'They will catch up'

[digthroughtheditches]

If I say I'm worried my 6yo will fall behind, I'm being constantly'reassured' they will all catch up. Or don't worry about it, just do a little bit or 'sack off schoolwork, all she needs is love' she's the youngest in her year.
Where I appreciate the sentiment and during the 1st lock down I agreed to some extent and did take it easy on myself, doing what I could. Reassured in the knowledge that when she got back she'd catch up.
But here we are, tears every day during maths that she doesn't know stuff she's 'supposed to know' by now. Stuff that was covered in the last school year that I clearly didn't teach very well.
The teacher on the PowerPoint telling the class 'you know this by now year two' and she doesn't.
I emailed school about it but didn't get a reply.
Homeschool is a disaster, she hates it so much. I push on trying to get through all the work but it takes hours. Yet if I don't do it she is going to fall behind isn't she? it's already the case?
Just looking for reassurance I guess, from others or teachers. Should I go easy, will she REALLY catch up? She doesn't speak up for herself in class I don't think so the fact she doesn't know this stuff has possibly gone unnoticed.

@Mreggsworth

I've worked with sick children who had years out of education and caught up.

I worked with adolescents with mental health problems a few years ago too who maybe only had a 20% attendance at secondary school, caught up with a 3 of them a couple years back for this service peer review thing, one had gone on to study medicine, one nursing and while I don't know what the third was doing they appeared well spoken and together.

Not saying this applies to everyone. But in a lot of circumstances it definitely is possible to catch up.

But was that entirely self motivated / with the help of a non-teacher parent, or did the school / hospital teaching help because they were specific cases?
I'm impressed by any kid who's missed 80% of lessons then has just walked back in with his peer group and caught up without and targeted support either before or once he returned

In reality when they all go back to school, there isn't going to be capacity to do more than generic catchy uppy stuff

OP im totally with you my ds is 5 hes so far behind his peers its frightening and this is not due to the lack of trying on my part. I watch him doing his zoom lessons ( when I can convince him to take part) and hes literally like a deer in the headlights most of it goes right over his head. I think he finds it so overwhelming that he's now refusing to engage at all. But what can I do? I cant just allow him to stop altogether. His teacher is amazing and really supportive, told me not to force him to anything and go at his pace, but his pace is to do nothing at all and ignore it. Were at loggerheads today I feel like such a failure

Some children will catch up, whilst others will do better working at home than they would have in class. Lots won’t though and it’s these children who we are failing. It’s all very well for teachers to say ‘don’t worry about it’ and ‘just do what you can’, but at the end of this academic year, your child will no longer be on their radar and someone else’s problem. Ultimately, it’s not going to affect their life if your child doesn’t reach their full potential.

I’m a teacher too. I’ve seen kids arrive as refugees in Year 7 and end up going to university.

I question as a teacher the use of the phrase ‘catch up’. Catch up with what? Standards defined by politicians? The pressure on young people and children is horrific. In Europe she would still be playing with no formal maths.

I’m hoping for a reset in education as a result of this.

OP with the basics in place a child would then be able to engage at any age.
Concentrate on the basics, times tables, number bonds etc.

I think MN is a very bad place to get your ideas and opinions from around educational expectations. People don't tell the truth about what their child can do for a start. They exaggerate. There's opinions on here eg missing even one week of school to go on holiday will ruin their education forever, that are not mainstream in RL. The obsession with "11 GOOD GSEs!" Not to mention there are probably above average amounts of fee paying parents on here who want more bang for their buck.

I know multiple children whose education was disrupted significantly for various reasons and they have all managed to catch up and do well, in a setting that is right for them.

Your child is going to be fine mainly because you're clearly an involved and concerned parent. Please don't imagine that the current doom and gloom on MN is how it really is, always important to remember there's three sides. The airy "it will all be fine!" The MN "my children will never achieve their full potential because of the pandemic!" and the middle where most kids and their teachers will need to work hard to catch up but will.

I'm not aiming for my kid to go to Oxford.
He's struggling to read at the age of 7. In the time period he was in school (September-December) he made a huge leap in his learning. I can see him regress and that's with one parent who's an actual teacher and another who's motivated to help. He doesn't want to learn from us basically.

I'm not saying it in a doom and gloom way or demanding lockdown ends tomorrow. Realistically a lot of kids will feel the affects of being out of school for a long time to come and not just the most obviously disadvantaged either.

Some kids will not catch up. We have fifty percent of our classes in and it’s business as usual for the kids that are in. They are hugely advantaged now with a small class and a lot of the time a higher staff:child ratio. It’s incomparable to home learning to be honest. The ones at home will not be learning as much.

My youngest 8 struggles to read, she's miles behind, but she'll eventually find a level, with help.. Gaining access to the Oxford Owls has been a revelation.
The eldest 9 is free reading, much more attuned to learning, grasping concepts.

I think this idea that everyone is going to be an academic or a scientist is cobblers. The average IQ is still a 100.
There's more to life than being a walking citation.

The big difference is what they share supposed to learn or know in year 6 maths... They are very unlikely to use it later in life. Also it will still be gone over again in secondary school.

Remember that show "are you smarter than a 10 year old"

The younger ones always won. All that proved tho was that no adults remember anything they were taught at a young age and still got through life OK.

Some kids will not catch up. We have fifty percent of our classes in and it’s business as usual for the kids that are in. They are hugely advantaged now with a small class and a lot of the time a higher staff:child ratio. It’s incomparable to home learning to be honest. The ones at home will not be learning as much

Depends on the school. Key workers in secondary schools are doing same online lessons as those at home.

@frozendaisy

Perhaps buy the KS1 Maths learning and question books and sit on the sofa and work it out together, slowly and calmly no expectations and look online for handy exercises that you can incorporate in your daily life that covers the same thing.

Rather than have battles online.

Work to your own goals not what the teacher is setting. Your daughter clearly needs to go at her own pace.

This post above is not a bad call on how to do that.

I agree with depends on school and parent. Some dc will be getting 1-2-1 with parent. Others getting that and the parent is an ex teacher etc.
Some kids can read to themself and enjoy it so spend hours doing that when they wouldn't at school.
The problem is the uk system isnt really going to reassess kids when they go back and put them in different classes or year groups.

The other issue is as above the teachers will have spent extra time with 30-70% of kids and may think these kids are ahead etc.
If say my dc in mid yr r they have actually now just done enough time to have finished nursery.

Whereas some who have been in thoughout willhave had terms extra

I can't speak for the young children in how they caught up as I wasnt there after hospital, I just know that when they came into peads for reviews months later them behind behind on educational milestones was never an issue.

There was a school at hospital but the sessions were no way comparable to normal school and were usually only for a few hours a week if they were well enough (they were cancer or cystic fibrosis patients). They may have had additional support when being discharged to allow them to catch up.

The teenagers had access to school work in the psychiatric hospital but had very low compliance with doing any the tasks set. So I would say it did average out at a 20% attendance at school in total. As some were inpatients throughout majority of their adolescent years.

I honestly think that having someone (like a tutor) to boost a child's confidence in a subject they have difficulty with is well worth the money if you can possibly afford it. State education has to cater for everyone and its inevitable that not all children are benefitted by this. Once confidence is up then often they no longer need the extra help.

I have heard this a lot recently from others about my 6 year old ds whenever I express concerns. Many whose kids were in throughout lockdown 1 & now 2. He fell behind last year in reception despite our best efforts at home. In November his teacher said he isn’t progressing as hoped and is still behind with plans for January to catch him up a bit and consider a mild dyslexia which is suspected. Obviously lockdown happened and he is home as we are not key workers or classed as vulnerable.

Homeschooling has been difficult with tears, tantrums and in the last weeks aggression and anger and becoming more disengaged coupled with younger siblings and trying to work it had become a battleground.
We talked to his teacher and today his headteacher who has insisted he is back in school from Monday with a plan for how to move forward. Sadly his sister cannot go back as her class is too full and they have been inundated with requests since Monday afternoon. I appreciate we are fortunate. I will add our school had no live online provision and classes are being taught as normal so some kids will be disadvantaged. It’s an all round shit situation.

I agree with the above posters. In order to catch up your dd needs a firm foundation. If the maths she is being sent is too difficult for her, ignore it and go back to where she is now. Work from there.

The problem is that falling behind is so uneven and widening the gaps in classes.

Some children either don't engage or for a variety of reasons struggle to access work out of school.
Some partially engage (where mine fall)
Some do what is expected or even thrive.

Those with disadvantages are more likely to fall further behind.

My 10 yo has ASD, dyspraxia and dyslexia. At least he is on the school's radar for support. He falls behind in atypical ways.
At present he can do a column division, but goes into meltdown seeing the same numbers peesented as the bus stop method, due to poor adaptibility and spatial planning. He'll often absorb the more complex, but struggle with basics.
My 7 yo is just reluctant to engage remotely. He's lonely and unhappy, and his only role model is of dubious benefit. Sometimes he's bored with the learning because he gets it and finds the pace tedious. He worries me more because he presents as a quiet average child, and has lost confidence through being dominated by a know-it-all older sibling. He's brighter than he lets on, but doesn't have a great work ethic or confidence to answer questions and tends to quietly retreat into his own dream world. Obviously not helped by only 3 months of access to school and his peers in 10 months.

It's not like slotting in one new child from a prolonged absence or difficult background. That culture of osmosis in a class is impaired.

Some children will catch up, but many will need more support to reach where they should have got to. The usual curriculum targets remain in place too.

@3littlewords

OP im totally with you my ds is 5 hes so far behind his peers its frightening and this is not due to the lack of trying on my part. I watch him doing his zoom lessons ( when I can convince him to take part) and hes literally like a deer in the headlights most of it goes right over his head. I think he finds it so overwhelming that he's now refusing to engage at all. But what can I do? I cant just allow him to stop altogether. His teacher is amazing and really supportive, told me not to force him to anything and go at his pace, but his pace is to do nothing at all and ignore it. Were at loggerheads today I feel like such a failure

Could you get whatever the zoom is about sent through on paper and go over it with him without the zoom? DS is the same age, no live lessons here but I know he'd struggle to focus We do Zoom dance lessons on the the telly, interactive, and he struggles so I dread to think how he'd cope with something academic

@SeldomFollowedIt

Some kids will not catch up. We have fifty percent of our classes in and it’s business as usual for the kids that are in. They are hugely advantaged now with a small class and a lot of the time a higher staff:child ratio. It’s incomparable to home learning to be honest. The ones at home will not be learning as much.

This simply isn’t fair. Children in school should be supervised only with access to the same online provision as those at home. They are already at a huge advantage being able to socialise with their classmates. This is also the reason why so many ‘key workers’ are sending in their kids when they don’t have to. There is an unfair advantage and it needs to be addressed.

Some kids will not catch up. We have fifty percent of our classes in and it’s business as usual for the kids that are in. They are hugely advantaged now with a small class and a lot of the time a higher staff:child ratio. It’s incomparable to home learning to be honest. The ones at home will not be learning as much.
This is what worries me. DS has an EHCP so could go in, but he has it for the same reasons he's medically vulnerable. Not shielding, but he's got a weird heart and is on o2 so we simply don't know what would happen. If his O2 need doubled we couldn't get him out of hospital. So he's home. Along with 1 year d twins who DON'T STOP and he dislike Mom school.

But 1/3 of the class are getting really thorough teaching and the proportion may go up before Easter. He's got me and 4-5 short tasks a day. I can't get extra math or phonics in him, only reading.

How can he catch up?

Many dc already do miss the basics though.

Couldn't help but laugh at the bribery of an hour in the garden 😂😂 can't imagine what dd said to me if that's all I offered her!!

Op, as pp said... Go back to basics, buy Carol v or cpg and do a very little each day... These foundations are ALL... She will fly once she has them but she needs them.. Reading is all.. Try lots of ways around it, including flash cards for the first 100 hfw...

Times tables, number bonds... Quick recall and handwriting practise... Don't stress,...

Sleeping, how old is he

My Year 2 has covered maths up to the end of primary school, but is probably at reception level in reading. I am not a native English speaker - and not very fluent at it - he is extremely annoyed when I do reading or spelling with him, as it is not free flowing from me either. I started to get really scared about his future.

I was going to suggest:

1. Forget struggling through what the school is sending in. Try twinkle, or buy a workbook, and go to a level of stuff that she does understand. This is far more constructive than tears and rows IMO
2. have you tried bbc bitesize online? My daughter loved the science games in yr2 - it might have change now though.