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

[ponygirlcurtis]

I learned that DS could do a lot more than I thought and had much better reading comprehension than I thought, that was a pleasant surprise. I also had it reconfirmed that school is about so much more than learning numeracy and literacy - DS could complete most of the work in a couple of hours but hated working on a screen all day and missed his classmates.

[Teatoweltable]

With only two children to teach I can do a much better job than a teacher with a class of 30.

The most important thing by far children get from school is socialising and independence.

[Teatoweltable]

Oh, and printer ink is fucking expensive

[RaggieDolls]

That I was much better at it than I ever could have imagined. My then yr1 DS was struggling with school before the first lockdown. I never would have wished for the circumstances we all found ourselves in but for him it was helpful to have some time away and 1-1 tuition.

I'm so proud of how much he has advanced with the benefit of 1-1. He's so much happier at school now he's level pegging with the other children.

He wrote in the Mother's Day card he made me 'thank you for helping me with my work'. I can't quite believe a seven year old would think that deeply about the whole situation to write something like that. He is far more mature than I ever give him credit for. I feel closer to him than I might otherwise have done.

I'm left feeling a bit sad now he's back because I enjoyed teaching him (hated balancing it with my own work but that's a different story) but I am too well established and well paid in my career to consider a change. I appreciate it is different with a class of 30 though...!

[Dizzywizz]

I learnt that no amount of stress was worth how it was making me and my son feel, and backed right off. I made sure he had educational things to do while he was working, and that every day we did English, maths and reading. We didn’t worry about any of the other bits.

[Mooloolabababy]

I learnt that teachers do an amazing job and should never be taken for granted

[Convallaria]

That it takes teachers a lot longer to do an activity with 30 kids at school than it takes at home 1:1.
There is so much wasted time in school. I now understand that when i ask my kid how school was today, and he says ‘boring’ it’s because all the timewasting that goes on is truly tedious.

[ILoveMyCaravan]

I learned that my kids are resilient and motivated to do their college and university work. Because we home educated out of choice several years ago. They have not been spoon fed what to learn and they excel at independent study.

I have learned that they can still seem to spend hours on gaming and other interests yet still complete their academic work to a high standard and hand it in on time.

I have learned that we shouldn't have worried so much.

[houseplantlover]

I learned that maths is very very different now to how it used to be!

[AdaThorne]

I learned that screens will never be a replacement to paper (much to my disappointment as we seemed to be ankle deep in worksheets from about three days in).

I also learned a great repertoire of 'Wake Up Shake Up' type songs with actions to kick start the homeschool day (and am actually humming the one about porridge now. Bloody earworm).

[MumC2141]

That I really can’t teach my children and they need to be in school.

[bettertimesarecomingnow]

I learned that my dds spelling was nowhere near as good as I thought!

And that I have much less patience with them than I realised.

Also that my routine quickly went out of the window and we ended up in pjs til noon!

[PitchImperfect]

Well, I'm a normal-times home-edder but I've learnt just how much I appreciate the groups my DC attend that give them opportunities for socialising. It's exhausting having to be their everything! Their groups aren't allowed to start back yet so we're still waiting for our little bit of normality to resume!

[Serender]

I learned that although kids this generation are into their iPads, that their imagination knows no bounds because of the sorts of games and movies out there these days.

[GingerScallop]

A good printer and laminator are important to homeschooling

[ILoveFlumps]

I learned many things:

1. Teachers are amazing creatures
2. I'm not a teacher
3. My son learns much better with practical demonstrations. I unleashed my inner Blue Peter.
4. I'm far more creative than I thought
5. English is much harder to teach than I thought!
6. Whiteboards are a great invention
7. There are so many resources available on the internet
8. Boys cannot sit down for longer than an hour at a time!

[PatrishaPatel]

I learned that education now is definitely different to when I went to school. I never started languages so early on in school so that was a revelation for me.

[digginthedancingqueen]

That I could never homeschool full time! That school is about more than just lessons, it's vital for socialising imho.

[ruqiya1965]

I learned homeschooling in this day and age with the current setup involves way too much screen time.

[saffysabir]

I learned that homeschooling is actually not as bad as some people make it out to be. As long as the syllabus is there and all the work is clear, it's pretty engaging and can be fun as long as you make it fun.

[Kweenxo]

I thought I learnt patience being a mum, but boy was I wrong. It's hard work teaching kids and I learned more about juggling things around than ever before.

[TheWashingMachine]

I learned that successful homeschooling is about being well prepared, having good tech, ideally a laptop and headphones for each child. Knowing what you children's timetables are also helps get prepared. Printing out what is needed in the morning, piling everything up in order of the lessons, for example put the exercise books and sheets for the last lesson of the day at the bottom of the pile and the stuff you need first at the top. Exercise books are useful for each subject then there is no fumbling about with scraps of paper. Same with stationery, have plenty, sharpen pencils at breakfast. Keep a spare maths set, protractors and compasses seem to get lost regularly. When the day is over pack everything into a box and clean and clear up your workspace, especially if it is your kitchen. Everyday remember to take time to switch off and do something fun and identifying two high points and one low point from the school day is always a good idea.

[Emmy93]

I learnt that I probably need to go back to school 😂 but teaching my son i also learnt alot about other countries with the help of barny bear, I also learnt how nice it was seeing my child learn a few things from me that he should be learning at school, I found it so fun and would do it all again 😊

[DennisTMenace]

That I am not a good younger child teacher and had to try so hard to be patient. I have done plenty of training with adults and am fine with that. My child learns so much more at school and enjoys being with friends.

[IloveJKRowling]

Really enjoyed the schoolwork and enjoyed teaching but discovered that a 7 year age gap is difficult to juggle.

If I could have had either of them on their own to teach, it would have been great, it was trying to occupy the little one so I could help the big one that was tricky (particularly if trying to avoid destruction of the house).

I learned some areas of weakness in the school's provision for my older daughter, and things I can do to plug those gaps.

I learned that teachers are amazing and doing a lot with very little (knew that already but it brought it home) and in general really want the best for all their pupils.

The main thing that my children missed was not education but socialisation and time with friends. So even though the age gap was tricky educationally I'm glad they had each other - and their relationship has bloomed as a result. I do think it must have been especially hard for only children.