Collaborative Post
After quite a few months away from home learning except for the odd piece of homework, Jack is back to learning from home as the whole country goes into lockdown.
How are we getting on?
Now with me working from home and Steve studying, technology upon which to do this work was in short supply. Any tablets we have can do some of it but doesn’t have the capabilities for everything and it has been quite stressful having to boot up an old laptop and get it in a good enough state to actually use.
We’ve been considering getting Jack a new desktop to use in his room for home learning and which he can use for other stuff when he doesn’t need to use it for that. We’ve been doing some research and found some great deals – you can learn more here about the great deals that are available.
Olivia however doesn’t really need technology too much and when she does, she can use my laptop for five minutes.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
What is the process like?
Each morning, the kids get up and have breakfast like a normal school day. Jack normally does some work on the school approved educational websites such as Times Table Rockstars or Purple Mash before attending his classes live call every morning at 10am. Then he will work through at his desk until lunchtime or until he’s finished, if that happens before.
The school have given him a timetable but he doesn’t always keep to it – he chooses what work to do first and if he finishes before the school day would be up, then that is fine with me – as long as the work is done, I don’t mind him finishing early and playing with his toys, playing in the garden, walking the dog with Steve. He is also allowed to have tablet time or Switch time but not straight after doing homework as I don’t him using a screen for an extended amount of time, especially when it is as consistent as it has been the past few days.
Each day, he gets some Reading Comprehension, Maths and English definitely. Some days he gets some Science work, others some wider curriculum. Last lockdown, we struggled quite often to get him to complete his work but he seems to have taken it in his stride this time around and has actually been enjoying doing some of it.
Olivia’s is pretty easy too – she has the odd piece of art work to do, phonics to practise and a live check-in at 12.45pm. She has really loved seeing all her friends and her teachers on the screen but really wishes she was at school!
How do we feel as parents?
We are feeling very supported by the school and really appreciate the daily check-ins! The amount of work is enough to keep them busy but not too much so that they feel overwhelmed. The teachers are adding explanation videos to Google Classroom to help the kids if they are struggling and the feedback has been very helpful too. We are very impressed with how well the teachers are reacting to this and really appreciate everything they do.
How is home learning going for you? If you’re struggling, here are some great distance learning tips that may help.
Jack seems to be getting on with it really well and I totally agree if he finishes his work early that’s great and he can enjoy his time. It must be so tough for you parents but you’re all doing an amazing job x
I’ve been very curious about how children are being schooled at home but it sounds very organised and the teachers are being very supportive which is great to hear! I really like how you let Jack finish early if he’s done everything for the day
We just had to buy a computer for my nephew has his current tablet has limited functionalities as well.
I’m so pleased homeschooling seems to be working well for you and that you are supported by the school… It hasn’t happened for us but there are plenty more weeks to work on it.
Its going okay – bit difficult at times but overall could be alot worse!
To us it’s a lot easier this time round with us and the school much better prepared, still not easy but better
Home schooling has been the making of our boy, he’s 11, immunosuppressed and has severe learning difficulties, he had a lot of anxiety surrounding school so when we took him because of the risk posed by covid he flourished, so much so we did not seek a secondary school placement but opted for permanent home learning. My background in teaching has certainly helped as I’m well aware of the importance of record keeping. To be fair I’ve got as much out of it all as he has!