Homeschooling. Not a top of my agenda but it’s crept up more and more since Coronavirus. I’ve spent my time speaking to a few mum’s about the topic and thought what a perfect opportunity to open the thoughts up to some of my followers too.
Of course, opinions are split, some are frustrated and some loved the idea of the challenge but one mum rightly pointed out that there’s a difference between homeschool and distanced learning which is what most kids are currently doing. Put simply homeschooling is where the parent controls the pace and material and distance learning is where school controls that.
Now as schools have restarted and children are starting fresh new school years with their shiny backpacks, there seems to be a slight lull in the air and much less of that back to school excitement. Children are more attached to their parents and parents are worried about a second wave however ultimately grateful for the reinstated childcare.
It hasn’t been easy for parents during the lockdown and having children at home continuing with school duties. Some had strict working deadlines and routines. Parents fell inundated with requests from various teachers all whilst trying to manage their own new normal routines of working from home.
Talking ot the BBC, Campaigners, Sept for Schools - a group campaigning for all children to return to September says it has heard from parents reduced to tears as they balance work with educating."While many schools and teachers are doing an incredible job, research shows that over two million children have done almost no home learning during lockdown."
The Department for Education said: "We are aware how challenging it has been for parents, teachers, support staff and school leaders in supporting children to learn at home.
"We want to reassure parents and families that we are doing everything we can to make sure schools are as safe as possible for children and staff, and will continue to work closely with the country's best scientific and medical experts to ensure that is the case."
We are in testing times and learning to live in a ‘new normal’ so it really begs the question if we are going to have to live with this virus until the vaccine, is home working really the answer? The research suggests so far that it has lead to unhappy children, unhappy parents and unnecessary pressure on households. The coronavirus situation is ever changing and it would be interesting to understand my audiences thoughts on how we can maintain a healthy learning environment where they thrive and grow, where parents are happy and fulfilled whilst living in a global pandemic?
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