Homeschooling Help

[olive]

Are there any children who are breezing through home schooling?

We had a 2nd grade mums catch up and I was quite surprised that there were a couple of parents who gave their kids the weekly schedule and let them get on with it. These kids are 7/8 year old and this hasn’t been my experience at all or the case for a lot of other parents.

[Glint]

If I let S do sumdog all day, he'd be very happy.

I've had a strong word (possibly in not the calmest of ways) about what you write or don't write online. He drama-ed a completely 'did you enjoy your holiday' thread into abrupt rudeness.

[Flora Poste]

Are there any children who are breezing through home schooling?

To be fair, A (she's 10 and Year 5) is absolutely fine - she's just working through what is set, uploading it and going through the responses. I have no idea what she's actually been doing as she's been entirely self-sufficient. I only realised today wasn't an inset day because she'd logged on to see if she had anything to do

Fortunately I have the other two to keep me grounded.

[wendy james]

My two are getting on fine with it, but it's been quite low-key from school. No online teaching or live interaction and they're Y4 and Y1 so I'm not massively concerned about long-term impact. They had a daily English and Maths task before the holidays, as well as instruction to carry on with their reading and TT Rockstars (app for multiplication) for Sproglette.

Post-holidays, it seems to be similar but Sproglette has also got spellings and some additional tasks for her 'Challenge' group at school. She also got
a holiday project to research Antartica (which they usually get each holiday before they start a new topic).

We're not even submitting anything for review - it's being done in their school books they have to take back in (which I don't then expect to be marked!).

[smalex]

I properly lost it was W by 10am, screamed up the stairs for S to come down while he was on a conference call and then cried for about an hour. So yeah. It's all going dreadfully well.
It's not that I need to be told that none of it matters and just do what you can (which is all true) but he has to *do* something for at least a few hours a day otherwise it's all going to be a lot worse. I'm just a bit worn thin by the constant (constant) talking, my mounting work load and only being able to do it in 5 minute chunks, and then when he seemed unable to divide 9 by 2 even though he's entirely capable of it and I led him to the answer about 3 times I just lost it. I feel absolutely shit about it now. Completely.

[Luce]

F is doing absolutely fine, I'll send him off and he works on his own then he comes and tell me what he's done. I'd be one of those twats saying how easy it was were it not for Theo - who requires magic, acrobatics, a full show just to get him to write his name on some paper.

Our stuff is minimal though. Basically one or two tasks before lunch and maybe one after. In between there is a lot of trampoline/baking/TV/bike riding/board games.

I will NOT miss it but I know my brain will look back on this with rose-tinted glasses.

[Luce]

Sorry Smal, I missed yours in an effort to talk about myself

Have a firm hug for me. I'd hand you a cold gin if I could. Is there any chance you can just cancel today and go and have some alone time/do something physical on your own for a bit? If not, you might need to write this off as a very shit day and hope for a better one tomorrow.

[purple_dress]

At roughly what age would you expect them to be able to work largely independently on stuff they know? J wants me to sit with him and supervise even though he knows what he needs to do. He's almost 8.

It's difficult with S as well (who has no work as he's preschool age) plus me trying to work some of the days.

Sympathies to those having bad days. J had a tonne of work today and had such a face on when he woke up.

[smalex]

I've just had two weeks off, I just can't afford the time. I'm so behind (and simultaneously a bit fucked in a month when the work runs out!). TBF S has taken W mainly after I melted down. I think it's just having done two solid weeks of trying to entertain him/fill the time/mutter uh huh for the 1660079484th time that day and then the reality that there's just no let up to quietly get my head down and get on with everything I need to do.

[Luce]

It's hugely overwhelming, I get it. I think there is a lot to be said for pure denial and not thinking past the next 10 minutes.

No idea about J but if you're definitely convinced he knows what to do/how to do it then I would be telling him to get on with it and let me know when he's finished. I cannot remember what 7/8 year olds are like, mind.

[olive]

Oh man, I sympathise Luce and Smalex. Our school is still giving us a decent workload, report cards, grades etc but as a private school I’m assuming they want to make sure parents are not asking for fees refund.

At roughly what age would you expect them to be able to work largely independently on stuff they know? J wants me to sit with him and supervise even though he knows what he needs to do. He's almost 8.

I would say it depends largely on the child. Until last week I’d have said T was doing fine and working independently (he’ll be 10 this week) but it turns out he hasn’t been studying for tests (or letting me know he has them), turning in work or anything that’s a decent standard. His effort level is probably around a 3 and as a result I’ve had to move him to work downstairs.

M, who is 7 won’t lift a pencil unless I’m stood over him so this morning alone I’ve been going between them both every two minutes. I’m asking him to try for 10 minutes and I’ll come back to check in on him which helps buy me a bit of time. If he’s gets absorbed in a task he’ll often not notice the 10 minutes are up.

A couple of M’s classmates have been more or left to it which I’m a bit surprised about but they’re obviously better at self regulating than him. Most of T’s classmates have been left to it and I know that a couple of them haven’t turned up for presentations or projects so I wonder whether that’ll be a surprise to their parents at the end of the year.

[Ruby]

The age at which children can work independently varies enormously. I mean, I still need to sit with some 15 year olds. I think the chaps would have been about 8 or 9.

[Jupiter]

A is almost 11 and I'm letting her get on with it. She is fairly good with self discipline so this morning I just gave her the list of work for the week and told her to pick a little bit to do from each subject. I'd rather her play outside with the dog or read a book which she does anyway..

[Kleio]

Cube (11, y6) and Betty (almost 10,y5) can definitely be left to get on with it except for the odd new thing they want to talk through with me or, when I need to get Cube to realise he’s capable of challenge 3 things and challenge 1 stuff isn’t good enough.

Elf (6, y2) can do some of the tasks independently but I like to sit with him just in case.

[Pippedydeadeye]

We’re not filling a full school day, we’re barely filling a morning with what we’re doing. I managed to get them to go away and have had a quiet afternoon. I’m really behind too.

But I’ve figured they’re probably doing more than many are. The general sense I’m getting from parents I’ve assessed to be like me is that we’re in the middle of the bell curve.

[viggy]

BM is 7 and can work for short spells independently, but the current situation means she's more anxious, so she needs a lot more reassurance and support.

She's also weirdly resistent to any kind of school work, even though she's the kind of kid who would pepper me with maths questions and write stories for fun in normal times. Her Dad is taking charge of the home schooling for the first couple of days this week, so it will be interesting to hear how they get on.

[Dáire]

Mine are doing alright. I'm pretty hands-off - I tell them if they don't understand it or they claim to have never been taught it, I suggest they can speak to their teacher about it (they are usually fibbing and my sympathy is false ). They've never took me up on the offer and suddenly remember how it's done, or they crack on and give it a go. Mr D is a bit more faffy, while I'm yelling from another room 'it's THEIR work, leave them alone.'

Is W old enough to appreciate you need to do your work and he needs to do his? If he wants to claim he's forgotten division, he'll have some way of contacting a teacher via whatever method he's accessing work, and can explain to them. Or he'll have to go back to basic Division in the Reception section of BBC Bitesize. He'll either suddenly remember how, or he'll know it's his responsibility to revise it.

One of mine is fond of claiming a total inability to do anything, but once she realised we were both busy with our own work and neither was going to believe she had been rendered illiterate, she stopped trying it on. When she has a genuine question we're obviously right on hand, but it's obvious when she's being silly.

[purple_dress]

Thanks. I will try to supervise but not have to actually be sat next to him the whole time. That would be an improvement.

[Flora Poste]

But I’ve figured they’re probably doing more than many are. The general sense I’m getting from parents I’ve assessed to be like me is that we’re in the middle of the bell curve.

Yes, same here. From the parents I know at the same school (so have the same amount of work as us - it's more difficult to compare with other schools with varying amounts of set work) we're definitely somewhere in the middle.

Although, I did have to raise my eyebrows when my friend who has been breezily saying how little her kids are doing, let slip that she's only gone and got an online lockdown tutor for her children. She's normally very vocal about her opposition to all forms of private education, tutoring and grammar schools so I can only assume she's having some sort of weird breakdown.

[Ruby]

A fucking lockdown tutor. Oh please.