AIBU to make kids do some schoolwork daily till school starts?

[Honesttodog]

Both at private schools and have done nothing since the end of term. I have avoided fighting and let them have screens during the day. Mixed with a bit of sport and reading. No clubs. The odd playdate. I am scared about them going back and struggling. But everything is a battle and I am already sick of being at home with them, do I really want to fight to make them do work they haven’t really been asked to do? Both are deeply average academically, one weak in maths one weak in English but decent allrounders, good team players, polite and they try hard and get good extra curricular results.

I'm not. It's summer holidays. I wouldn't worry. The schools will have things in place if they see a child struggling. Summer is for chilling out and having fun.

I'm doing a bit with mine. They've had no consistency for months and I worry going back will be another shock. Just 20 mins of spellings and 20 mins of basic maths most days. I wouldn't usually but feel like they need to keep ticking over this time.

How old are they?

I have a year 10 ds
He has been doing four hours a day ( Mon- Fri) for the past month

It’s their summer holidays. Would you work through your holidays? Just let them relax.

I do. They get behind over the summer otherwise. And seeing as they've not been to school since March then doing some work over the holidays won't kill them.

This seems mean. Surely there’s a reason for the long school holidays? Don’t kids need that break from education?

I am quite tired of parents having no interest in their children's mental health and constantly loading them with learning. There are so many ways to engage your children in finding out about the world without imposing a curriculum on them.
Summer is for having fun and exploring the world.

They get behind over the summer otherwise.

How do they get behind with their school-work when no work is being set?

How old are they?

If primary age, just get them reading and doing a bit of times tables chanting and you’re set. You can do stuff that will benefit them educationally without making them do actual schoolwork.

You know your own children best, if you think they'll benefit why not but make your own choice and be happy with it. Don't do what's wrong for you just because other families do it differently.

How do they get behind with their school-work when no work is being set

Kids do slip back over the summer if they do no school work over that time. And the school give guidance on what to do.

Mine do about 45 min per day, mainly maths, spelling, grammar, reading. I’m not going to let them fall behind after all the work we’ve done during lockdown and their teachers working all hours to provide a full curriculum

Summer is for having fun and exploring the world.

You can do both you know. Have fun and do work. It doesn't have to be one or the other. But you don't need to be tired on behalf of other people's kids. You don't want your kids to do work then don't do it 🤷‍♂️

@welcometohell

They get behind over the summer otherwise.

How do they get behind with their school-work when no work is being set?

It’s quite normal for children to come back to school in Autumn behind where they were themselves at the end of Summer. That effect is going to be even bigger this year for some children considering the disruption, so if some parents want to make sure their children don’t lose what they had so that they can go forward the best they can when they get back to school, then good on them.

I am quite tired of parents having no interest in their children's mental health and constantly loading them with learning.
Its not all or nothing - you can do both! If a sensible amount of schoolwork impacts on your child’s mental health, you have a bugger problem i’m afraid!

This year has been a shit show for everyone.
Now is the time that kids should be eating too much chocolate, getting too much sun, splashing in the sea and getting sand in every crook and crevice they have.
When school starts back up they'll be working hard too catch up. Let em have some ice cream, marshmallows and skittles and too much TV for a few weeks.

When school starts back up they'll be working hard too catch up. Let em have some ice cream, marshmallows and skittles and too much TV for a few weeks.

Enjoy. Mine have been working to avoid the stress of having to work hard to catch up. It doesn't suit them. But no doubt there will be a mixture of both on the return to school. I'm sure the schools are expecting it.

It’s the summer holidays

How old are they? Because up to a certain age you can easily help them brush up on their maths and English in a fun way. I wouldn’t be forcing my secondary school age kids to swat in the school holidays though.

I don’t know, we’ve been cooped up for so long trying to homeschool I feel we all need a break.

We’ve been away and we’ve done abseiling, climbing, lots of chatting, playing cards, visited a castle and talked about history...

I think kids can learn lots from talking and spending time with you. I just cant face sitting down and doing hours of maths and English like we were doing in lockdown...

I’ll keep up with a bit of times tables practice and lots of reading. But sitting down for hours? No.

Depends on the age. I’m making my senior school ones do a bit.

We've been doing a bit if there's no particular plans for the day. Probably about three days out of seven. Reception and y1 here

I go back to my final year of university in august. I've started studying too with just an hour an a half today 10 days before. So has my sister. A little bit here and there does add up.

Mine are nearly 12 and nearly 9. 9yo has done a tiny bit but won’t practice creative writing which is what he needs to do. 12yo DDis pretty nervous about going into senior school so hard to broach schoolwork without screaming and tears. This is because of the way the year ended. I expect she’d say it’s not fair if I ask her to revise maths etc... but she really needs to! Might chat to her tmw anyway and will stand well back for preteen fireworks...