Well it's real now. DS's school (in the US) cancelled until September.

[fernsandfeathers]

Got the email this morning. I'm in the States. Feel sad, ds has had health issues so had only done 4 months of kindergarten since September.

5 more months of homeschooling. Good grief.

I haven't told him yet, he's going to be upset, he's so lonely. What strange times we're living in.

Anyone else had school cancelled for the rest of the year?

My DD was at boarding school in upstate New York and they were told weeks ago that they weren't coming back this academic year. The school year would finish by 6th June, and it is pretty clear that things won't be back to normal there anytime soon.
The local day schools there (and here in my part of Canada) have not officially been told that there won;t be physical school, but I don't think that anyone really believes that there will be....

Op I’m treating this the same as you in that I’m doing less time each day over a long period. So for me I’m not going to act like my son is on his Easter or summer holidays. I’m going to keep doing bitesize amounts of English and maths each day with lots of play interspersed.

Our schools are cancelled til mid August at the moment in scotland

No they aren’t. This statement hasn’t been made. We are still on a “wait and see” timeline.

5 more months of homeschooling

When was term going to end? Were you always going to homeschool over the summer holidays?

They could quite easily decide just to scrap the entire school year and start again in August in Scotland and early September in England and Wales

THAT is not going to happen.

Apart from that, no one knows. The Daily Mail is the best one, with articles about going back after Easter to articles about going back next January

I do wish my kids would go back in June July at least, for their own sake but I am equally worried they go back too soon.

Let's watch the number and hope we can all go back as normal as quickly as possible.

@fernsandfeathers

Well mid June still isn't 5 months....

You don't have to homeschool all the way until September....

I do think you should just chill but the single most important thing you can do to help a child read is reading to them.

I'm in Scotland and a colleague of mine told me that the schools would be going back in August when it was first announced and I couldn't quite believe it but it was on the basis of Nicola Sturgeon's assertion that there was no guarantee that they would go back before the summer holidays.

My DH is in the vulnerable category so I'm not expecting them to go back till then anyway now as that's roughly how long his 12 week confinement it going to last.

I'm okay with them being off over summer as they usually are as I'm hoping DD9 will be able to go back to her childminders but as ever it's just so unknown how it's going to pan out.

You mustn't expect that all the other children will have kept on working and will be ahead of your DS.

Every summer children forget a lot of what they have learnt.

This year going back to school is going to be quite something - teachers will have to manage

1. children that have kept on working and progressing (for whatever reason)

2. Those who have done a little but of work but a bit slapdash and probably related to what the DC prefers doing (my 5 year old loves maths and numbers but hates writing and colouring in. Guess what he does most atm? (

3. finally those children who will not have done any work at all for weeks (again for whatever reason, no judgement here).

It's all new for everyone.

@00100001 as I've already said, ds has already missed a lot of school and will miss more in the future so he's already behind.

DS is immunodeficient too so I'm extra careful about keeping him home, if the virus is still kicking around he'll stay off.

And our headmaster just said he thinks we'll be off until October. Bit of a silly thing to say really, it's just kicked the hornet's best!

Some European countries and Australia, I think, don’t let kids start til they’re 6 anyway. I recall reading how well Finnish kids do, no state testing either.

@fernsandfeathers if you’re on Facebook, search Boredteachers. Tons of resources on there, it’s an American site.

@Cherrysoup thanks!

I think you ought to ask MNHQ to amend your thread title to 'American schools', OP. It nearly gave me a heart attack.

According to these guide,s it is equivalent to Year 1

www.free-for-kids.com/uk-us-education-systems.shtml

www.educationista.com/article/equivalent-uk-school-years/

Yeah I don't think in the UK there is an official word yet.

Hi
Where did you hear this from? I'm from London and they are thinking about reopening schools after Easter holidays!!! Don't know how true that is as it's only speculation.

I think it is sad for young children, especially those without siblings to play with. Are you British but living in the US fernsandfeathers? If you want to carry on helping your DS learn to read there are loads of great websites. If you want him to use phonics, Teach Your Monster to Read is great as is Phonics Bug and Phonics Play.

My younger DC loved teach your monster to read it follows letters and sounds ( that a lot of UK schools use.) She worked through it at her own pace and was a competent reader by the end of YR/beginning Y1. With my older DC I did very little except play and talk with her ( also did that with youngest!), she did fine too but took a bit longer to pick up reading.

As a pp said though the main thing is to read to your children as often as possible, this is great for their development. Being able to read does wonders for children’s confidence and self esteem as long as it isn’t pushed too much.

Anyone else had school cancelled for the rest of the year?

No. But we know it's coming.

Sorry, just to add that Im not in the UK and two neighbouring countries have already said 'schools already out for summer'.

Schools here also closed long before they did in the UK.

I am in the UAE and the Ministry of Education announced last week that schools are officially closed until September. We have been doing online schooling for the past three weeks now and my two primary DS hate it

These threads seem to get so wierd and mean - mumsnetters have no sympathy for parents who miss school/ who are sad their kids can't see their friends - 'just let them play' 'just enjoy hanging out with them'.

My children 5 and 7 really really miss their friends and their life / both school and social life. My 7 yr old in particular is at an age where peers are hugely important - he is truly sad on a deep level.

Children evolved to learn through play - with others! mum is ncie and all but other kids are vital.

This is a time of grief for parents and children - except on mumsnet where apparently it's completely ludicrous to even think about children other than just to be grateful you get to spend all day with them

The weather is stunning, if you have a garden do lots of painting, mess with some sand and water and let your child decide.

No word yet here in N.I.
I know it’s not high on the list for concern given the circumstances but next year is DS GCSE year and they’ll all be so far behind.
I’m presuming some sort of provision will be put in place.
DS school closed mid March, with the end of year being June.
The new school year is due to start again at the end of Aug.
Even if it’s 5 months off it’s going to be difficult getting them motivated again.

@BlackandWhiteCat0

Our schools are cancelled til mid August at the moment in scotland

That's interesting. I spoke to the headteacher of our primary just yesterday and she didn't have a clue when they will be going back. Where did you hear this?