So much school work...

[formerbabe]

So when I found out schools were closing, I got lots of supplies in to do loads of activities and stuff with my DC. I had lots of good ideas for arts and crafts, games, cooking etc but they each have so much stuff to do from school, there's literally no time to do anything. I keep seeing people put up on Facebook the activities they've been doing and ideas to keep their DC occupied but honestly I can barely keep up with the actual school work let alone doing anything else.

I don't want to sound ungrateful to the teachers and schools as they're doing an amazing job in difficult circumstances but I do feel a bit disappointed as there's so much stuff I'd like to do and feel like our time isn't our own.

Whatever school is asking for work submissions isn’t following union guidelines for staff.

"I do feel a bit disappointed as there's so much stuff I'd like to do and feel like our time isn't our own."

OP, with all due respect are you a teacher? Your children are 9 and 12, I am sure your 'crafts, games and cooking' would be fun but their actual schoolwork set by a teacher is far more important.

Prioritise their schoolwork first - they will thank you for it in the future.

I am prioritising their schoolwork @Infivemins hence why we are struggling to do anything else. Was just wondering how other parents were finding the time to do so much fun stuff. I'm doing the best I can. It's incredibly difficult to become an expert in numerous subjects over night literally

We’re both teachers here but really recognise that all learning shouldn’t be traditional school style, classroom based.

We’re going to hit the basics (maths and English) every day through a variety of methods. Then we’re going to let ds choose something he wants to learn about. This morning we learned about Ancient Egypt.

Aside from that we’ve done baking, Lego, drawing and had a walk with the dog. I’m glad they’re sending work home and I’m selecting a range of tasks, which I combine with my own activities, that I feel will benefit ds most.

Was just wondering how other parents were finding the time to do so much fun stuff They're not!

Single parent working full time (have WFH for years so that's not new).
I'm doing what I need to do to keep us (me and my 2 sons) happy, safe and occupied.

Was just wondering how other parents were finding the time to do so much fun stuff They're not!

Maybe it's just on Facebook that they are!

I'm a teacher. They don't have to do the work. It's just there if you need it

You only see the editted version on face book.

As posted above, the one who isn't doing work... Prioritising mental health is important, yeah his education may suffer, but I don't care. Getting him to a healthy, balanced adulthood is more important. He has been happy to learn other skills. I will be emailing his teacher to let her know what education we have been sneaking in without him noticing.

Our secondary school is setting work equivalent to the time each subject appears in the curriculum.

Eg English/Maths set more and it's a mixture of private reading, topic and skills work, extended writing, online maths systems etc for KS3. GCSE have access to online courses.
But DT/Art/Textiles tend to put a menu of suggested tasks that build skills and students can select from.

Mine are getting quite a lot as well but the teachers are reminding us that the dc don't have to complete all of it & they're happy for them to pick & choose.

I've printed a 1 - 3 bits each day for my dc & letting them do their own things including music practise & lots of time in the garden.

I too thought we'd have time to complete various craft kits & activites but not yet!

It seems like all schools are different. My DC (secondary) had an assembly before the schools closed. They were told that they would be set a full timetable of work every day and there would be consequences if they didn't do it. I'm not sure how they're planning to enforce it or whether they were just trying to scare them into doing it but 2 of DDs friends have both said they're not going to do it.

DD is year 10 and has so far been set work in all subjects and it's mostly revision. She's freaking out because she thinks this is all she'll be doing until they go back and they'll be really far behind in their GCSE work. Hopefully it's just because they would have been doing tests in the last couple of weeks before Easter and they'll give them some new content after Easter.

DS is in year 8 and he is only getting maths, english, science and humanities. It seems to be mostly going over topics they've already covered. The English department set them 3 tasks to do every day, including a minimum 2 page creative writing task, which would probably take DS several hours. Fortunately, it was clarified later that they only had to do one of the tasks (on the timetable it said to do all of them).

Dd's (12) school are setting work online they are following the same timetable has school and are expected to complete the work.
yesterday dd completed all her lessons because I watched over her Today shes only done 2 because I can't sit with her all day doing the work. She has asd and can't get her head around the fact she has to do school work at home.

Nope. You're wrong.

Really? Who has told you this?

Our education authority, the head teacher and the class teacher have all said the same thing, don’t try to recreate school at home and don’t worry about about children losing ground.

my daughter is in year 8 and we are doing about 3 hours a day. it's a struggle.

Didn’t think it would take long for some parents to moan about the work being set and I was right!

OP you really need to take a step back and come off Facebook too. Let the kids do what they want to do or leave it completely. It really doesn’t matter and to whoever thought it did upthread, you are very wrong. Teachers and relevant bodies such as exam boards are expecting children to not be the same academically come September and starting to come up with ways to help with this.

Facebook is just not good to be comparing yourself to-just a 2/3 minute task and a photo is all it takes to go, yay look at us!!!

Teachers are setting this work so that there is something there for the children todo if they want some sense of normality and to prevent some parents complaining that we are being lazy and not setting any.

For my own child, I haven’t even looked at what has been sent by the teacher yet and have been doing my own things, whilst still working etc.

It really is no big deal but these posts do have a side effect of making teachers feel less valued yet again. I should really stop clicking on these threads!

I'm not moaning...and in my op I said how much I appreciated the teachers. I just feel like I'm doing something wrong as I'm struggling to fit it all in let alone include baking, tents in the garden and all the other stuff people seem to be doing!

Don’t believe what people are saying they’re doing. No one posts that they spent all morning begging their children to get dressed and trying not to kill each other.

You are moaning though. It’s fine. I get that it is hard but you really must not think you have to do everything that is sent. You don’t. Go and build your tents and bake. Problem solved!

School had said that if the work isn't submitted, they'll be in touch. I'm feeling really stressed

But realistically, what will they do.

Everyone’s mental health is important right now. Do what you need to do. Don’t stress about the schoolwork. You can guarantee there will be some who do nothing (parents struggling, or perhaps just disengaged) and some who do twice the set amount. Seriously, take a big step back. Do some fun stuff. Do some schoolwork. Come off social media.

Remember that for every person like you, there will probably be another one who doesn't feel there's enough being sent. Just do the parts you like and which keep the key skills ticking over.

Im using these first few days/weeks to adjust to the changing world situation with the kids, so basically treating it like a holiday indoors for now:) When the official easter holidays start and they are bored out of their heads thats when we will catch up with the school work as they will be desperate for something else to do!

I'm so glad my kids schools aren't doing online teaching or using Teams/Skype to teach my kids. They don't have a laptop each, and our internet is too slow.
We're doing our best- 3 hours each morning to cover most subjects over the week.
Creative stuff & exercise in the afternoons, with films & nature TV type stuff when possible.

@TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross
"I don't understand what you mean by this. I'm not asking anything of parents. I deliver the lessons so I'm doing the teaching and marking the work."

As i said, all schools must be different then.
Thats certainly not the case in any of the schools I'm aware of.
My aunts school (she works there) secondary school - no teacher involvement
My DD's school - one teacher has set a "if you want, they could look at Isaac Newton" message, the other has sent nothing. The school have sent the usual weblinks.

My dbros school (student) secondary school - follow their usual timetables but use the time to brush up on previous knowledge

My friends kids school - same as mine.

All different LEA's. So, there isn't one broad line. Hence my "you can't reasonably expect a parent to teach" because...we aren't teachers.
And as teachers are always the ones saying how important they are - it's a reasonable argument that they have a special skill most people don't. That is certainly true of me - I'm a highly educated individual in a good job, with good general knowledge - I'm more likely to teach my children about how the political systems in different countries work, about thinking outside the box, how to make a bloody good cake and how to clean a house tbh.

Whilst I obviously know the subjects they're studying at school, I cannot parcel that up into an information packet that will fall inline with school curriculum. I'll do my bloody best, but as above, I'm not a teacher. Their teachers aren't involved with this bit of their education, so no, I don't imagine they'll be at the "required academic level" they just won't have dropped down any levels.

I can cope ok with maths, English, re, geography, science and history...I was completely stumped by computer science today and no amount of googling or research is going to help me so we're leaving that. It's way beyond my capabilities!