Administrator StereoNET Posted September 9, 2021 Administrator Posted September 9, 2021 Who else has had to take up home schooling? I've been fortunate in that my wife has taken on virtually all of the responsibility. It's allowed me to continue working mostly at full capacity, but with zoom sessions going on all over the place, the noise gets excessing at times. We do have a new appreciation for teachers though; that goes without saying!
blybo Posted September 9, 2021 Posted September 9, 2021 My wife is an essential worker and my retail business (which doesn't function online) is closed, so I'm doing 4 days solo and 1 sharing the responsibility. I have found ourselves using lollies and other treats as bribes to do their work. My girls are in years 5&6 in composite classes so getting the same tasks. I find the less "over the shoulder" supervision they get from me the better, otherwise they are likely to go on strike. I guess I'm lucky they aren't younger and needing help on a continual basis. I sit in an adjacent room and just check in regularly, which works really well on the "good" days. The silver lining is that because of composite year levels, both my daughters will be going to camp together late in term 4, giving mum & dad a 5 day holiday in the Grampians, covid permitting... 2
RankStranger Posted September 9, 2021 Posted September 9, 2021 My wife got laid off at the start of the pandemic so she took on all the homeschooling last year, including the full 4 months of the Big One. She did not enjoy it. She got a new “essential” on-site job at the start of this year and so it has fallen to me to do the homeschooling this year, in addition to working full-time from home. I think I’ve done ok with it. I’m lucky in that my kids (6 & 9) are handling it all pretty well and my job is flexible enough that I can mostly pay attention to them for the first half of the day and mostly do my job for the 2nd half of the day, with ample assistance from Minecraft and Disney+. The school is making adjustments to the format as the go to try and keep the kids engaged and progressing but I don’t envy them their jobs at all. 1
blybo Posted September 9, 2021 Posted September 9, 2021 1 minute ago, RankStranger said: The school is making adjustments to the format as the go to try and keep the kids engaged and progressing but I don’t envy them their jobs at all. Some schools have gone to virtual classrooms and the teacher is in front of them all day. I hear that is working well. Our school is doing more virtual meetings and short classes which is helping, but we've also asked the teachers not to stress if some things are not finished and we are having a bad day, both my girls a well ahead of the curve so we aren't worried about them in that regard. 1
RankStranger Posted September 9, 2021 Posted September 9, 2021 1 minute ago, blybo said: Some schools have gone to virtual classrooms and the teacher is in front of them all day. I hear that is working well. Our school is doing more virtual meetings and short classes which is helping, but we've also asked the teachers not to stress if some things are not finished and we are having a bad day, both my girls a well ahead of the curve so we aren't worried about them in that regard. We have a couple of short Webex meetings in the mornings then an optional open classroom after lunch with a set of activities to finish during the day. They were doing that 4 days a week and they dropped it to 3 for a bit more flexibility on the off days. I don’t think my kids would do very well with an open classroom all day. I guess it depends on the kid 1
tubularbells Posted September 9, 2021 Posted September 9, 2021 My 12yo is stuck in his room as I type. Poor bugger is beginning to crack I fear and being stuck in sicktoria he's missed out on most of grade 6 last year and a fair chunk of year 7. I'm actually becoming quite furious with these lockdown shenanigans as the toll is well and truly being felt in other areas for the veiled veneer of it being for one's "health". Im prepared to do just about anything but just wish our kids can get back to school again even if it means a few more cases. 4
Saxon Hall Posted September 9, 2021 Posted September 9, 2021 2 minutes ago, tubularbells said: My 12yo is stuck in his room as I type. Poor bugger is beginning to crack I fear and being stuck in sicktoria he's missed out on most of grade 6 last year and a fair chunk of year 7. I'm actually becoming quite furious with these lockdown shenanigans as the toll is well and truly being felt in other areas for the veiled veneer of it being for one's "health". Im prepared to do just about anything but just wish our kids can get back to school again even if it means a few more cases. Tough times indeed but there is light at the end of the tunnel. The Vaccine rollout is the only way things will open up again.
MrBurns84 Posted September 9, 2021 Posted September 9, 2021 1 hour ago, Marc said: Who else has had to take up home schooling? I've been fortunate in that my wife has taken on virtually all of the responsibility. It's allowed me to continue working mostly at full capacity, but with zoom sessions going on all over the place, the noise gets excessing at times. We do have a new appreciation for teachers though; that goes without saying! Since Covid hit, i now know first hand what its like to be a stay home dad albeit working full time like a lot of us here! I do all the meals, school lunchboxes (yes the kids like routine, even during lockdown), and drop off's and pick ups. Vaccuming and mopping a few times a week during lunchbreaks. I have been wfh (i work in IT) since March last year and my missus is an essential worker but goes in 3 days a week and wfh on the other 2. I find bribery and rewards greatly motivate kids to be at thier best unfortunately when you have critical meetings to get through. Sadly i find that in my line of work, the working hours are blurred and i do my best work after the kids are in bed. This leaves me with little time to appreciate my system. 1
blybo Posted September 9, 2021 Posted September 9, 2021 One thing I have really noticed the last few weeks... Mums are letting go of the umbilical chord and letting their kids go out and explore. Both my girls have gone out separately on their bikes to go find a friend to play with... outside of course. My wife would have never let that happen even 4 months ago. We are seeing a lot of kids roaming our suburb which we've never seen before. I love it as exploring on my bike was huge part of primary and early secondary school life. The old saying we grew up with is back; "be home for dinner" or "be home before dark". This is helping my girls a lot and school work has improved since those freedoms have been given. 3
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