Should we be doing the schools home learning?

[Lockdownlifeaintforme]

Hi, just wondering what the general consensus on home learning (primary) is?

DC’s school have started to send out a weekly email with a few activities - for example ‘follow this link and test your times tables, write a story about the plague’ etc, however we’ve got into a routine now of some workbooks we have and some online lessons. They haven’t asked for anything to be sent back and marked and it’s all very generic links.

I really don’t want to go against the teacher as the teachers are the absolute experts but I feel I can finally establish where they are struggling now with these work books and wonder if it would be better to focus on that?

What are your thoughts?

I don’t want to email and risk offending teacher so want a general idea first.

Thanks

Please email her / him.
They really won't mind.
Your style of writing is very considered, so I doubt that you will offend them!
Ask how the teacher is, what your dc has been learning, ask for her ' professional opinion' on this.
The one thing that you need to be clear on is what your dc should be covering in maths.

I meant 'tell her what your your dc has been learning'.

My dc's school have done more or less the same, lots of links to Twinkl, bitesize etc and a 'menu' of activities- 12 to do over 3 weeks . We' ve done 2 of the activities and lots of other stuff I've found. The school have put no pressure to complete work or hand it in so we're just sending in a selection of picture of the things we've done. They seem perfectly happy with that.

In Asian cultures the parents order two text books: one for the kid and one for mum to support the kid.

As has been said, follow your own curriculum if you want. If the teacher is too damn sensitive then they are automaton at best.

Good luck.

We have been doing this too. DCs aged 6 & 7. I'm enjoying it & on temporary lay off so I have the time to explore twinkl etc & find worksheets they would like.

I think what you're doing is fine. I would check that your lessons are covering similar ground to the teacher's lessons in core subjects like maths, spelling (statutory word lists for KS), grammar, punctuation.

But after that, what on earth does it matter what they learn? It won't make any difference if you have written a story about aliens whereas the other kids did one on the plague.

I'm also ignoring half of what school suggests. My DD is not doing same as school suggests for art, music (too easy - DD needs more advanced stuff), RE, Spanish (we are doing French since that is what she learns at school, they only put in Spanish because it is what Oak National does!). We do school's science and history, but we add in lessons on typing, coding, geography additional science lessons, DT, etc.

We are also doing our own thing for reading, as we have loads of books DD wants to read.

I sometimes sent the teacher an email to let her know and show her some good work DD did but she doesnt reply so I've stopped bothering.

I think do what is best for your family and play on your own professional knowledge/hobbies- I have a Biology degree and speak Spanish as a second language - so science and languages I do the resources and teach it myself. Everything else we loosely follow the ideas sent by school, with DC's own interests coming in to this as well.

If it was me I would try and make sure the same maths topics are covered though (broadly!) to try and prevent "gaps" in their knowledge.

We're hardly following the school work now except for fun as they're generously aimed at encouraging the kids but not really stretching them, especially the maths. We're doing online lessons with a tutor and using the Bond Books although we're emailing progress updates to the teacher regularly, and they're happy.