Home Schooling – Day One!

So...where to begin? You don’t need me to tell you what a crazy old world we are currently living in. During these unprecedented times, we are all having to adapt to a new way of living and working.

Many of you will be in school today, putting your own health at risk in order to keep schools open for our incredible key workers. You are doing this whilst so many of us get to work in the comfort and safety of our own homes, and for this you have our upmost respect and love.

For those of us who are working from home, we are facing challenges of a different sort.

For me, working from home is nothing new. Living over 100 miles away from Classroom Secrets HQ means that (thankfully) I’m not expected to commute on a daily basis. However, as of today, my children will also be at home and, although I love them dearly, I’m under no illusion that it’s going to be easy.

I have three children; they are 7, 10 and 13. Last week, my 13-year-old was trained how to access and complete her work on-line. Her timetable is etched into her memory and she’s raring to go. As I type, this model pupil is working quietly and independently beside me – this is going to be easy right? Not a hope!

My 7-year-old loves doing schoolwork; however, he can’t work as independently. He needs me to read instructions and to show him how things are done. He likes to tell me everything, and I mean everything, that he is doing and he does expect a coherent response each time. This is not something I can do whilst writing ratio and proportion problems for Year 6.

My 10-year-old is different again. He is quite capable of working independently but he is also resentful about working at home. He would much rather be climbing trees, building dens or playing computer games. Each day is going to be a battle until he realises that this isn’t just an extended weekend.

For our own sanity, we have decided to follow a more relaxed timetable, for the first week at least – a kind of suck-it-and-see approach if you like. I know that any attempt to follow a beautifully colour-coded timetable will end in tears and frustration.

So this is our plan for week one. I am a night owl, not an early morning sort of person, but I shall fight this instinct and start work early, whilst the house is quiet. I plan to finish by lunchtime, so I have the afternoon to give them my undivided attention.

The temptation to let them watch TV or play on devices whilst I’m working is great, so we have decided that during the morning, they are to complete activities which they can do independently, such as the Joe Wicks workout, spelling and tables practice; or quiet reading. Then I will be free to support them with more focused work in the afternoon.

If the weather is nice, we plan to do more outside activities (whilst social distancing of course), to help compensate for rainy days when we will be stuck inside. The importance of fresh air and outside play cannot be underestimated.

I hope to ease ourselves into a routine that actually works for us, without creating any additional stress or anxiety! Only time will tell!

Nobody needs to do this on their own though. This affects all of us, and we at classroomsecrets.co.uk are working so hard to support you in the way that we do best, by providing hundreds of quality resources and interactive games that are free for you to use.

We’ve got this!

Sue Chattoe

Sue, a mum of three, has sixteen years teaching experience. She joined Classroom Secrets in its infancy and has been creating resources ever since. Her aim is to create stimulating resources that the children will enjoy doing.