* Driving Home for Christmas * - It's the 2021 Christmas Chatter Thread!

kerri_gt

PK i was having a discussion with a friend last week about struggles with home schooling. I said to her that as adults it is sometimes hard enough to wfh with all the distractions about us.
If it's hard for adults,  we have to appreciate how hard it is for kids to adapt who have been in and out of school like the hokey cokey, esp the young ones who aren't used to home being a school type environment (at least the older ones do have homework usually). We can't just expect them to switch from home being somewhere to kick back and play to 'you have to sit here and do lessons'. Esp when they can't really grasp the wider concept of why they're not at school.  Great if some kids have done their work early, but don't beat yourself up if Wiggle doesn't get through it all,  if he does some, or learns in another way (baking = maths, dexterity,  science, going for a walk = science, geography,  PE) then that's ok too. In Sweden I believe kids don't have to start school until 7 and they do just fine. 
Hang in there.

vulpix

PK,ditch the competitive parents. I worked in a school for 20 years and parents like that are a pain and it doesn't go un noticed. If wiggle is about 6 (if I remember) he can only concentrate fully for about 6 minutes. So every 10 minutes have a little break,a drink of water a bit of skipping or joe wickes,a run round the garden ,whatever and then do some more. He knows it has to be done but in bite sized pieces. Also housework can be educational, he can put the shopping away,read the labels,see which country they come from,what the weight is etc. I used to get mine to write me a shopping list or a to do list, do a survey within the family.Phone grandma etc and find out what is the most popular ice cream flavour or eye colour and make a chart. Also cooking is fab,read the recipie (with help if needed) measuring on the scales,cutting things with a butter knife,mixing and cooking.Thats good for science.Materials that change eg wet cake mixture into cake or ice cubes wet to solid and back to wet.What materials change when heated or frozen. Make playdough,junk modeling,all this your younger one can join in with. Do a treasure hut in the garden.He has to read the list and he and his brother find the items and you get a brew in peace. eg, 6 pebbles, a brown leaf,4 green leaves,something yellow etc etc etc.hope i havent told you how to suck eggs,but don't feel inferior to steppford wives.
Vx

vulpix

PS treasure hunt it should say.If I don't press hard on my keyboard i come a cropper.See prime example i not I. Also should say after cooking,washing up is ages of fun for youngsters who have a dishwasher at home.

lizzie_b

PK I am totally with you with the homeschooling nightmare, our boys are the same age (remember your announcement of Wiggle's arrival whilst impatiently waiting for my 12 days late lazy boy to show his face) and I echo what vulpix says about attention span.  
We have been really lucky that ours work on ipads in school and are able to bring these home, so his english and maths lessons are recorded lessons from their teachers, but anything else he loses interest very quickly.
Don't beat yourself up about it, and if you want to swap notes please feel free to dm me

vulpix

Soz for the rant yesterday,I have a cold and hadn't had much sleep !

mandco

Vulpix  I didn't think you were ranting just offering some sound advice based on years of experience when  it come to competitive parents who try and make everyone else feel inferior.  Me & Taz have both got colds too and I've been feeling rubbish the last few days.

Princesskitty - vent away   please don't let other parents make you feel bad - some people make themselves feel better by making out their life & kids are perfect and putting down other people its one of the main reason I don't do social media. Home schooling is  flipping hard even when its by choice so you are not alone in your struggles. Wiggle is still young and ok he can probably sit though lesson for the most part in school but that's in school with a teacher who prepared the lessons knows all the answers has the time to work through the lesson with no other distractions often with an assistant or 2 for back up. I know schools are expected to do more this time but I would simply prioritise the main subjects and go with the flow for the rest. Work in small chunks to get any work done and submit what he manages to do at the end of the day even if it isn't much. Even though we are more flexible with what Taz learns he does likes bbc bite size which helps keep him up to date with curriculum subjects as I know a lot of schools have been using it but there are lots of non work activities that still teach them valuable skills in a less formal way and that you can involve squeak with too so do what works for you and your family - you are an amazing mum doing the best you can under the circumstances and that is more then enough regardless of what you feel social media mums fantasy lives might suggest.
Things that work of us 
If he's not keen on sitting at a table to work try other locations - sit on the floor with cushions - Taz like to sit on the sofa with a lap tray. We do one learning activity followed by one fun activity - he even helps with the housework (home tech) which teaches valuable life skills 
break the lesson into short periods of time and set a timer for each block of work even if its only 5-10mins do what you can in that time then take a break and come back to it once they have had a break  - 30 mins of maths doesn't have to be in one go 
sorry about the essay   

princesskitty29

Thank you so much for your messages they have been so good to read. I did read a few last night (sorry it was late and I was way too tired to reply) and they really helped me. I felt a bit bad after my last post as I know some people have it harder like people working full time or who have several school age children but I couldn’t stop the feeling. I did start to feel a little stressed this morning but I snapped out of it quickly and have been in a really good frame of mind today. We actually managed to get through nearly all of Wiggle’s work today, that’s mainly because it wasn’t too taxing for him and I know it won’t be like that every day but I know that’s ok too. I just got completely overwhelmed and anxious last week which is quite unlike me and I knew I couldn’t go on like that. Your words and reassurances really helped me like you won’t believe and it’s all too easy to forget I’m not alone in this sometimes. I’m going to prioritise a couple of bits of work a day and any more we get through is a bonus. Both boys have really enjoyed helping me in the kitchen a couple of times lately so I’m definitely going to do more of that.

 

What a wobble to start the year! I’m sure many people have had one too for a variety of reasons.

 

Peppa thank you again for the video, it’s great, he talks so much sense and everyone should watch it. You’re right, I was particularly stressed by Friday afternoon last week but I had a moment when I was watching the boys play in the garden and I thought all that really matters is that they’re safe and looked after.

 

kerri you’re right being at home is distracting for everyone and at school children don’t have the same distractions. I’m cutting Wiggle some more slack.

 

vulpix thanks for your views as an experienced school worker and your suggestions, there’s some great ideas there and some that I know Wiggle likes to do (like washing up) but hasn’t done in ages! I really like the treasure hunt idea too. I have put extra breaks in today which has definitely helped.

 

lizzie oh yes I do remember yours holding on a bit longer! I can’t believe it was so long ago. Yes attention span is definitely a challenge at this age!

 

mandco thanks for your suggestions too, perhaps mixing up where we work could help too. I’ve recorded some of the BBC Bitesize programmes they’ve put on CBBC as something different for him.

 

Sorry if I’ve missed anyone, I don’t think I have, thank you again.

rachsecret

@princesskitty29 I work at a very senior level across three primary schools and see first hand how parents are struggling with the huge ask that is home-schooling. This week I have spoken to many parents who like you are feeling overwhelmed with it. There are a few reasons for this:

• In Lockdown 1 the government only asked schools to provide 'childcare' for those n school and those at home and so there was a lot less in terms of expectations
• they have recently changed the recommended amount of time for 'online learning. KS1=3hrs; KS2=4hrs. This is a huge ask of children, parents and staff and has been misinterpreted so people think it means actual on screen time. I personally don't think it is healthy for children to be having that much screen time.
• some parents don't want to do lots of online learning/don't have access/are working form home themselves and so unable to support their child with online learning and have asked schools to provide hard copies of work/packs. Unfortunately some of the parents are under the impression that they have to everything, and have requested packs too, and are under impression the more they do, the better.

In our schools parents seem to be in one of three camps:

-doing nothing (3-4 ch' per class)
-doing some of the things provided (the vast majority of parents)
-doing everything (5 ch' per class)
(I've been monitoring engagement over the last week and these figures are pretty consistent across all classes in all schools, although obviously the older the children the more independent they are.
You know your children best.....if they seem to struggle or be disengaged then move onto something different or do an activity like baking that has lots of learning in it. Staff in school will just be happy that you are doing some of it. 
Don't let other parents make you feel inadequate. Every home situation is completely different, every wonderful little human is also completely different. The children last term caught up amazingly quickly and so will 'Wiggle' once all this is over. Also worth looking at things like Phonics Play which is free for parents at the moment and the BBC are doing lots of online stuff now too. 
Some of the best things you can do is to get out for a walk and do a nature hunt one day, then a number hunt another day looking for numbers in the local environment (doors, buses etc), then a shape hunt another day. He will love it I promise. Give me a shout if you need any other ideas or even just a chat from an educational perspective and a parent perspective. Big hugs! and remember you are doing a fabulous job! xx

StokieBecks

Aww this board is so lovely the way you have all shared ideas and thoughts on homeschooling. Hope anyone who is in that situation manages to muddle through and does whatever is right for the situation you are in. Everyone's is different but it's lovely you can all share little snippets that may help someone else.

Me, sorry I have no input to add   makes me very sad . All I will say is if your kids are interested in animals a lot of the zoos and wildlife parks have put together some educational stuff that might help thos who are homeschooling

mandco

Princesskitty glad you had a better day - it can be overwhelming esp when they don't want to co operate but you and wiggle will find your balance of what works best. Sounds like the boys have been enjoying cooking so def encourage that as  its a hugely valuable life skill to learn and lots of fun too.  Peeling/grating veg is a great one to teach them for more savoury meals -  you do have to supervise little fingers - Taz stabs the veg with a fork so he doesn't actually hold it 

Been very disappointed with the sales this year though really shouldn't be surprised given the lack of deals there were before xmas due to the bulk of sales being online.  I did use the last of my nectar points towards some new nintendo switch controllers this week as they had a couple of mario games for xmas so we can now play 4 player which has been fun. I had been looking since dec but they had been oos locally for ages in argos (I didn't want to pay full price £70ish) 

stay safe