At what age should children be able to do their school work without help?

[elliejjtiny]

Just wondering as we had an email from the head teacher at dc's primary school saying that there are too many children of key workers in school and if you work from home then your children shouldn't be in. It then goes on to moan about children fidgeting during zoom calls and children not doing enough school work at home. It says that parents working from home is no excuse as children from year 2 onwards can do their school work independently after a brief explanation from the parents.

I was surprised at this as I have to help my years 2, 3 and 5 children a lot and there is no way I could work from home at the same time. Luckily I'm a sahm so although I don't have time to do the baking/crafts etc that I would like to do with them we are doing ok, getting the school work done and not too far behind with the housework. I would massively struggle if I had preschool aged dc as well or was trying to work from home.

Meanwhile my mum keeps telling me how lucky I am that my secondary aged dc are getting on with their school work independently as long as I make sure they get up in the morning and check class charts to make sure they have done everything.

I thought what my dc were doing was fairly standard although my 2 youngest have SEN so I am probably giving more help than most. My nt year 5 child still needs help and supervision though which I thought was normal. His friends mums are giving the same kind of help as I am. A lot of parents working from home started off with their children at home but now a lot of them are in school. Year 2 started off with 5 children in at the beginning of January and now there are 15. Year 3 started with 2 children in and now there are 8. I know I have more dc than average but I don't think it's possible for most year 2 children to do 3 hours school work independently while parents do a full time job at home.

Year 4 DS can to an extent but more so with subjects he’s good at. It’s definitely better than when he was in year 3. Year 1 DS needs total support and supervision.

No way my yr3 child can navigate all the systems/ software..let alone do the work. She can do the calls unsupervised and some of the work once I print it etc. So high parent input. My reception aged kid is worse.

My ds, about year 5. Dcs vary though.

However, today I have had to find Graph paper and materials to build a 3D model of a dna double helix. Last week it for Ingredients for food tech but no warning email. Both definitely needing my immediate help.

It sounds like the head just needed a rant. I have a lot of sympathy.

My Y2 child mostly gets on with it. She has a lot of live lessons with sections for independent work within them. She needs me to open documents or talk her through things 3-4 times a day but is otherwise working independently. My Reception child needs constant supervision and support though.

DS is 9, year 5. He does it independently. He could do it all and hand it in with no help but I like to check his work and make sure he has done what he has been asked and also to give him some advice so that he benefits from a bit of one to one tuition. My job allows me to be able to do this but on days I have meetings or go into work I would just expect him to hand in what he has done.

I thinkit depends on your IT set up though. It was much harder in the first lockdown when I had to keep printing stuff off etc. Now he does it on a computer on google classroom and knows his way around google slides/ doc hub quite well now.

Yes I’m impressed with the Google classroom set up. Then they can edit/upload/ turn stuff in on their own.

Last lockdown I was regularly printing about 30 pages a day. Ridiculous

My Y3 and Y4 need constant supervision and encouragement to actually do the work. They resist home-learning all the way. They only have a half hour zoom call in the mornings from school and then it’s all worksheets and powerpoints with audio, My Y7 is having online lessons 9-3pm and requires very little input.

It then goes on to moan about children fidgeting during zoom calls and children not doing enough school work at home. It says that parents working from home is no excuse as children from year 2 onwards can do their school work independently after a brief explanation from the parents.

Your head sounds ridiculous. It's an entirely different environment at school. Of course kids are going to be fidgeting. And the comments about parents working being no excuse would have me seething! Children of all ages will be coping in different ways so some children will need support, others won't. Honestly if this is true I'm absolutely flabbergasted that someone in a leadership role could be that dense!

Last week our headteacher put out a lovely video to reassure parents that what we are all doing is fine, and that they will support families as best they can to access home learning. He acknowledged that every family set up is different and that there are challenges for those juggling work and different aged children in the home.

That was how your head should have handled it. They are clearly in the wrong job.

My children are in y2 and y5, I am wfh, DH is a critical worker and works out of the house. My children need so much support with their work that I now have to work afternoons and evenings instead of 9-5. My y5 child actually needs more support than my y2 as he finds the work quite hard.

My Y5 just gets on with it generally- a couple of days she’s needed extra support from me and this week she’s felt a bit demotivated.

Yr7 - needs a little nudge from time to time.

Yr6 - almost 100% independent.

Yr4 - needs almost 1-1 support but I can sometimes get on with bits & pieces when he's really engaged & keen to work.

I'm a sahm & have no idea how I'd cope if I had to work as well.

Our teachers have been fantastic & are really understanding & encouraging when it's hard going.

My child's teacher is encouraging them to work by themselves by saying they're not babies now and they're big girls and boys now so they can do it by themselves
But all it does it make my child or put their hands over their ears or think worse of the teacher
Cos my child, year 2, struggles massively with it all from home
She won't and can't work by herself
Wondering whether it's worth saying something about what the teacher's saying

I have told my Year 6 class that they should be able to work independently, and we often remind them that parents are busy with their own work.
I have suggested a 'support sandwich' - 10 mins at the beginning of the day to go through what needs to be done, what needs to be submitted and the times of any Google meets. Then the child works independently and the parent does a 10 min check in towards the end of the day to tick off the 'to do' list.

However, this is with me permanently online to respond to written queries!

I am having to help my yr4 child a lot. We’ve cut down to 1 lesson a day because the stress it was causing us both was just too much. I’m also studying so had to juggle. I think your head is being v unreasonable. If your children need the help from you then they’re not supplying sufficient help and that would be my response to that email.

As pp have said, depends on the child. My 7 year old (y3) dc has additional needs so needs constant supervision. Her older sister (now Y7) needs a little support with some subjects but otherwise very independent, she was the same last year (when in Y6) and would have probably managed in younger years too. My other two are teens and need occasional motivation/taking phones off them to get them to focus! I don't think anyone should assume that a Y2/Y3 child would definitely be capable of working independently- such massive variations in development at this age.

My year 3 needs constant instruction.

Also, forgot to add, my yr4 does get instructional videos but he doesn’t seem able to grasp them. He needs to be able to ask questions and can’t, so needs my help. I have asked school over and over again to do live lessons via zoom. But they can’t because they have too many keyworker children in.

I agree it depends on the child.

My DD (Y7) can only be unsupervised if it's a subject she likes or in the mood to do it. I still have to get her started. Most times, I have to sit with and motivate her otherwise she'll drift off and not write anything. Even in live streaming, she won't concentrate unless engaged in an activity.
Plus the fidgeting, going to the toilet, getting a drink, getting a different pen, etc...Attention span of a gnat!

My Y5 can do most of it, but needs new websites adding to her ‘allowed’ list on the net nanny software and some help with technical issues when the sound won’t play in a presentation etc.

BUT she would miss out large (boring) chunks, skim through and get things wrong and never find out she had, spend a lot of time playing around with all the settings on her computer and forget to upload her work half the time if just left to it. So she needs an adult in the room if we want her to get much benefit from the work, and do all of it, and go through the answers and correct her own work properly.

I think they're expecting too much.
I am a SAHM, homeschooling only 1 child. He is bright and never complains, and I've been a teaching assistant before. And it's still a struggle to get it done!
So I can't imagine working alongside it, having more kids to school, having a kid who can't concentrate etc.
Respect to you all 🖤

My year 4 child needs a lot of input and she is a good girl with a lot of enthusiasm for school work. I just don’t feel it’s appropriate for 8/9 year olds to be working independently at a computer. It’s also not terribly effective. They learn by doing, and by discussion. Not all children (or adults) can replicate that via zoom. My dd might be able to do the zoom call independently and produce the piece of work but her learning will be low quality. She needs huge input from me.

Even my y6 is more engaged when it is dynamic and and involves discussion. She is very Independent but won’t do video calls.

My y9 has SEN and isn’t independent at all.

My y1 requires a lot from me and worksheets just aren’t appropriate so we are doing other things with the teacher’s blessing.

DS2 is 12 and year 7. He has SEN including an issue with planning/ staying on track and whilst he doesn't need someone to sit with him, he does need someone to give him a nudge every so often

NT DS1 probably would have been fine from yr 4 onwards?

Sorry forgot to add, he definitely needs constant input.. and he's a good, bright lad. Year 2. No way could he navigate all the links and sheets etc. Your headmaster is nuts!

From year 3 onwards if live teaching with decent input. My yr4 cracks on completely independently. He can run google classroom/scan and upload his work.