WFH and homeschooling

[Thesagacontinues]

Round 2 here.

It seems worse this time and I really wanted to quit my job this morning.

How is everyone else doing? Have you managed to get into any good routines? Any tips to help me through it?

We have various relatives doing zoom and Skype with the kids. We’ve discovered screen sharing on Skype so relatives can help with home schooling for older primary kids. If you have interested relatives then it might be an option?

I absolutely admire and take my hat off to anyone who is managing to do both! But for some jobs/some children's ages I think you have to be realistic and realise it's impossible to be in two places at once. This morning my husband had an appointment so it was just me and I had DS12 in one room calling out for help and DS10 in another room having a meltdown over a piece of literacy he had a mental block with. Sorted DS12 but while I was giving DS10 some help my Dad phoned with a problem and I had to help him while DS12 called out that he couldn't log in to upload his work. In to sort that after fixing DS10 and his tears then DS10 was calling about his maths. I'm not working as well thankfully but homeschool really is a full time job by itself! I think employers need to be more flexible, supported by law.

@Itsseweasy

I really want to know if all the other parents WFH are ensuring every single piece of work is completed because we just aren’t managing this. Mine need to be supervised to do the work, and this just isn’t possible for a huge chunk of the day when I need to be working! We are focussing on Maths and at least one other item per day but I’m expecting to get a phone call from the school any day. Anyone else?!

I'm not. I write out the jobs we have to do each day in order of priority and once I get to a set time we stop regardless of whether we've done one job or 6.

Don't forget there's programming on the bbc this time cbbc for primary and bbc2 for secondary (but suitable for older primary too)

I have a chronic illness that I get fatigue with. I WFH.

Currently have three dc homeschooling though eldest doesn’t really need supervision. But I still need to get him up and at the screen for online classes.

I worked till the early hours this morning while everyone was in bed just trying to get stuff done. I’m exhausted. I need sleep!

Feeling guilty cause instead of taking them for a walk I’ve stuck on exercise classes on YouTube.

And their teachers keep emailing extra “fun” projects! 😩😩😩

Then eldest wants to chat at night when I’m nearly on my knees with tiredness but he gets left so much to his own devices that I can’t say no.

Sorry! Totally whinged on your post but - it’s tough. I managed the first time a lot better than now.

I have a Y5 and a Y2, im working from home and like yours mine need constant supervision. They dont pay any attention if I just leave them to it. This is what's working for us:

We have breakfast before I log on, straight from breakfast we go and get dressed.
I then alternate the children's lessons. One does maths at the table with me, whilst the other watches TV or whatever. I have my laptop with me and will do a few emails etc when they are having to listen to stuff. Then the other LO then does a lesson.

I dont try to do both children at one time. We do this up until about 1 or 2. They then finish schoolwork for the day and I can fully get on with work.

We don't get it all done, prob about 3/4s. You are trying your best, thats all that matters

Much more difficult this time. I do have more work on myself, but also, we have more direction and work from school (be careful what you wish for, past me) and therefore cannot manage time as flexibly as the work has timed deadlines etc. Also generally feeling crap and have less motivation so just CBA.

No. All shit here. 10yo can work independently but needs arm twisting. Reception age child is SEN and can't be left unattended/unoccupied.

We're working online either teaching or in meetings for hours at a time.

Feel like we're failing as employees and parents.

Sorry OP, I re-read my post and made it sounds like she works all day- I wish she will sometimes get on with things but sometimes she is playing or watching tv. The work the school are setting probably takes 1-2hrs working one to one, so we can do it in chunks with her doing a bit mainly on her own but I am working next to her to help if needs be.

If I have meetings, we work around these.

I managed to fill the house with smoke on day 1 when I left something on the hob and we are eating very quick lunches and a lot of snacks- something has to give!

Doing virtually nothing
DS has SEN and needs constant supervision (and teaching) and can't even attend the zoom class without support as he is so anxious
My role is on the phone to vulnerable patients all day or in meetings with drs and NHS bigwigs
I'm not going to fuck up my career and DS' mental health for the sake of 3 months learning.

He also went to KW school in last lockdown and learned nothing there either.

Been awful so far, Ds6 is in ks1 and it’s difficult. He is reluctant to learn, lacks confidence and is already behind. The daily maths task took 1 hour as I have to cajole him. He doesn’t seem to understand anything. Teacher was suggesting extra support as he wasn’t progressing in November, now here we are with nothing. I guess he will fall further behind. Dd5 is in reception and getting bits done when I am not studying, DH not out at work. If they shut preschool and nursery we have no chance of getting any done.

If it's any consolation were struggling here too. It seems worse this time as we know what to expect and there is no end in sight. No live learning, just more of the same worksheets we got last time. Kids won't complete them on their own so very little gets done. I feel so sad for the kids and fully of guilt for my lack of work for them or my employer.

@mumwalk

If it's any consolation were struggling here too. It seems worse this time as we know what to expect and there is no end in sight. No live learning, just more of the same worksheets we got last time. Kids won't complete them on their own so very little gets done. I feel so sad for the kids and fully of guilt for my lack of work for them or my employer.

Please take this up with the headteacher. As per the guidance I linked below, schools are not allowed to do this. Many of us work hard to deliver a good education online and schools trying to get away with so little sends a bad message.

I could look up worksheets on TES for all my classes and it would take me 1-2 hours I reckon for the week. Not equivalent at all to planning lessons, delivering live or making recordings to be viewed at home and then marking work online as well.

Lone parent here WFH and I'm finding I have banging headaches by 5pm, I've got DS next to me during the day, but as all we get our worksheets and unfortunately I've had to correct the schools answers on maths a couple of times now to which they have apologised for the error but it just means I have to continuously mark his work rather than him from the answer sheet.
We're doing English and maths, science, and comprehension but spellings and read theory hasn't been touched. He reads in bed to me a chapter each night so that's going to have to do.
I have ordered some KS2 books for him on a few bits as it maybe easier to learn from them then the few worksheets we get. I'll see when they arrive in a few days.
I constantly feel like I'm failing at the moment, when I have work meetings I feel so guilty but I need and enjoy my job

DH and I WFH. I'm still in my probation period of a senior role. I'm not shining. I'm the only female.

DD just turned 9. She struggles with maths so needs constant teaching. Her lesson today took us 2.5 hours for maths alone.

I'm worried this time round, as it is a lot of education they will now have missed. I'm not kidding myself, this time I don't think they will catch up.

It isn't just schooling. How can we be OK with a 9 year old roaming the house with limited company?

DD has mild tics like many kids but over last couple of weeks they appear to be getting worse.

I wake up and feel like I have cortisol pumping through me until I go to bed.

We've pretty much sacked off RE, PHSE (?) and anything that involves drawing pictures.
Maths, phonics, English and if we can fit anything else in we will. Not done any reading since this started. I can only cope with the toddler and homeschooling if I take a half day off in annual leave so I can already half a day over the full day but soon I'm going to run out of holiday.
Also I wouldn't mind saving a few days of leave so I can actually have a holiday when all this is over .

My dh and I get up at 6am with the kids (7 and 10) to take one child each to do as much of the work as we can before starting work at 9. Work sheets, laptops set up the night before. Make the kids snack and lunch packs for the day so they dont have to ask us all day for things to eat. Try and get as much work as possible done between 9 and 5. Dh works much longer hours than that but I am self employed and rarely on calls so keep an eye in the day and make dinner etc - I know I'm lucky to be able to do that and also that the kids have their own devices. Have formed a childcare bubble with another family who take ours out a couple of times a week for a walk with their kids which is very kind of them. Being as organised as possible helps. Bit its early days isnt it. This plan may fall apart by Monday

We're all ready for school by 8.45
I've already done an hour prep by then.
I'm live teaching between 8.50 and 9.30.
Partner does child's online register/teacher meet thing between 9.15 and 9.30
At 9.30 I teach child phonics until 10.00
I'm teaching live lessons 10 - 12, child watches telly/busies herself. Partner on calls all morning. I can be interrupted.
At 12 we do lunch.
12.30 is my own child's maths for 30 min.
I have a live session at 1.30 and another at 3.15. Various things happen depending on how busy we are, how bothered child can be.

Today she did a load of hama beads on her own, then did drawing while sitting with her dad at his desk.
Today at 4 we were playing football in the street.
At 5 they were cooking and I was working until 6. At 6 we swapped.

I've been working this evening, so has partner.

@neurologicallyspeaking I will, thanks. I really feel some live lessons would make all the difference. The kids don't want to, often don't understand, the worksheets. We got one today that was clearly written for a teacher with an instruction to split into groups of 5 children. Maybe that works if you have someone there to decipher what can be done by 1 solo child, but it doesn't work if you are expecting a child to interpret this themselves. I will raise it with school.

That's really poor. Done properly remote teaching is even more exhausting and time-consuming than regular teaching so we need some modifications but not even adapting a worksheet with clear instructions is rubbish. Even if they have lots of kw children in school requiring supervision, the children at home should get an equal amount of education just in a different format.

I have 3 school aged kids and a preschooler and it is going well this time. Year 5 and secondary DC are working entirely independently in their rooms, they learnt all the systems last time, they have devices/can use the printer etc. I am not checking their work.

Year 2 is with me in dining room and working mostly independently. School is mainly live lessons and we collect all worksheets on a Monday. It is so much better than last time. School are doing an amazing job! Difficulty for me starts about 4pm when they are all done with school work and have too
much energy and it is dark. So I am trying to finish work early and log back on later. We need to find an exercise class to do together.

Our schools are brilliant though and my DC are generally the motivated types although DC3 has really struggled with behaviour this year. He really needs the live lessons. Without them we wouldn’t be getting any work done for him.

Not good for us, although we've cobbled together a system. 2 primary age DC (reception and yr5). I WFH in a senior role i can't back away from, DH self-employed. We take half the day each. I start work at 7, breaking at 8 to help get them up and breakfasted to start at 9, then in theory going through till 1230, in fact fending off constant interruptions from DD4 who doesn't get the idea. DH does the homeschooling in the mornings. I feel like a shit mum and DH has lost half his income. At 1230 we swap, DH goes to work, I make them lunch and then unleash them on the xbox and Netflix while I try to get more work done. By 5:30 they're like caged animals, craving movement and companionship and I'm frazzled. Sometimes we squeeze in a walk at lunchtime or in the evening. DS's mental health is on the slide, he's dyslexic, can't do half the work without support and has lost confidence. He really needs one of us to constantly support him through the schoolwork but I can't and work and DH can't and look after DD. The school are brilliant but I really don't think home schooling our kids works unless one parent isn't working.

It’s awful, utterly and completely awful for everyone. I hate it. I have a Y1 and a Y4 child, the Y4 is undergoing assessment for ADHD and just cannot concentrate or work independently. The Y1 is too little and needs constant supervision.

I agree it feels much worse this time. I’m running on empty already, sick of us all being stuck in the house the whole time with no end in sight. I am really concerned now about the cumulative effect on their education and the attainment gap. Plus I seem to have the shortest fuse ever (we all do). Not harmonious at all and I am quite tempted at times to just tell school we can’t do it. My work and the kids’ mental health comes first. I’ve worked throughout this pandemic and never been busier.

We’re trying to do the work, succeeding occasionally, failing frequently. I feel I’m doing a substandard job at everything.

@Thesagacontinues yes it makes it tougher doesn’t it ? A teacher friend has video called a couple of times to help her this week which had been such a huge help .. but I don’t think this is going to work in the long run . Schools answer is well she can come to school if she’s struggling
@elotrolado sadly they aren’t understanding and even send emails saying the children are expected to hand everything in every day
@NeurologicallySpeaking she goes to a teeny littie school with only 5 children in year six and 15 in the whole of key stage 2 so the teacher is usually fairly hands on and there is a teaching assistant too . She excels at other subjects but maths is a stumbling block . I’ve explained to school but they aren’t interested .. I can’t even sleep at night with the stres but school are saying if she doesn’t do all the work she must attend school. Hey offer no live lessons and no teacher support. The teacher just sets all the work at 8 am abd expects them to crack on, today we were also expected to build a 4m square model of the solar system 😂

Well done to those who have some kind of good routine going, Im going to see what would work for us from that.

Im starting work at my usual time of 8 today, sometimes I start at 7 to get ahead, sometimes I start at 8 and work late instead.

Amazingly, by yesterday evening we had caught up on all ds work. The schedule for today was sent out so I have it all written out and pages in the workbooks marked out.

Will get ds to make a start when I start work at 8 and try to get through his maths then. His support teacher is doing a one to one zoom with him at 9 to help with his english comprehension. Its the first day trying this out so fingers crossed it goes well. He then has class the class zoom at 11.30 where they are covering a separate topic, other than that I dont think we will cover much more today. Hes exhausted and Im exhausted.