emilybrontescorsett there's nothing HARD about teaching A 5 year old...but it does get more challenging when you try to teach 25 of them,(let's not even add in the fact that they are of varying abilities etc etc)!!
I can also say that most parents are not "teaching" (as in embedding knowledge and/or skills) they are simply assisting or overseeing work or worksheets being done! There's a huge difference!

I presume it’s a skilled job, that’s certainly what teachers have been stressing for years

Look either it is or it isn’t. For the record I believe it is

Look at that first sentence.

I didn't mean to come across negatively.
My initial post was really wondering why do many parents of young children are moaning.
I understand the frustration with older children because as a parent I simply could not teach say, GCSE Spanish and teaching that remotely must be a nightmare.
What I was trying to get across was my surprise at the monument of parents who don't do that much with the children.
I thought, maybe wrongly, that it was my job to teach my children who to write and recognise their own name BEFORE they started school. Just as it was my job to toilet train my children and not expect someone else to do it.
I know teaching is a hard job.
I'm seriously glad I don't work in schools anymore.
Apologies if my post came across wrongly.

Typos.

@emilybrontescorsett what role did you have in a school?

@emilybrontescorsett
@LaurieMarlow has it right. You need time to teach a child. Teachers train to be able to teach 30 of them effectively at once. Parents may have full time jobs and multiple children. They haven't trained to teach several of them at once, in a short space of time. Almost all parents should be capable of doing a bit, especially reading. They should also be key in teaching life skills.

I agree with you that what you are doing with your son is sufficient and is an education. But some people are really struggling for the time to do this. They might not have the skill or resources to set up learning experiences that the child can access independently while they work. Teachers do have the skill and resources, which is why they can facilitate the learning of 30 children at once.

@emilybrontescorsett

I think your previous posts did come across quite dismissive. Thanks for your more recent one, and I do agree with you.

I actually find it surprising how many primary parents think that the national curriculum is the only form of worthwhile education. There is so much education outside school - cooking, gardening, cleaning, conversation, bike riding... All of which are only touched on in the curriculum but I feel amthey are more important than correctly punctuated fronted adverbials.

Ps. I'm aware this is way off topic and actually irrelevant to the zoom lessons debate. Sorry!

I actually find it surprising how many primary parents think that the national curriculum is the only form of worthwhile education. There is so much education outside school - cooking, gardening, cleaning, conversation, bike riding

Actually I don’t think that’s true. There is a huge amount of this stuff going on. People do see its value.

However, what parents are worried about, are their children falling behind in the curriculum. That’s compounded by some schools delivering much better than others and some parents having more time to devote to this than others.

They don’t want their child to disproportionately fall behind because of circumstance beyond their control. I think a lot of the strong feelings are coming from that fear.

@lauriemarlow

Completely fair - maybe I've misread comments of others. It's not easy to know that others are getting better provision and that there is little you can do to change that. Most parents I know in the real world rightly just want the best for their child, and know that their child isn't necessarily getting the best at the moment.

@emilybrontescorsette

Subject knowledge and pedagogy are very different.

We’re also not all teaching 5 year olds. I don’t know why you’ve obsessed on that age. Once you get to year 3 the issue of how to hold a pen has long since passed.

Ha, someone tell my year3 - if we can fix her awkward pen hold in lockdown I'll feel we've done a good job. (Sorry, not relevant to anything just hit a nerve...)