5yo learning and wfh, how do you do it?

[uhoh2020]

Massive mum guilt! I have hardly done any learning with my 5yo I don't know where to start. I'm wfh full time too more or less constantly tied to the phone all day. I feel I'm really letting him down.
Reading and writing is not something he enjoys and was behind in these before school broke up. He needs to be sat with to do any sort of reading or writing which a I haven't got the time to dedicate too him and b I've not a clue how to teach him these things like phonics etc.
He can only just about write his own name never mind write a sentence. I'm failing my boy !

You don’t need to teach him anything. What have school sent home for him? Worksheets? Tasks?

I hear you. The activities we’ve been sent are very interactive for the younger one. It’s not like you can just leave them to crack on with a worksheet. The worst ones are where you need to return to things done earlier in the week that we haven’t done. We try to do a tiny bit each day, and do reading at bedtime as usual.

A few work sheets of letter and number tracing and copying. A number line to help with adding and subtracting and a couple of books which are way above the level he was reading at. He was on level 3 books that he could barely do and been sent level 7 books home. We have been on education city a couple of times but hes just guessing answers he doesn't understand the questions.
We have been playing shop which he has enjoyed counting the pennies or counting out the blocks etc. Its his basic reading and writing I'm more concerned about.
The teacher suggested they write a little diary why they are off my ds is nowhere near able to do this

IXL is a great website. You need to subscribe to it but it might guide you.
BBC note size has lots of resources And I read they are adding a lot more.
I'm afraid that to are going to have to get involved and help him through this.

Phonicsplay is free and easy (he might do it independently), topmarks but honestly, don’t worry too much. He’s 5... it’s sad he’s missing out on all the lovely social stuff they do in Reception but he’ll be fine. Talk to him, when you’re bathing him maybe do some adding/subtracting of toys, watch TV with him when you’re finished work but generally don’t worry! I’m a primary teacher.

My suggestion would be to do the school reading just before bed and for you to do as much work possible during the night or early morning while he is asleep (that will reduce the work related pressure massively on you). Then fit the work calls when they are needed and a bit of school work on quiet times.

Something that is important to assume is that at that age, what happens in this year really doesn’t matter, you and the school will be able to bring him back to speed very quickly in the next year or so. He is still 5-6 years away from an exam that matters, so don’t stress too much about it.

None of mine would have been able to write a little diary at age 5! the teaching is sending tracing worksheets but she expects him to write a diary? Doesn’t make much sense!

Do you know where his Reading is at?

I would do the worksheets the teacher has asked, but you can help him with his reading if you know what kind of level he is at. Does he know all his phonics? If not work in that. Is he blending three and four letter words?

Math wise does he know his numbers? Does he understand what they represent? For instance can he give you five blocks if you ask for five? Is he adding and subtracting?

I would also read to him. Spend a lot of your time reading, do you have books at home? If not your library might have an online thing you can sign up to, mine is called borrow box. I can read a variety of books (including kids) on the free ap. it also has audio books. When you’ve read something ask him to draw about it, ask him to retell you the story in his own words, make your own story stones (on paper, google for them if you are not sure) and get him to use them, paint or do other crafts, make play doh and get his hand muscles nice and strong or continue to stay strong, ask him about his favourite animal and then learn about it online, you can watch short videos on YouTube type in penguin kids or lion kids and you will get short videos for kids. Then you can draw it, label it’s body which will help with writing and spelling etc

If you have access to a tablet, Teach your Monster to Read is also free and very good. My reluctant reader loves it as it's very much like a game but does help with phonics learning.

Remember that the work being sent home will not be differentiated so the teachers are catering for all levels - my 5 year old is very much towards the bottom end of the reading and writing scale too.

If funds are available, I bought some phonics book packs from scholastic online at the right level for my son and they arrived very quickly.

Twinkl also has lots of resources you can print out - worksheets etc to help practice letter formation and basic maths. The website is slightly tricky to navigate but they've created a home learning and parents hub which is a good start.

Numberblocks and Alphablocks on bbc iPlayer are also a great idea for helping him learn by osmosis!

Most of all don't worry - do what you can but don't stress. When you do have quality time, spend it doing enjoyable things - Lego, baking, playing games together.

My son really enjoyed helping sort washing the other day - long may it continue! 😄

Can I recommend watching Alphablocks for phonics, and Numberblocks for numbers. Both on iPlayer.

I think they are bloody brilliant, and have really helped my kids. I'm currently playing them for my reception age child. Also, I haven't yet looked myself, but apparently Amazon Audible has lots of books to listen to for free at the mo. Presume some are children's books.

Great minds NanooCov!

Thanks I'll look at those especially the teach the monster to read. We find phonics songs on you tube which he enjoys but always manages to navigate back to watching someone open a kinder egg 😒 so something different to you tube will be ideal. I know I'm probably over stressing things hence the middle of the night post.

Reading eggs is free for 30 days. If you have an iPad or similar it worked brilliantly for my 2nd child when he was learning to read. It does an assessment to determine what level they are at then just gives them games with rewards and only lets them progress when they 'get it'

Is he Reception or Year 1? If Reception i really wouldn't worry as they go over everything in Yr 1.

I’m the same trying to juggle working and teaching 6 year old. I’ve found it’s the constant trying to work out what to do, have I done enough etc. that is the most stressful. So I’ve made a list of activities (reading, 2 pages of maths, 20 minutes on school maths app, write a letter, cosmic kids yoga etc) and have said to DD she has to do 3 a day, her choice which. Each is only 20-30 mins each, and as long as she’s done that I feel it’s ‘done’.

Has taken a lot of the stress out for me of not knowing where to start/end, have we done enough etc. Given it a bit of structure which I’ve found has really helped. I know it’s probably a lot less than some are doing but I have to be realistic about what I can manage with work as well.

Hes in reception. I'm worried as I feel he was already behind and come September he will be even further back. Hes very clever in other ways he knows numbers shapes, he is very inquisitive about animals he loves to watch blue planet type of programmes he knows more about different animals and their behaviours and habitats than me. He is interested in everything except reading and writing lol

I am in the same situation with my 5 year old and also have a two year old at home as well. I'm wfh full time and it's been so difficult trying to 'home school' at the same time. After the first two days which were stressful for all of us I've pretty much given up on the school work. It's just not possible to do both and for us it was causing more stress and anxiety my 5 year old is a perfectionist and wasn't coping well if she didn't get something right and it was difficult to focus with the 2 year old pestering her to play. They are only 5 they aren't going to fall behind everyone's in the same boat. Like others have said we are trying to incorporate some of the learning type apps and tv during the day when we can but other than that at this age they learn so much from play

White Rose Maths have done lessons for every day. Their Reception stuff is really good - it's what I base my planning on.

We usually homeschool in our house, with three young children. Only my eldest is school age. She loves worksheets and is used to learning at home, and I really think I would struggle to get her to complete as many as some of your little ones have been set in a week!

As someone who spent a lot of hours researching home school before we started this journey, I can tell you that in many countries children don’t even start school until age seven and they are very good at catching up too. Everyone in the school system in the same boat so we can hope this unusual year is accounting for when they head back in September.

We keep things really simple and I’ve written everything here to try and help families navigate working and learning at home during lockdown. Ideas on how to share a home office with your toddler, manage working and living at home. What to do when you have a meeting with children in tow. How we rescue an aimless day and how we learn when life gets busy.

www.livelearntogether.co.uk

I really hope it helps. One day at a time - be kind to yourselves! And stop scanning the web for educational resources and enriched learning ideas unless you enjoy it. Take it from a homeschooler who does, it’s overwhelming at the best of times!

Errr you dont. You let him play

We’ve also both been WFH

Haven’t tried to get through school work in the week unless DC1 wants to (so mainly the online bits or creations get done in the week - watch this video, do this online game, build a house with rubbish..) - been doing it on the weekends instead as otherwise gets to stressful

I have a 5 year old and we use lots of activities from www.schoolsout2020.com it’s great as all the resources are in one place and found some great new ideas, especially art ones

It's impossible! I would park the school work and just focus on setting him up with some games, crafts, activities and not feeling bad if you do have to dump him in front of a screen to get work done. It's an impossible task to work, be a parent and to teach all at the same time. There is a reason we don't normally do it! Couple of bedtime stories maybe he can pick out a word or two, a bit of counting now and again - job done! Prioritise sanity!

What about the CGP books for primary school kids? My sister has a couple for math and English lessons at home. Twinkl has lots of worksheets in addition to print out to use at home too. Also the SchoolRun is good as well. She is also five so not much is done. But please do not worry, he will catch up. For now, focus more on reading stories every night with him. Try primarygames, the website has a variety of games for kids to play, worth a shot.
Get him cooking and baking. Oh and lots of art and craft project type activities to entertain him and keep you sane.

I don’t work from home, so am fortunately in a position to teach them.

Does he have a tablet or do you have one he can use? In your position, I would download various educational apps. I’ve heard reading eggs and number bloks is very good. I suspect there’s writing/letter formation apps too, you could get a stylus so it’s like holding a pencil for when he goes back. I know for amazon fire and iPads you can get keyboards for them, with a case so it’s a bit like a mini laptop, that might be another fun/different way to encourage him to write and think about what letters he needs, great in conjunction with reading eggs/similar and refreshing his phonics knowledge from school. It might be worth starting a thread for apps. I’d open an app and set him to do it, until you say so or perhaps a timer on a phone/said tablet. Remember this is crisis schooling, not homeschooling.