What did you learn from homeschooling your children? Share with Epson – £200 voucher to be won

[JustineBMumsnet]

Now that most children are back in their physical schools, you might now (finally!) have time to sit down and reflect on the whirlwind experience of home educating your children during a pandemic. Whether your experience involved convincing yourself that watching a vaguely educational documentary counts as a lesson; navigating printing a never-ending stream of worksheets and constantly running out of ink; or wondering why, as an adult, you didn’t understand most of your child’s set work, Epson would like to hear about what you’ve learned from homeschooling your children.

Here’s what Epson has to say: “After months of juggling work and home schooling, parents across the country are breathing a collective sigh of relief. A recent study has shown that 60% of parents preferred teaching their kids using paper rather than a screen. However, printing can come with its frustrations, whether it’s running out of ink at a crucial moment to expensive cartridge costs.

Epson’s flexible ink subscription model, ReadyPrint, means you can print as much as you like without ever running out of ink while saving up to 70% on ink costs…no more last-minute panic when there’s a piece of homework due tomorrow!

Printing shouldn’t be a burden for parents. ReadyPrint helps save you money and gives you peace of mind with ink delivered straight to your door before you run out, making printing as easy as A, B, C.”

Have you learned that Year 5 Maths is a lot harder than you remember it being? Maybe you’ve become aware of just how much your children rely on screens - both in and outside of the classroom - and want to find more ways for your children to use printed resources? Have you noticed an increase in the cost of those learning materials? Maybe you picked up some tips you’d like to share with parents homeschooling (whether short or long-term) in the future? Perhaps running out of ink, paper, or other learning materials at the most inconvenient of times made you realise just how helpful flexible subscription services could be?

All who share what they learned from homeschooling their children on the thread below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £200 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks, and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

[JustineBMumsnet]

Thanks all for your comments! The winner of the prize draw is @AudTheDeepMinded

[EsmeeMerlin]

I learnt that I would rather shoot heroin directly into my eyeballs than ever teach my son another literacy lesson again.

I also learnt that my son learns better and engages more with project based learning than worksheets. We did a lot of practical work.

[duck22]

I have perfected my phonics.....and I definitely don't want to be a teacher

[nerysw]

I already thought my kids teachers were great but even more so after homeschooling. I learnt that I'm not as patient as I thought and my kids are great. I lowered my standards and gave them more screen time and time to play and we appreciated our garden a lot more.

[claza93]

I learned that bribery got me everywhere!

That we could not have done it all without a printer,

I learnt that as long as the kids were reading, getting fresh air and stayed off devices for longer than an hour I was winning!

[fourandnomore]

I learned how young children are taught to read, write and learn with two reception age children at home and how wonderful their teachers are. I learned how tiring learning is for my children.

I learned that my eight year old had very low confidence in maths, even though with the right approach she is actually very good at it. I learned she knows a lot about animals too.

I learned that my 10 year old is very independent and able to manage her own work, which really helped prepare her for high school next year. I also learned that she likes a bit of company when working even when she doesn’t need help.

Even with four kids homeschooling I learned that we all have had days and they’re often at different times so you just have to accept that some days will be a write off and some will be a win. I learned that I don’t have endless patience, but almost. As the months went on the shouting and outbursts became less and in the end I enjoyed it and felt a sense of loss when they went back to school.

[LibrariesGiveUsPower45321]

I learnt that teachers need significant pay raises.

[Longdistance]

I learnt that printer inks were completely unattainable during a lockdown and massively expensive for what they are.

[mrscatmad31]

I actually enjoyed home schooling, it helped me understand the level my child was learning at and we had lots of fun doing the activities. She is learning much better at school though, so I'm glad she's back

[Kittyme]

I have increased respect for teachers, classroom assistants and the support staff. They all do a fantastic job!!! I learned that teaching has changed so much since I was at school. Although I found home schooling a little hard at times I did enjoy being part of my children's learning and education.

[Cotswoldmama]

I agree that printing out what work I could was better than my kids staring at a screen all day and it meant they knew what was expected if them as it was there in front of them. I also wrote out a schedule on a whiteboard for each day, I tried to keep the day broken up with different activities as well as school work, but I would put it on a timetable do they knew what was expected if them that day and they could see that they might have to sit for half and hour and do some writing or maths but afterwards they would get to watch a film.

[Roomba]

Absolutely - I found it difficult to meet my child's expectations of home education as I didn't start each task by informing him what the 'Learning Objective' was and I failed to advise of 'Next Steps' at the end. "You're not being like a proper teacher!" I was informed. I have a PGCE!

Also the terminology for everything has changed in the years since I last taught. Subordinate Conjunctions and Fronted Adverbials were not required knowledge for seven year olds in my day.

Every task was such a faff when not in a ready prepared classroom. So much stationery, equipment, software installation and supervision was needed and my son couldn't focus for more than two minutes without asking for help.

[SuzCG]

I learned that children nowadays need to learn so much more about the terminology of their subjects - rather than just subject matter and also that maths is taught in such a complicated way now? I had ways of making things so much more simple and easy to understand - but apparently, these things have to be done and evidenced in certain ways!

[Buckingafout]

I learnt that I am not the earth mother I thought I was. After all I'd seen and done as an ICU nurse in the pandemic, it was the thought of going back to home schooling that made me break down and sob.

[Youdose]

That curiosity based learning really is the ideal for home learning. Taking a topic they're interested in and basing learning around that makes it much easier. We spent a lot of time on the seashore so ended up doing a lot of natural history, maritime history and science based around tides, moons, different energy sources etc.

[EvilHerbivore]

How resilient they are - homeschooling was difficult but they ploughed on and did their best with minimal moaning (one more than the other!)

[bonnymiffy]

I remembered that given all the career choices I could have made, being a teacher was never going to be for me, I learned I have even less patience than I thought. I loathed it with a passion, even when one (with an EHCP) was back and I only had one at home. I can't teach and do my own work at the same time (although I did get plenty of sympathy from clients who were trying to do the same)

[hannahbjm]

I learnt that I am actually not as patient as I thought i was! And what works for one of your children may not work for the other in regards to learning techniques.

[ArabellaScott]

I learned to exercise much patience and diplomacy, and enjoyed the chance to help my children with certain issues they'd previously struggled with. One to one tuition was intense, but I think it's been to the benefit of both children, although perhaps not my own work/stress levels.

[allthingsred]

That teachers are amazing!!!
That education isn't all about sitting down in front of someone learning through experience works better for my kids.
That I'm better with technology than what I thought I was

[vixeyann]

To approach life in a more flexible way. Forcing a daily schedule that was tightly regimented didn't work best for my son. Short bursts and breaking up the day with other activities did and, working this way, meant we were both happier and stopped a negative situation. I learnt you can't always manage everything!

[1969angep]

I understood first hand just how much my son prefers maths & science to English and that when he's not engaged it's ridiculously frustrating! Learning of maths seems to be a whole heap more complicated than it used to be and don't even start me on English! Fronted adverbials etc etc etc made my head implode!

[yasmin0147]

I’ve learnt that I don’t have as much patience as I originally thought I had. That teachers do a really great job, and I’m so glad I don’t work with children. I have loved being with my kids when we didn’t have work set though, some of the work was so hard for me to teach, especially as my youngest needed attention too. Would never want to do homeschooling ever again.

[DinkyDaffodil]

I learned how to be more organised with my time, I became much more tech savvy, opening emails, downloading and printing worksheets, scanning and emailing to school.
I was surprised how easy it became once I got the hand of attaching a file and creating filenames which I could find on my computer - I even managed to connect the printer to my phone and print off worksheets from there .

[mandes1]

I learned that I am not as patient as I thought I would be! Seriously though, like other parents, I discovered that teaching full time is not as easy and fun as it sounds. My 9 year old has dyslexia (although this has not been diagnosed as yet), so I realised that although he has made good progress, there is still a way to go. We are looking for a tutor for him in addition to school so that he can develop further.

We wern't inside all the time with the younger two (5 and 9) and spent time in the garden as well where their favourite game was spraying water at flies! (each to their own).

Other than that, it has been a blessing and the children have coped great with homeschooling.

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