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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Has anyone given up on home schooling?

42 replies

RandomGirl · 10/06/2020 09:39

Just that really, I’m interested to know how much home schooling people are actually doing now. We started off trying to follow all of the work set by the school and now, we’ll, let’s just say that it’s a far more harmonious household.

OP posts:

Keyperfect · 10/06/2020 12:44

@midnightstar66 ah what a shame for you and your DD! Could you let the teacher know what your DD has achieved so that she at least gets acknowledgement for all the work she has done? Would be awful if she gets discouraged by her teachers response.

nobodysdaughter · 10/06/2020 12:47

We gave up half way through lockdown due to my dd8s mental health. We didn't do ANYTHING. But restarted about a month ago, I had to set a timer at first for 10mins just to get her to do ANY of her set work. I gradually increased it and incorporated screenfree "brain breaks". I also had to accept I pretty much had to be present for her the whole way through, as she wouldn't just sit there and get on with it.
Now a few weeks back in and she'll sit for an hour or so and/or complete that days work, and carry on if it's a written piece/she wants to illustrate something.
We break the days maths up by timing 3min and then writing down how many she answered, that way she is competing against her top score, and this seems to keep her motivated.
Anything we don't want understand we watch a quick YouTube video together. Although I'm rapidly reaching the limit of my maths knowledge!
We often fall out, and are often filled with a sense of achievement when we've finished too. It's a bit of a rollercoaster.
The whole thing is really time consuming though, and that's just with one child, and my accepting I can't get on with my own work.

StripyHorse · 10/06/2020 12:53

Midnightstar don't give up..... prove the teacher wrong!!

Sosososotired · 10/06/2020 12:55

DD is doing the basics-writing, maths and spag. Takes her about 1 hour to do. We tried to do all the science, art, history, and themed projects but it was too much and she was overwhelmed. So much happier since she cut down! My 14 year old however is happy to do work, and would rather be up in his room chatting to his mates and getting work done than playing with his siblings.

midnightstar66 · 10/06/2020 12:55

@Keyperfect all the work is done through teams so it's all been submitted. The stuff being left out is mostly the fun things as everything is taking so long due to tech issues. There was a huge emphasis on her not doing her maths but we looked back and only 3 assignments have been missed since the start of lockdown, we've been waiting for printer ink and planned to catch up once it arrived, another was some project work which needed to be submitted on word only and we couldn't get it to work, dd did it alternatively and emailed it instead but obviously wasn't accepted. Part of the problem I guess is that it's a very middle class school where most of the dc have techy/professional parents who have both the equipment and the knowledge to help. We are doing our best with zero knowledge of computers, a barely fit for purpose laptop and a half broken iPhone - I've explained this to the teacher.

listsandbudgets · 10/06/2020 12:57

No but only because both DCs schools are providing good distance learning. I dodn't see DD (14) for hours at a time unless I pop my head round the door. DS (7) needs much more supervision as he'd prefer to spend all day either playing on screens or bouncing on the trampoline. On the other hand once he gets into a task he can become quite absorbed.

AnnaNimmity · 10/06/2020 12:58

Unschooling in my house is minecraft.

tbh unschooling or homeschooling relies on you not working from home full time. It's impossible to do anything if you are working in a paid job 16 hours a day. That's my position. It's shit.

Drivingdownthe101 · 10/06/2020 13:04

I have a 6 and 4 year old and we’ve kept it going as much as possible with a 1 year old and us both working from home to contend with. Literacy work, numeracy work, lots of reading and some project work mainly.
6 year old went back to school last week though and 4 year old goes back on Monday, and I certainly won’t be sorry for a break from it!

Cuppaand2biscuits · 10/06/2020 13:08

I've got children year 2 and year 4. We do a few hours, literally just 1 or 2 hours a day but that is enough to cover the maths and English sent home from school.
We could do more and some days their hearts really aren't in it but we still have a go.
I'm lucky that I enjoy doing the work with them and the school have structured everything really well so it's easy to follow day by day. I'm also lucky that either DH or myself can free ourselves up to sit undisturbed with the children for the 2 hours and do nothing but school work.
I do appreciate that not everyone is in the same position and that not everyone has sit and listen children like we do.

Spied · 10/06/2020 13:10

I ask that my DC 9&10 choose one thing from their learning pack they receive from school on-line to do each day.
The pack is split into days with maybe 4 subjects/activities to complete but if one subject/activity is done then I'm happy.

TriciaH · 10/06/2020 13:15

My son is autistic and has never associated school work with home. We tried for a few weeks but he had constant meltdowns which then lead to shutting down completely for days. I spoke to school who said just to keep him reading. On a good day we do some maths as he enjoys it mainly sums. It's not much but it's better than spending 5 hours with him screaming to get 10 minutes of work. His also got ADHD so it's hard to keep him focused. Now we take his lead.

ginsparkles · 10/06/2020 13:20

Still trying to do everything the school sends. Focusing on the core subjects and leaving the other bits for if we have time/energy/desire. We do a couple of hours in the morning and then an hour or so in the afternoon most days

thethe · 10/06/2020 13:24

Still doing it

Rhianna1980 · 10/06/2020 13:37

No I have not given up.

Fishfingersandwichplease · 10/06/2020 22:56

@Zoemum2006 - thank you xxx

bombaychef · 11/06/2020 00:00

A lot I know have given up

AbsolutePleasure · 11/06/2020 00:12

I haven't given up as it was just a non-starter from the beginning. We're both working full time at home and ds (yr 9) just refused to engage with anything from school.
He is doing more now, through sheer boredom, but just the stuff he likes.
I've been concentrating on getting them more house trained - so laudry, gardening, cooking cleaning etc. - and we try to have a chat about the news during tea which is good for sparking a bit of stealth-learning.
dd should have been doing GCSE's, but school haven't sent her anything that I know of, so she found herself a job and is getting some training with that.

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