To dread homeschooling

[Johan23]

I’m in Scotland where the schools don’t go back to the 11th, and for a week it will be remote learning (I imagine it will be longer). In the last lockdown my son was still at nursery, so we didn’t have to homeschool.

It was still a freaking nightmare working from home as he wanted our attention all of the time.

Our work is going through a ridiculously busy period, and we are all expected to just “get on with it”. But, I am totally stressing as I really can’t bear to go through all this juggling again.

Lemons1571 Twinkl are an educational resource. Especially helpful for families who don't have tech at home.

I'm not quite sure what you're hoping for.

BogRollBOGOF lock down/not being at school was particularly difficult for lots of children with SEN. That wasn't the school's fault.

My ds has a visual processing disorder. If he had received something like that he wouldn't have been able to access it either, so I would have either talked him through it or typed it out with large font and talked him through it.

Or binned it, and found something more relevant for him to do.

I agree that live lessons aren't the silver bullet that MN seemed to think they were in the spring but, in all honesty, what do you want schools to do realistically with the provision that they have?

My preference would be for a radical overhaul of the curriculum, using key skills like reading, writing and maths and to make learning enjoyable and meaningful for children and teachers alike.

Not sure that that is on the table tbh.

If it’s any help at all...

The last two weeks, I had one child isolating -secondary - and one primary was at home due to his school giving parents the option of remote learning the last week before the holidays.

In March, it was a nightmare for us. They would be sitting at their computers or on their tablets,; I would briefly turn to my own work tasks and inevitably I would hear YouTube or Minecraft or Fortnite. I would shout, threaten to send them to school or I would cajole, promise the world. Rinse and repeat.

But the last week - bliss. The schools have clearly prepared them for remote learning. No arguments, no Minecraft - they were on task. So much, that when I booked a haircut appointment for my eight year old - on Friday at 2:30- he was outraged. “ my timetable says I’m to be on Maths Shed! I can’t go!”

Schools have been working hard to keep the children working. From the moment they returned in September, Google Teams (secondary) and SeeSaw have been constants in their learning.

I feel sooo much more confident this time around. But obviously, I’d prefer them in school!

I dread it too. Our school performed very poorly in the first lockdown, nothing at all until Easter, then Twinkl links and worksheets. And after June halfterm my son's teacher didn't even bother updating the Word doc with the links anymore. What I don't understand is why lessons can't be recorded? Surely it would be better even for primary school kids to see and hear their teacher every day than just completing bl*y worksheets!

"The government suspended the curriculum in March. Schools were not obliged to provide either online education or education to the keyworker children they had on site."

I don't know about you, but I regularly do all kinds of things that the government does not oblige me to do because I think it's the right thing to do!

If I was receiving a salary I'd do something to earn it.

I know most schools did, but some definitely didn't.

And I still can't get over the fact that a few schools' "provision" for KW kids consisted of childcare all day and expecting the parents to cram the lessons in over the weekends and evening?

I was going to come and sympathise OP. I’m a teacher in T4 and desperate to go back in January.

But this has sadly turned into a “teachers are lazy fuckers and deserve to lose their jobs” thread so I’ll leave you all to it.

My daughters school did their best. SeeSaw mainly. I can’t really fault them. But my god it was the worst period of my life so far.

I'm dreading it too. It's just so frickin stressful

Op your not alone, I'm dreading it. I just knew that they were going to close the schools. I don't believe that it will be just a week either.
On the other hand people around me think that they are just trying to have a clear 2 weeks after the New Year not trusting people not to mix. I'm not convinced I'm thinking mid February.

I don’t understand how it has been so woeful in the U.K. I’m in Sydney and we went into lockdown back in March the same week as the U.K. From the first week we had such great provision.
My year 2 boy had a recorded message every morning from his teacher, then tasks posted on Seesaw (which we already used), put into “must do” and “can do”. They did them, then posted them, where the teacher would comment within 20’mins. We had to do so many before lunch and then some in the afternoon.
We also got to record messages on Teams so they could catch up with their friends.

My year 4 boy did similar except on Canvas. He had a zoom class talk every morning, then tasks set and checked daily, and a one on one call with the teacher for a couple of minutes every day.
Teachers were also available on email during the day.

This was all done and arranged in the space of about a week and a half and although we were only closed for about 6 weeks (and had school holidays in there too), I felt that they, and I, could cope if it continued.
Obviously it didn’t anywhere near replace in person learning but it filled the gap really well and was actually quite nice for me to see their weak spots.

I will just say, I also found it pretty stressful because I was also working as was my husband, both from home, but as far as what the school did, I couldn’t fault it.

Ds cannot learn remotely. His school have said that if he self isolates there is nothing they can provide for him. At school he needs 2:1 support and specialist equipment and therapies and I cannot provide that at home. It is also the only respite we get because his needs are too great for anyone but us and school to look after him.

@Ozgirl75

I don’t understand how it has been so woeful in the U.K. I’m in Sydney and we went into lockdown back in March the same week as the U.K. From the first week we had such great provision. My year 2 boy had a recorded message every morning from his teacher, then tasks posted on Seesaw (which we already used), put into “must do” and “can do”. They did them, then posted them, where the teacher would comment within 20’mins. We had to do so many before lunch and then some in the afternoon. We also got to record messages on Teams so they could catch up with their friends.

My year 4 boy did similar except on Canvas. He had a zoom class talk every morning, then tasks set and checked daily, and a one on one call with the teacher for a couple of minutes every day.
Teachers were also available on email during the day.

This was all done and arranged in the space of about a week and a half and although we were only closed for about 6 weeks (and had school holidays in there too), I felt that they, and I, could cope if it continued.
Obviously it didn’t anywhere near replace in person learning but it filled the gap really well and was actually quite nice for me to see their weak spots.

In the uk we had little to no actual communication with the primary school. No person to person contact. Therefore a disconnection with the school and learning grew, gradually, but it built up and up.

2 actual phone calls in 6 months. Worksheets and links uploaded to seesaw on a Monday and some feedback given on Friday afternoons only (inaccessible if parent also working on a Friday afternoon). I think I imploded when after working myself all week from home, DS got all these messages Friday at 4pm - why have you left out 1c 4a and 4b? What why when how but blah blah blah. This was after Id specially told the school we would struggle this particular week with juggling it all but we’d do our best. That was the end for me. Felt like a total failure.

I plan to pay for an online tutor next time. Someone experienced in the content and actually able to teach online.

Don't be too hard on yourself

I'm a teacher and found homeschooling my 2 (well behaved and academic) DDs far harder than 30 5/6 year olds.

For the teachers on this thread saying we are ungrateful. It's not that at all - there was nothing to be grateful for.

Our school completely disengaged. Google schools was and still is for those isolating, a dumping ground of rinse and repeat worksheets which you either have to print off (and not all kids have a printer) or rewrite out, as they were literally scans and you can't do them on screen. They were updated sporadically, and there were no keeping in touch assemblies/calls, nothing.

Working in a very busy job whilst doing this for multiple aged children was horrendous and has affected my mental well being forever. It's incredibly stressful and I sympathise with every parent doing this.

I don't sympathise with a profession who in the main seem to have chosen to drop a gear.

If I dropped a gear on this level in my job I'd have been fired. I would and have been expected to find innovative ways of getting the job done remotely. Not say "zoom is dangerous" - I can't tell you of a single parent who would agree that a video lesson is dangerous, you can bloody control the dangerous aspects and switch of cameras. You can even just do a bloody recording and post it.

Ozgirl75, certain things that seem to have happened to make online learning so poor. Schools were left to get on with it. Many primaries were using software they'd never used before. Not all children have their own devices and not all families have wifi. 3 kids all trying to access Google Classroom on mums phone.
Local authorities were worried about online safety and banned live broadcast, live broadcast is also difficult for children sharing devices, and high school how do children decide which teacher to listen to.

Result teachers were struggling to find links they could use from BBC Bitesize tutorial and worksheets.

I really hope they can at least keep primaries open.

First lockdown the school provided work but my kids wouldn't engage with it. They do well in school, but in the home environment really got stressed, we had a lot of tears, messing about and general stropping. And they both wanted my full attention, all the time. I gave up doing what the school sent and just did the maths/times tables. They both read a lot anyway. Then I made up my own activities which they could both do. Which was slightly better, but they still weren't hugely keen and it took quite a toll on me.

Younger child can't be left 'to get on with it' in any sense, so if they close primaries I have to stop work to look after them.

Older child already missed a lot of this term from self-isolating, and needed a lot of help to access and understand the online learning the school set. Bright kid, but without a teacher actually explaining their subject matter it's hard. We were mostly being sent PowerPoints. Teachers often couldn't be contacted. The couple of zoom sessions we had were so poor sound/picture quality they were a waste of time.

Not blaming the teachers or schools, the teachers I know are run off their feet. If they need to close again then they do. But I won't enjoy it!

I’m
Absolutely dreading it as well. The March lockdown nearly broke me. I’m a single parent with two primary kids who works full time. One of my DC has SEN - he couldn’t cope with the change in routine and became extremely difficult, including violent towards me. He couldn’t engage with online learning at all. He’s had such an amazing term this term and made such progress it really makes me cry on so many levels to think of the schools closing. I cannot afford to drop hours. Genuinely don’t know what I will do - last time I came very close to having a breakdown.

I’m not saying this is anyone’s fault. I can see the argument why they might have to close. I don’t think some people understand how truly horrible it is for some of us though. With the addition of tier 4 restrictions meaning I can’t even really see another adult as I always have kids with me.

I sympathise with of you so much, I could not have coped homeschooling my lot at all. Both DH and I are keyworkers but due to the hours we work and only school opening without wrap around we had to hire a nanny in the first lockdown because neither of us were eligible for furlough or unpaid leave. It cost me more than £300 more than i earn a month, but work were very clear we were expected in. The nanny did her best with homeschooling, but 4 children at home all on different ages, one of them a demanding toddler, it was a nightmare and we told her to stop trying. The older one (14) was fine, but the 5 and 6 year old struggled massively. I really, really hope schools don't close again, my reception ages DC especially has fallen behind despite me trying to catch up at weekends etc.

Sending massive unmumsnetty hugs to all the parents who say their mental health suffered trying to manage it all, I'm so sorry you have been put in that position. There is a lot to be answered for from the government and the DfE.

Ozgirl, most people I talked to in the UK were also really happy with their schools' provision. But it seems there was a minority who did a poor job.

Can you get a part time job as a key worker working the minimal amount to get your dc a place in school?

What I don't understand is why lessons can't be recorded? Surely it would be better even for primary school kids to see and hear their teacher every day than just completing bl**y worksheets!

When schools do this, parents complain it's too inconvenient and an imposition to have to watch it every day.

When we teach live, nobody can zoom in at this point.

When we post work,we get comments like the above.

Come on,we all know it - when you are parenting young children you're at your most insular and most likely to assume that what works for you works for the majority. Your school is doing this because it works for the majority.

If your children don't engage well with doing something you have
asked them to do, maybe it's a good idea to start training them now and getting expectations in line. Our school surveyed parents and found out the time they had available, and set work to fit. And it worked for over 90% of children, including SEN children and people with both parents out at work. The other 10% are the can't dos of life, I'm afraid!

We had a dreadful home school experience too. The stress of it all badly affected my MH, a problem I have never experienced before. However at the end of the day, this needs to happen again sadly. Here in NI, the plan is that just years 8-10 (1st year of secondary to 3rd year) will learn at home for at least 2 weeks from 25th Jan. Everyone else goes into school. This makes zero sense so I would expect it will change. Clearly they shouldn't be returning in January at all. I assume the thinking this that the older year groups can then spread out, but then surely all the teachers will be fully utilised, so the home learning for the younger years will be worse than ever? The teachers can only do so much ffs! Not that the minister thinks or cares about that clearly.

If primaries and exam years stay in, it will take a lot of stress off me, but that doesn't mean it is necessarily the right thing to do. Even exam years could do some learning at home surely as long as they are in regularly too.

I really really hope and pray the school find a way to provide decent accessible home learning. We had to isolate recently when I had covid and one of the DC had literally chapters from text books uploaded with no context, no guide on how quickly to progress through, no quizzes to test learning etc, nothing. That is too overwhelming for an 11 year old to navigate and I was too unwell to read it with him, I only realised how grim it all was when I was revising with him for his Christmas exams (which he did terribly in after doing brilliantly in his halloween exams). So yes I am worried, but we are out of options now, schools do have to close.

An example from my own work to show I am not teacher bashing... I am a midwife, we provide antenatal education in classes usually. These were all immediately stopped. The trust provide some online info but it is CRAP! It isn't up to date, it isn't accessible, it isn't interesting. It is just CRAP! We literally have no free time to improve it. The trust could have tasked someone shielding with it but didn't prioritise it. So I can see how frustrating it is for teachers to not have time to do anything better re home learning. I know they have a million and one other things to do.

Our school was one which provided no contact whatsoever other than a weekly emailed sheet. No feedback. We used the KW place 6 tines when worked classed but it was just childcare. We had to do the school work in the evenings/ weekends.
We’ll manage a few weeks of schools are closed.
It’s disappointing to see some of the glee on mn about potential closures, but predictable.

*when work schedules clashed

Can you flex your hours? So while he’s sleeping you work.
Then when he wakes up you can do quick emails. Spend time with him and then park him in front of a screen to finish the last bits ofd?