The Joy of Homescholing

[EssexAnya]

How to make the most out of homeschooling

1 You are the teacher.
I’ve got news for you: you’ve become a teacher ever since you found out that there is a child on the way. Oh, and did I mention that you are the most wonderful teacher in the world for your child?

2 Play!
Do not interrupt your child’s game in order to sit them down to do homework. Instead, start a game into which you can weave homework.

3 Prepare.
Set up props, draw quest maps and add décor the night before. Let your child wake up into a story…

4 Bring in the big players.
Invent a story about your child’s favourite characters: pirates, animals, cartoon characters, aliens, monsters, etc.

5 Imagination is everything.
You don’t need to visit a NASA building in order to create a space-themed quest. All you need is a couple of very simple props and a dramatic story and your child will imagine everything else. Add homework to the mission to fight evil aliens.

6 Observe them, do not change them.
Notice the speed at which your child does things. Do not encourage them to slow down or speed up their progress, just watch. Let them be.

7 Relax.
If you are tense, worried and stressed about your children’s homework they will pick up on that and feel guilty and inadequate. Are you the most creative and productive when you feel guilty and inadequate?

8 Your child’s learning is your responsibility; your child’s homework is not. This is a very important distinction to keep in mind.

9 Role reversal.
Ask them to teach you. Even if your child is learning the ABCs ask him to teach you to write the letter A. Try writing A and make a mistake. Accept their correction and try again. According to the Cone of Learning the best way to learn is by teaching others, so be your child’s pupil.

10 Do not EVER approach your child with any variation of this statement: “Get the homework done and then you can play.” Your child is not in prison and therefore you don’t need to chain them to their desk. If you happen to be fresh out of ideas about how to make homework fun, then do nothing that day! Let them enjoy themselves, observe them and watch their favourite shows with them. Notice what interests them and then create a game later.

I hope you found this short summary helpful. If trying these ideas seems like a mission impossible to you right now, please leave a comment and I will support you the best I can.

Please note that I do not work in education, I am not a child psychologist, and I never planned to homeschool. I am just a mum whose child has received top marks ever since the lockdown while having fun. If I can do this, so can all of you.

Set up props, draw quest maps and add décor the night before. Let your child wake up into a story…

Blimey, it's a miracle if I manage to load the dishwasher before I collapse into bed. I'm not sure I could face making a stage set of Cinderella before bed...but bless you op

But you have a nursery aged child? You aren't home schooling, you're at the learning through play stage. I have two kids, that have lessons set by the school that I have to teach, and then they have to complete the set work which I need to upload for marking. It is time consuming and at times tedious. However, we are actually doing ok, and I'm proud of them for coping so well.

I am afraid that my home ed trial is more like NuffSaidSam but then I have three dc, all (usually) in full time school, both parents working full time from home and generally it is not quite as rosy as you outlined. You might want to revisit this post in ten years and decide whether it is still true, you might have qualified it with an age range. Remember that it is different and your relationship changes over time with your children. If I tried to wake my dc up into a story to teach simulations quadratic equations they would just be embarrassed for me.

One thing though that my children are demonstrating is their resilience and perseverance, especially those who were not 'receiving top marks' whilst in preschool. Although involved in their schooling and at the time working much less, I encouraged them to play independently, be bored a bit, find their own entertainment. Too many students start university having been spoonfed for years and propped up by their parents and to an extent teachers too. Some of them really struggle to study independently. This skill doesn't just emerge overnight when they leave school, it develops over time.

I would encourage a little benign neglect as well. If they are playing, don't start a new game or try to interweave in some learning, let them enjoy their game while you do something else. Rather than incorrectly writing an A (though at preschool don't they start with a?) which might confuse your child, get them to teach a pet or a teddy.

Most importantly let your child be a child, as a preschooler they don't really need any formal teaching, let them have fun being them, all too soon for them life will start spinning, if you have the time to enjoy them and chill a bit then grab it.

It's a different kettle of fish when you have a teenager with additional needs.

Ummm.... I was home schooled before it was cool. If there had never been any, " Do your work and then you can play," I'm not sure I'd have ever learnt to add up.

However much fun you exhaust yourself trying to make it, and however much your child wants to be a rocket scientist when they grow up, there will be times when they just need to buckle down, listen to you, and learn. Take it from someone who had a lovely, fun mum, an extremely happy childhood, and who never spent a day in school.

What I liked as a child was routine. We do school work at this time, we play at this time, and so on. Then you know where you are. A continual day of play with bits of random learning in would have driven me mad, however nice the props were, once I was over the age of about 6. If it works for your child, OP, that's lovely. But it's not going to work for all children.

I'll choose not to take tips from somebody who can't even spell homeschooling ta

Is this some sort of joke ??

Cornishmumofone: When the lockdown started I was just as anxious as anyone else about homeschooling. My child was at nursery half day and I thought "Am I supposed to turn all teachery and follow some sort of 3-hour curriculum from now on?" I found out that the more of all this I apply the LESS time it takes my child to do homework. And if I don't yell and stress out it actually takes less energy.

I wasn't anxious. I simply don't have time. I have a 3 year old who is normally at pre-school 8am-6pm. Her dad is a key worker, so he's not at home during the day time. My current role is supporting the online learning of student nurses and AHPs so my workload has gone through the roof. I deliver live webinars most days of the week, so I can't do this after DD has gone to bed and as the person leading the webinars, I can't just mute my microphone.

DD does loads of craft activities at preschool and we normally spend weekends doing sport (parkrun, other runs and walks, swimming) and visiting family or playing with toys, so we don't have craft stuff at home and most stuff is sold out online.

I don't yell and stress at DD but she's bored and lonely and wants more attention than I can give her.

Topmarks in nursery.... you are in for a proper shock when school starts.
a) if your nursery doesn’t give ALL kids top marks, its a shit nursery. no surprise you child is doing better at home.
b) Many nurseries tell most parents that their kids are incredibly advanced. what they don’t tell you as that most parents will hear exactly the same.
c) you are as it sounds a SAHP with one toddler. You live a life of luxury.
I have a friend who talks very similarly. she has a 4 year old and a nanny who covers her part time work hours and then some. You and her don’t have a clue.

I think it's a lovely gesture of the OP to share some of the things she's learnt, she genuinely was trying to help!
I'm sure she's realised she didn't quite hit the right note.
Well done everyone who's getting through the days right now.
I'm a primary teacher and I believe if your child does some reading every day and some number bonds/times table practice you're winning.
And if that's too much for your situation, don't stress, we'll catch them up when they're back at school :)

I think it’s lovely that you’re creative and have time to do all this. Your dc will benefit from it.
It’s also beneficial for children to know that they do need to do some formal learning too. Sometimes they need to sit down and get some work done like a list of maths questions.
It might be boring but ‘you can play after this’ is fine. We all know that it’s better to get work done so we can kick back and ‘play’
Some maths, reading and benign neglect without screens (then with screens) and outdoor time pretty much covers most of what most dc need to thrive.

Why is your nursery sending homework and giving marks?

Here's a tip for the future, school is not magical, a horn won't toot everything they get something right and there are no red (magic) carpets. At some point they need to learn to sit down,get on with it and do the work. Teachers are teachers not magical performing monkeys.

What have I just read. Jesus wept.

OP I admire and envy your enthusiasm but there’s a touch of let them eat cake here...

Homework and too marks at nursery? Stop making your poor 3yr old do homework and let them play. They shouldn’t be doing formal work at 3.

Everyone is an expert on ‘homeschooling’ now 😂 I’ve home educated my children for a couple of years and I can assure you I am not a teacher nor am I trying to be. I’m their parent, home educating, not trying to replicate school at home.

I think I'd change nursery....

Oh do fuck off. DH and I are both working all hours to keep our jobs, we have three children to somehow do something, anything with to at least try and make sure they learn something. There are tears EVERY day. When am I supposed to do all that shit while being permanently exhausted and anxious?

If you try to find an unfair advantage in my situation or income level, you won't find any. I might be a rich stay at home mum with three childminders on a speed dial or a single parent with three jobs, whatever my situation is it will not help any of you with your daily struggles. My original post never meant to offend or pull down any mum on this network, I only hoped to start a discussion on what works and what doesn't.

Isn't your DC in preschool or nursery by the sounds of it?

It's a bit of a different ball game with older children.

Ummm.... Thanks.

I think your heart is probably in the right place, but you haven't really thought this through. Most of your tips aren't going to work with anyone over the age of about 4 (max).

formerbabe: I understand that. I'm not assuming that you can get a teenager to do homework by playing musical chairs or watching jolly phonics. I would love to know what you mums do with teenagers at home. What works? What sucks?

I would love to know what you mums do with teenagers at home

Give them a laptop and tell them to do the work the school has given them.

I'm there to help if he needs it but the teachers set the work and I can't change that nor do I want to.

Yes same as formerbabe plus some bribery (food, socially distancing walk with friends, gaming, TV). Plus telling them how useful this will be for when they go to uni and need to motivate themselves. Fortunately mine have been used to having periods of having to arrange their own time since they were preschoolers (with supervision of course) so are fairly independent and this has really helped.

Voice0fReason: your biggest issue is what to do with the 18-month old, right? Is it a boy or a girl? Does s/he take naps, or no chance of that anymore? I've heard advice to do some work after they go to bed. I'm a morning person, but under the circumstances I decided to work at 10pm until midnight. I only lasted for 6 nights (my child wakes up around 6am). I don't know if you are a night owl or a morning person, but do you think you can try staying up later or waking up earlier to do some work? If you try it, let me know if it worked for you.

Is your employer aware of your situation at home?

Do you have a partner? Can you take turns with the 18 months old?

When the lockdown started, my child thought it was a Christmas break. We had to have "the talk" about the new situation. Every day we were explaining to her that although we are all home, mummy and daddy cannot dance around her all day long. At first it was no use, but eventually she understood.

Oh good grief. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt initially, but either you are on the wind up or you are genuinely unaware how patronising you are being.

And your problem is you have absolutely no comprehension of what other parents who have more complex situations are experiencing and how your advice is oversimplified bollocks.