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

[BlowDryRat]

I learned that I made the correct decision to not go into teaching. I'm awful at it and don't have enough patience.

[gillyweed]

I learnt that I'm not too bad at teaching but I never want to do it for a living. I also learnt my kids really like each other and are pretty resilient!

[ConquestEmpireHungerPlague]

I learned that my kids are getting a way better education than I did in the 1980s, even though I went to a very good school. It's easy to be snotty about fronted adverbials etc but actually the curriculum is far broader and more imaginative than back in the day imo, and the kids work much harder than we did.

[DulcetMoans]

We purchased a printer in this most recent lockdown and it was much easier.

I learnt that Year R they learn phonics only to spend Year 1 breaking all those rules. Some letters make 4 sounds! I learnt the English language is ridiculous.

I learnt cursive writing is pointless.

[CatNamedEaster]

I learned that trying to homechool a perfectionist while trying to do my own job and cover another can only ever end in tears for everyone involved.

I hated it, he hated it.

[Weirdfisher]

I learnt that GCSE science is much harder than I remember it being.

[Stargirl84]

We relied on me using the printer at work 🙈 because we ran out of ink, and couldn’t replace the ink during lockdown. My daughter (6) and I prefer completing work on paper rather than staring at a screen all day, so being able to print is a must for home learning.

This service sounds ideal to prevent running out of ink!

[DanielODonkey]

I learned that:
A set of felt tip pens per child was essential. And they have to look different so they won't be mixed up or stolen!

More paper than you think you might need. Because you need it for printing. And jotting down notes. And figuring out how to do a multiplication table. And then because you have lots of paper you can do online drawing classes. And then more drawing and then you realise the lack of paper was stifling their imagination.

Save all cardboard from the multiple paper and felt tip pens orders. I currently have a huge creation in the lounge that on one side is a a rocket, the other a flower garden and on top is as castle. We have also made cars, cities and aeroplanes. We bought a lot of pens and paper.

Pens for painting rocks. It's art! It keeps them quiet and interested! It helps make them go out for a walk in fresh air to distribute the rocks and then go out again to see if they have been moved.

I also learnt a lot about space, inventors, the best way to teach telling the time (hint: not the way originally tried), adverbs, phonetic spelling and a lot more.

I also learnt that I'm not cut out to be a teacher. My children learned that too and we had many conversations about communication.

[StickChildNumberTwo]

I learned a lot about my kids' strengths and weaknesses when it comes to their learning. I also learned that Teams is a complete nightmare and works differently on every single device.

[Skysblue]

Just how bad and archaic the primary English curriculum is. Fronted adverbials and expanded noun phrases for seven year olds. It’s as if they’re deliberately trying to destroy children’s enthusiasm for reading. Even the man who drew up the curriculum admits it isn’t working but teachers are still being forced to teach it.

[Miranda15110]

I learned that I could never be a teacher. That teachers are often undervalued and underpaid and that kids love being with their classmates.

[CathBookworm]

I learnt that my children are much better off at school than being taught by me! But I loved being a fly on the wall during zoom lessons, as it showed me some of the techniques used by teachers.

[santabetterwashhishands]

I learnt that teachers do a lot more than I thought they did!
Preparation takes a long time,then you have to put up with fidgety kids who moan about everything 😳. If you do manage to get them working they constantly snap their pencils,lose their eraser and moan 😳.
I'm surprised there's not as many alcoholic teachers than there is 😂( maybe they hide it well ).
I'm definitely pleased my children are back in school being taught by a (in my opinion) superhero 👍🏻👋🏼 and I will certainly be buying fine wine for her and her assistants at the end of this school year x

[mummyuk86]

I found that keeping a 5 year old focused enough to complete most school set learning is difficult for more than 5 minutes at a time.
I had to schedule short, sharp learning activities with my son to ensure he didn't get distracted.

[Kijaji]

I learnt that secondary school children are learning things that are never ever going to be used in real life and that the things they are learning are much more harder than when I was at school 20 years ago, they should learn more about real life i.e loans/mortgages/debt/ etc

[redbook]

I learned about the Passover Celebration with my y2 child. I probably learned about it at school but had long forgotten.

I also learned to set rules for snack breaks. If I showed any weakness, my DC would be asking for snacks every 15 mins. Why can't they stop eating??!

[wellingtonsandwaffles]

I learned lots about factories which was oddly fascinating as we followed DS interest. Can’t say the set work was interesting though! Learnt they need peer pressure to comply.

[Boofips]

I learnt that education is something I've taken for granted. I didnt do badly at school got mostly C grades in my gcses but I didn't give it my all and certainly could have done better.

I found myself wanting to find out more about topics dd1 was being taught (year 10) and throwing myself into furthering dd2 (year 1) lessons.

It has reignited a passion and thirst for knowledge I had when I was in primary school but lost as a teen.

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

I got a better understanding of how smart- but lazy- my younger daughter is. When she comes home from school saying she hates Maths for example... She means it's easy and she's bored. But she won't let on to her teacher as she doesn't want extra or harder work.

I learnt how dedicated my elder DD is. She wants to do everything set, regardless of how long it takes.

I learnt how much I appreciate personal space and silence.

Printing definitely made things easy... Choosing to be a technology light household meant they were accessing things on their Kindle Fires, with small screens.

[AllotmentTime]

I have learned that I should have paid the extra money for a proper AirDrop connectable printer. When we bought ours I went for a really cheap one because, back then, all we ever used it for was printing out boarding passes. Ha.

[Cattitudes]

I learnt how important being in school and covering the social side was for my dc. I learnt how unmotivated my youngest is when not stretched, but how much fun it is when he is enjoying a topic. I learnt how much I love not having to get them up and out in the morning.

I learnt how much better a laser printer was, yes the toner is expensive as was the printer, but knowing I would press a button and something would actually print was great.

[MrsNewms85]

That teachers aren't paid nearly enough and that being in a classroom with discussion on the topics is a huge part of the learning process.

[GooodMythicalMorning]

I've learnt that my child needs a proper learning environment to be properly engaged and that lots of patience is needed! Also that my home is not properly equipped as my 7 year old computer is not suitable for half the tasks provided, which I assumed it'd be able to cope with everything. We have a printer but weirdly not as useful as I thought as it all seems to be online stuff that gets 'handed' in via classrooms.

[EternalOptimist7]

I learnt that if I permanently homeschooled my daughter, we would kill each other! I have massive respect for friends that have been doing it for quite a few years.

[Sprongles]

I learnt to have a lot of respect for teachers

Printing out is much easier than on screen

Colour easier than just black and white