Do you think teachers know how hard it is to motivate young children at home?

[SonnetForSpring]

My DC's teachers are lovely. However, I don't get the sense from them that they actually know how hard it is to get one written sentence out of a 6 year old who is completely disengaged by online learning! I feel like I have to keep covering for him as they will be shocked by what his work is like without my help, but I'm not really supposed to help? As he wouldn't have help at school. I just don't get it...

This is so reassuring! I was starting to get quite worried about my 8 year-old's attention span as she seems completely incapable of completing any tasks at home. No major worries have been raised at school so was presuming I was just not doing it right. This sucks.

All those of us with children know how bloody hard it is. I swear giving birth was easier than this!

This sucks

Yerp. Don't worry too much. Keep your kid as happy as you can, keep them in touch with their friends, get outside, do some leaping around inside, read together, watch some David Attenborough... or something.

SquashedFlyBiscuits

I would give definitely give birth to him again over homeschooling him until 8th March!

@purpleme12

Because from the impression I get from my child's teacher they don't get it at all

Have you spoken directly with the teacher about how Dc are getting on? I am a teacher. I get that it is hard for many. But every family and every child is different. Some need us to put pressure on, as it helps to motivate. Others need us to lay off a bit as pressure is going to the parents rather than the children. It is very hard to guess who is who.

@Crumpetycrump

Oh great - another teacher bashing thread .

It's certainly bashing childless teachers.

I feel quite insulted that people apparently think I won't have the imagination to realise that children won't behave the same at home in lockdown as they do in school, for myriad reasons.

Of course they do. They’re doing as their told from senior leadership teams. After all the moaning last time about lack of provision they are now getting hammered for providing too much work.

Pathetic.

@PotteringAlong

And yes, I can get 30 kids to do whatever I ask them to do. Will my 6 year old? Will he balls

This has cheered me up, thanks! I had been increasingly convinced that I am being inept.

They are doing as they are told, rather!!

@PotteringAlong

And yes, I can get 30 kids to do whatever I ask them to do. Will my 6 year old? Will he balls

This! I teach secondary. I can get classes full of grumpy teenagers to do exactly what I want. My own six and nine year olds? No chance! They keep telling me they need a ‘proper teacher’

Solidaritea, that's interesting about not knowing where the pressure goes. My DC doesnt seem at all phased by it. I'm definitely the one who is concerned about what the teacher thinks.

I think honestly it makes a difference if you have your own children. I'm a teacher and have a R and Y2. My 5 year old will just say no when asked to do a task. I can definitely empathize with my parents but my colleagues x2 have no kids, they are less sympathetic... until you walk in someone's shoes!

My kids are y1 and y3. I have had to message teachers several times to say “sorry no way x will do that” and they’ve always been very supportive.
Agree that teachers who are parents get it better.

I think the prevailing message I am getting from teachers is they are trying to provide lots of stuff which will keep even the brightest kids busy. I don’t know any parents who are doing it all. We do what we can.

@solidaritea
I did put a message on the online platform saying my child struggles with all this learning when not at school

She just sent quite a matter of fact message back saying she knows it's a challenge but this is the work the DofE set and if I encourage she'll hopefully get better

My child's behaviour deteriorates so I know she's struggling. In different ways
I'm trying to support her academically while also managing her behaviour
Not to mention how everything makes me feel

SeldomFollowedIt

I found your response a bit harsh. Surely, teaching is about the individual child not a blanket policy? As for calling me pathetic... I'm not sure a caring profession such as teaching is the right one for you. Or maybe you are not a teacher? You just fancy letting out some frustrations?

[quote purpleme12]@solidaritea
I did put a message on the online platform saying my child struggles with all this learning when not at school

She just sent quite a matter of fact message back saying she knows it's a challenge but this is the work the DofE set and if I encourage she'll hopefully get better

My child's behaviour deteriorates so I know she's struggling. In different ways
I'm trying to support her academically while also managing her behaviour
Not to mention how everything makes me feel[/quote]
Doesn't sound like the best reaction, but "this is the work the DofE se" might be a sign that she knows it's not all vital. I would suggest keeping in touch and highlighting all of this. Don't be harsh on yourself - we're all only human and can only achieve so much.

I certainly wasn't one of the ones complaining my child wasn't set enough work last time anyway!

@solidaritea
Thank you x

purpleme12

I feel the same. Their behaviour escalates when they are overwhelmed. The amount of work is overwhelming. I think it might be geared to the top 5 children... the other day we had 50 maths questions.

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot

Also, at home there are pets, doorbells, the idea of constant snacks... do you know what would happen to a class if there was a knock at the door and in wandered a cat?

I would imagine at least a couple of them would wonder how the cat knocked on the door.

@SonnetForSpring

Solidaritea, that's interesting about not knowing where the pressure goes. My DC doesnt seem at all phased by it. I'm definitely the one who is concerned about what the teacher thinks.

I know this is definitely similar to some of my class! But seriously, teachers won't think badly of you (or if they do, they're not worth worrying about). Ultimate goal is teacher and parents work as a team to motivate the child - but I know it's not working like that in many cases.

We know exactly how disinterested they are.....we dealt with it every day before covid but the difference is we are trained to deal with it. This whole situation is awful, I'm teaching online lessons with a 3 year old who likes to shout 'mummy I've done a poo' mid lesson don't cover for you child, let the teacher see what little work they have done and they may get a firm talking to. But really, just do what you can. It will be our jobs to catch them up when everything finally gets back to normal xx good luck

As a secondary teacher I certainly understand the joys of trying to motivate young people. Sometimes many at one time.

I think my son’s teacher is great, when in school, but I do feel like she must not get it now she’s sending out work. Yesterday we had 25 pages of worksheets to print out, and one link to a short video. We don’t get any interaction, no live or recorded lessons, phone calls or emails. The whole class gets a five minute feedback video at the end of each day. My son felt distressed when he saw that amount of paper coming out of the printer. A lot of it is writing based, and there’s just no fun in it like there would be in school. I don’t really blame her, I think it’s down to the head really, but I really don’t think she can even imagine trying to motivate children to do that work at home.

do you know what would happen to a class if there was a knock at the door and in wandered a cat?
I am missing the point but I love the idea of cats knocking on the door.