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Original poster

Homeschooling not going well...

8 replies

bathsh3ba · 11/02/2021 11:21

...and I'm one of the lucky ones with secondary age children who have full-time online lessons.

But my 11yo keeps losing her work by not saving it properly and is really struggling with navigating the different platforms. (She has longstanding organisation difficulties, currently on waiting list to be assessed to see if she is autistic.)

My 13yo apparently keeps having tech issues but then doesn't tell me about them and ignores her teachers' messages about them so that I then get a phone call with concerns about her engagement. She's done all the work, I can see she has, so why doesn't she communicate?!

It's all so frustrating, I spend half my day troubleshooting their education and then have no time left for my own work.

I've got a keyworker certificate though I really don't think I'm entitled to one as I can work from home, and I'm so tempted to send them in, though they want to stay home as school not the same without their friends. They'd just be doing the same online learning sat in a classroom anyway....

OP posts:
ItsIgginningtolooklikelockdown · 11/02/2021 11:26

I spend half the day on dc's education and I have to actually do the work with them, so I'm not sure how checking it's uploaded can take you half a day! Why not build in a morning and an afternoon check point with them to show you the uploaded work, with no (whatever it is they like) until they have done so as an incentive.

Lovemusic33 · 11/02/2021 11:27

Similar here with dd (14, ASD). I’m not very good with tech so of something goes wrong I struggle to help her, it’s taken up until this week for things to run a bit more smoothly, she’s now attending live lessons and doing some work online. I have given up trying to help her and if something goes wrong we have just decided that she won’t do the work. Half term next week so we are looking forward to having a break from it all. Luckily my dd is going back to school next months (she’s at a sn school), it can come soon enough.

Original poster
bathsh3ba · 11/02/2021 11:29

I have built in checkpoints but it's more that school keep contacting me (has X done this? Y wasn't engaging much in class today) and my younger DD is forever in and out asking me questions. Initially I just told them no, get on with it yourselves but clearly that was the wrong decision since I now have school on my back!

OP posts:
Original poster
bathsh3ba · 11/02/2021 11:35

And it's not just checking it's uploaded. They've had whole bits of work lost because they didn't save it, that I then have to make sure they have redone. It's reminding them to respond to messages. With my DD11 she really needs me to sit with her at beginning of every lesson and I just can't.

OP posts:
ItsIgginningtolooklikelockdown · 11/02/2021 11:41

School won't contact you if the work is going through. We can't do it all on time, I get messages about that but they are just automatic, I ignore them. We do the work the same day but at different times. Could they have a "how to save shit" lesson with you to avoid some of the problems? It seems like they don't do something = you have more work, when it should be them.
I have found with a dyslexic dc that it helps to have two devices - so the work is open on one and then typing happens on the other. Moving between windows seems to be a problem.
You have my sympathies but I don't think sending them in would be reasonable. I think an email to (who? Head of year?) to say you are doing what you can but can't always upload everything straight away/reply to messages would help and would reduce the communications you are getting.

3littlewords · 11/02/2021 11:56

Explain your concerns to school about your 11yo ask if they can put some work in easier/less formats for her then she's not getting too overwhelmed trying to remember what goes where.
With your 13yo tell them about schools call that they think she isn't doing the work. Find out the reasons why she isn't engaging with her teachers and maybe imply that if she doesn't start to engage she will need to go into school so they can see she's doing the work. She may buck her ideas up a bit and start to engage if she really doesn't want to go back into school

3littlewords · 11/02/2021 12:00

Could your 11yo write her work and upload a photo of it instead of typing it and not saving it. My ds writes much of his work and sends it to the teacher by photo. I've not had any complaints as long as its being done it shouldn't matter what format its in.

StarCat2020 · 11/02/2021 19:13

Could you save DD's work for her as soon as she starts a new document and then all she has to do is press CTRL & S every few minutes to save again?

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