How much work are your kids doing?

[Badteacher2020]

Just interested in how much your kids are doing? Mine aren’t coping well so we’re probably doing 2 worksheets a day and some reading but mostly they’ve been playing, bit of drawing and tv.

Are you following a timetable? Are your kids actually doing work or are you teaching them anything?

Thanks

[wowjustwowyes17262]

None really, he’s at school everyday as front line worker, they don’t teach him anything and he either draws or plays out.
I Don’t push anything at home as he is in reception so has plenty of time to catch up

[Mary1935]

Does fortnite count! 😇

[wendz86]

We aren’t doing any in the holidays although both teachers have set fun / creative optional tasks.

During term time reception child gets set a writing / talking challenge, a maths challenge and a creative challenge . She also has a couple of work books the school gave her . I send pics of some of her work over tapestry and teacher comments .

Year 4 child gets a load of tasks set each day including guided reading , English, maths and some kind of topic work . She’s happy to do the workbooks but doesn’t enjoy the guided reading / English so much . We can email work to teacher and she emails back . She is prob doing about 1-2 hours of actual work .

[girlicorne]

Nothing at the minute, their lives are miserable enough without spending the holidays doing school work! Before they broke up DS year 5 was doing about 4 hours a day with me and DD year 7 was having her full timetable via google classrooms 8.40am to 3.45pm so a full school day.

[lorisparkle]

The older two (secondary age) should have been doing loads. 5 subjects a day with about 45 mins work for each lesson plus 30 mins reading. However getting them to do anything is like pulling teeth. It is all online so I can't even withhold internet access! The younger one(year5) is much better. He has done some good work in English and maths in the morning (set by school) then we do something else in the afternoon (science, history, art, etc set be school) or something off the internet, He also has been reading and playing basketball outside everyday,

It is really tough and whilst I maybe helping them it is nothing like teaching.

[MrsJonesAndMe]

The secondary age child has worked diligently from 8:30-1 daily for the 2 weeks till the break. She has said she might work a bit more this week, but not much.

The younger one has done a little bit each day. There's a lot of the work they gave us left to do, so we will keep working Tues-Thurs this week and next week to finish those bits off.

We've also done lots of playing in the garden, baking and cooking and board games as well as Minecraft/Mario/i-pad time. Oh and daily reading every day anyway for both.

[Kuponut]

We've had sod all from one school - just "do a bit of reading with them" and have completely pulled up the drawbridge and cut communication totally - but the other school are apparently setting up something more structured this week (nada yet) but have at least kept communicating with the kids chatting to them on google classroom etc.

At the moment it's all self/parent initiated... we've been hooking a lot of stuff onto the Cub and Beaver "complete at home" badges - so they were learning Makaton and fingerspelling earlier - and then DD1's pootled off to make a video to teach her class to fingerspell as well and upload that - and we've done some stuff on the solar system for one of their badges as well (I'm going to be sewing the fucking things on for hours when they go back).

I'm also shamelessly riding the free offers on the education sites so trying to do a couple of 30 minute sessions of those a day if we do nothing more elaborate and parent-initiated.

Not too worried about DD1 who academics come easier to but worried shitless for DD2 with mild SEN who is academically capable but needs supporting to get there.

Oh yeah and also trying to do my degree in the middle of all of this.

[FooFighter99]

DD8 is refusing to do any work and the more I encourage her the more she refuses

Her headteacher posted a lovely letter on Class Dojo telling us not to worry, don't try and force them and they will all catch up once they're back in school. That definitley made me feel better!

Some of the teachers at her school have posted loads on Dojo, and my nephews school are really good on it too, but DD's class teacher hasnt posted a single thing, no messages, no help NOTHING....

I've downloaded her some activity packs from Twinkl which she'll have a go at when I threaten to throw her iPad away but I am worried she's the only one doing sweet fuck all!

[LoisLittsLover]

We are doing stru tired activities from. 9 til 4 which includes literacy, maths, craft etc. Like @TheEndIsBillNighy said it actually helps as I l'm not constantly trying to think of 'what next". I pick a theme at the weekend and put together some activities based on that. Dd is 5 though, so most of it is fun based eg maths includes baking, weighing, counting passers by etc

[bombaychef]

No much as it's a fight. I've massively restricted switch time and TV as they won't sleep. Trying to keep them in garden as much as possible

[Wejustdontknow]

Ds6 has work set daily via google classroom even through the holidays, today work was to write what you would do if you were the Easter bunny for a day, practice cursive handwriting of the alphabet, a maths worksheet, reading/spellings it’s taken about an hour split through the day with just reading/practicing of spelling left to do. The teachers are great and are uploading daily including a assembly video and story time video.
Ds13 is not having any set at the minute as it’s the holidays but is still doing work on a daily basis as it helps give him things to do through the day, he has finished all the project work he was set before the holidays so is now picking things himself which he thinks will be useful to his learning and is doing around 2 hours a day
I am still at uni as it’s open university and struggling to fit in the time to do my work whilst juggling everything else and keeping two kids entertained through the day 😞

[Mysocalledlifexx]

All my childrens work is online,we have 3 primary school age and we are doing 2-5 hrs mon - fri. Not just now with the hol's but mine have had alot, we just do what we can.i also have a baby so its been crazy busy but id say just do what u can.

[Badteacher2020]

You’ve all made me feel so much better, thank you

[milkcartoncat]

My year 6 is basically doing an hour a day. If that. And will be miles behind where he should have been by September. I cannot just pick up the year 6 curriculum and go with it. I don’t have the knowledge.

My preschooler will be ‘ahead’ of where she would have been academically but probably not socially now. She’s interested in reading and writing and I’m confident she will be reading at a basic level by September and probably adding and subtracting to 10. So not amazing but probably further than she would have been, but it’s easy to teach her those things.

[Stellaris22]

Just doing worksheets which I've printed from Twinkl (lifesaver) and trying to practise and catch up on things she's fallen behind on. School aren't sending anything till after Easter holiday.

But I'm not stressing or doing too much. I'm not a teacher and have no educational qualifications (any parent thinking they can be a teacher overnight is kidding themselves), I don't want to risk teaching things 'wrong' and confusing her (Y2).

[SuperlativeScrubs]

Fuck all now it is Easter.

When school is in we have PurpleMash here. Boy does his "to-do's" and I am catching him up where he was behind in his maths. In May and June. I am going to work to get him ahead so he can go back to school prepared. He doesn't ask for help at school so has thrived with one to one. His handwriting also needs improvement.

The little one is easier. We have just started basic addition and subtraction and writing letters and numbers.

I do a morning with them then the afternoon is ours. It's a big adjustment for us all so my advice to everyone is not to be hard on yourself or them. They have gone from constant structure with qualified teachers to having Mum and Dad teach them at home and not seeing their friends. It is hard for everyone.

[Mintjulia]

DS (11) is doing one piece of homework a day during the Easter holidays to catch up with all the stuff he didn't do in the week before Easter.

We've been sent the work for the first week of next term so I'll try to get him a bit ahead for once.

Hopefully he'll get the idea that being at home isn't a holiday and he'll argue less.

[Natsku]

@Badteacher2020 She's being sent what is supposed to be 4 hours of work each day although it doesn't take that long, I think maybe 3 hours is actually spent working, with lots of little breaks and a longer break at lunch. It's mainly maths and literacy but they're doing a bit of biology too (learning about the respiratory system - very topical right now!) and it sounds like they will be doing some music too as the music teacher has requested they save any plastic eggs from kinder eggs at Easter. She also sets exercise, like run until your breathing gets fast, then walk until it evens out, then run again.

I wouldn't worry that you're not doing enough, this not the time to be worrying over much about education, especially not with younger children.

[DCIRozHuntley]

Mine have done pretty much none but they are young primary school age.

My 8 year old has learnt how to make a spaghetti Bolognese and a lasagne. She's learnt to use an index in an Atlas and has kept a diary.

My 6 year old has enjoyed the Oti Mabuse dancing some days and has been reading us all a bedtime story each night.

My 4 year old has coloured in loads of unicorn pictures and done loads of Lego.

Today they are having a fashion show.

All teaching them stuff but not academic or involving sitting down and working through stuff.

[TheEndIsBillNighy]

Also, I personally find the day goes quicker when we still do work in the morning, even in spite of it being the holidays. Otherwise it feels like I’m constantly having to think of things to “play”, which I’m crap at!

[TheEndIsBillNighy]

My two are in Reception and Year 1; we do an hour of English based work, followed by 30 mins break, then 1 1/2 hours of other subjects, like science (for example, we looked at “materials & their properties” this morning), then a few pages from their Maths workbook. We then play an Orchard Toys game. This took us to midday,

Now, they’ll watch TV, we’ll go for a walk, play outside, they’ll play Kinetic sand etc.

[HebeMumsnet]

Now it's holidays, there's a lot less work coming from school but irritatingly it's all 'build a motte and bailey castle out of cereal boxes' stuff, which I'm sure they think is fun but actually requires more of my participation than the maths worksheets did.

In general though, we did a bit each morning until they got fed up and then left it. I'm figuring we'll catch up on anything we didn't get through by doing the odd worksheet now and again over the holidays. Both schools have sent emails saying 'don't stress about it' though so I don't think they're expecting much handed in. I think it's more to give any keen beans something to do. Some kids really like the structure of it, apparently. (Sadly, mine prefer the structure of reading endless comics and seeing how many times they can run each other's toes over with their scooters before one of them cries.)

This is all primary though. Appreciate it might be a very different picture for secondary kids.

[PaquitaVariation]

None. It’s the holidays. And the whole situation is stressful enough without adding unnecessary school work into the mix.

[Bornfreebutincovidchains]

Older dc works as it is comes in and as and when. Younger!!

We've started a history project... I was thrilled to find those amazing pack. We took older dc to the historical site so obviously we can't do that.
Plodding through the leaning pack on the historical event

Trying to get 5 mins of maths and spelling. Trying to keep her reading.
The thing is, this will all go out on the for such a long time, marathon not sprint... So taking it easy.
We had lovely letter from the school saying all teachers and dc will be in the same school boat and they will have to go back over everything

[Crackerofdoom]

Mine are doing loads. DS has made tea for DH and me, cleaned his room and hung out the washing.

DD1 has loaded the dishwasher, hoovered downstairs and swept the patio.

DD2 has done fuck all l but she is 2 so we let her off.

I will think of the educational benefit of these tasks whilst i drink my tea and come back to you.