As schools remain shut, homeschooling is something that all parents are coming to terms with during this latest lockdown. It can be hard thinking of new ways to keep kids entertained, as well as learning whilst they are out of school.
Lex-GO! is the super-fast word game from Waddingtons No. 1, that is not only fun and exciting but also helps kids with spelling and vocabulary.
Waddingtons No.1 of London is an iconic British heritage brand that as been around for over 130 years.
In this game race against other players to get rid of your word tiles by swapping letters and even stealing your opponents’ tiles. There are two versions; Harry Potter and Disney and both include special tiles that help you win the game.
EXPELLIARMUS – disarm another player by messing up their tiles
DEPULSO – banish one of your tiles from the round if you need to
REVELIO – allows the holder to look at any number of tiles in the draw pile before choosing which to swap
STUPEFY – choose a player to close their eyes and count out loud for 10 seconds, before they re-join the round
The POLYJUICE tile may be nominated as any letter in a word. Once used in a word the player must announce what letter it is and it remains that letter throughout the round
GENIE – your wish is granted! You can take a total of any 3 tiles from any other players
WRECK IT RALPH – it’s time to wreck it! Shuffle one player’s words
OLAF – whoops! Olaf walked over your tiles and now they’re frozen in place for 10 seconds
ARIEL – here’s one to add to your collection! You can take any tile from another player if it completes a word for you
The MICKY tile may be nominated as any letter in a word. Once used in a word the player must announce what letter it is and it remains that letter throughout the round
As Scottish families adjust to a third national lockdown and the challenges of homeschooling again, Uswitch surveyed parents to find out how the nation’s homeschooling parents and children are coping this time around.
Lack of homeschooling resources for Edinburgh kids
More than half of Scottish children don’t have full-time access to a laptop for school work.
A third of Edinburgh pupils are having to share a laptop with siblings.
A third of Edinburgh parents have had to supply homeschool tech for their kids.
1 in 10 Scottish families have sought out tutor support to fill knowledge gaps, while a quarter of parents have had to spend on a homeschool set up.
On average Scottish parents have paid £158 on homeschooling costs, £61 less than the UK average.
In total, the UK’s struggling parents have been left with a £3.7 billion bill due to homeschooling costs.
Scottish homeschooling families failing to connect online
A quarter of Scottish parents are struggling to homeschool due to broadband problems.
The biggest broadband concern is slow speeds disrupting the school day.
Despite this, only 10% of Scottish families have switched or upgraded their broadband provider.
Scottish kids falling behind due to homeschooling
A quarter of Scottish kids don’t get all their school work finished during the school day.
1 in 10 Edinburgh children are having to work longer hours to keep up with their workload, while another 1 in 10 pupils’ work goes regularly unfinished.
68% of Scottish kids are supported by school for less than half a day leaving parents to fill in the gaps despite working.
More than a third of Scottish children don’t have any live video call lessons, with just 1% of children receiving a full school day of live video teacher support.
Mental health concerns for Scottish children
1 in 3 Scottish parents surveyed stated homeschooling has had a negative impact on their child.
Of these parents, 53% said their child is more isolated and detached socially
More than half think their child’s motivation to learn and concentrate has worsened.
A third said homeschooling has negatively impacted their child’s mental health, stress and learning.
More than 1 in 4 parents expressed concern about their child’s fitness and while a third are stressed their child’s anxiety has suffered at home.
While 22% of parents said poor sleep such as bad dreams and sleeping later are an issue for their child because of remote learning.
A fifth of Scottish parents are concerned about their child’s happiness overall.
Meanwhile Scottish parents are experiencing increased guilt, with over a quarter of Edinburgh parents identifying feelings of guilt due to the challenges of remote learning.
Nick Baker, broadband expert at Uswitch.com, comments:“As UK families adjust to a third national lockdown, many parents are feeling increased pressure to successfully navigate homeschooling while working remotely.
“To take off some of the pressure, take advantage of helpful learning tools available online, such as the BBC education programming available daily. Additionally, if you’re concerned your child is falling behind due to a lack of resources, speak with their school to find out if you qualify for extra help and the Government Get Help With Technology Scheme.
“With children logging on to learn online, you’ll likely have more devices than usual connected to your broadband during the day. Ensuring your internet is up to speed will help elevate connection stress and keep the school day running smoothly.
“If you are having trouble with your broadband, try these top tips and check out our homeschooling Wi-Fi issues guide to solve your most common home Wi-Fi problems:
Reboot your router – the classic ‘unplug it, leave it 30 seconds and plug it back in’.
Location, location, location – if your router is located further away than it needs to be, try moving it to the room you’re most active in or the center of your home.
Disconnect unnecessary devices – turn the Wi-Fi off on gadgets you’re not using, even if they’re in a drawer. They may be using bandwidth in the background.
Run a speed test – this will determine whether your router is running at the speeds you signed up for.
Purchase a Wi-Fi extender or ‘booster’ – this will optimise your broadband for faster and stronger connections.
Just 11.8 % of fathers took the lead on helping their children keep up to speed during the first lockdown
As mums and dads return to home schooling, will the burden fall more equally this time round?
It turned out that mothers were picking up almost all the home teaching burden during the first schools lockdown, with just 11.8 percent of fathers taking the lead on helping their children keep up to speed.
That was the shock finding from a survey of hundreds of parents of primary school-aged children carried out by leading education resources and lesson plan experts PlanBee.
PlanBee’s Oli Ryan, a former primary school teacher, said: ‘We know that not all families are willing or able to help their children with home learning, but we were amazed to find that there was such a huge gender disparity in terms of who was taking up the teaching mantle.’
He continued: ‘The vast majority of primary school workforce are women, but we still find it surprising that when it comes to home teaching Dads appear to be doing so little. If it’s a sign that teaching young children is considered to be “women’s work”, it’s pretty alarming.’
And parents – the vast majority, women – were allocating significant parts of their day to home schooling, with over a quarter (27.7 percent) spending more than four hours a day on it.
Now, many parents are reporting that because schools have had time to prepare their home schooling lessons, the quality is much improved.
In March, an extremely limited number of subjects were being sent to pupils at home by their schools. Nearly all respondents said they had received work in Maths (93.04 percent) and English (92.17 percent), with science in third place at just 38.26 percent.
Fitting in home schooling with other work and other commitments was the top challenge for parents, with over a third (35.29) per cent citing it. Keeping their children engaged with learning was second biggest bugbear, at 31.09 percent.
And just 10.92 percent said they were loving home-schooling their children!
Nearly 40 percent of the respondents were primary school teachers as well as parents. And home-schooling was having a big impact on parents’ perception of teaching, with nearly one-third (33.6 percent) saying it had altered their attitude.
Parents have now deluged schools inspectorate Ofsted with emails and Tweets praising teachers and school staff for their work during the pandemic citing how quickly schools had set up work on short notice following the last-minute lockdown.
One respondent to the PlanBee survey remarked: ‘Trying to get children engaged to learn is very hard! I know it’s a challenging time, but my Year 4 struggles to engage if he doesn’t like the subject and I can see how that would translate in the classroom! Hats off to all teachers!’
A teacher-parent said that home-schooling was quite different from work: ‘I am a teacher but it’s different when trying to teach your own!!’
And for teacher-parents, the challenges were particularly marked: ‘I now have to teach the children in my class remotely as well as home school my own child. I respect myself and my colleagues a lot more.’
Another said: ‘Although I work in nurseries and I’m qualified as a teaching assistant, I don’t think I realised just how much work (and patience) goes into teaching.’
Mr Ryan said: ‘It’s great that so many parents are showing their appreciation for teachers by writing to Ofsted. As to whether Dads will do their fair share of home schooling remains to be seen. I won’t hold my breath!’
As the reality of the next few months sinks in, more parents once again face the hardships of home schooling and home working, we explore how parents can cope with the pressures of working from home with kids (again) …
“Our hearts literally sank when the Prime Minister said those words “schools are to close” because we remember what is was like last time – seriously tough times. Entertaining the kids whilst trying our best to keep working and the money coming in. Plus, last time the weather was nice, now it is awful”, explains Jonathan Ratcliffe from Office Provider Offices.co.uk
Working from home is tough. Home schooling is very tough. So, if you must combine the two for a long period of time, how are you going to cope?
“Home schooling is one of the hardest things we have done as parents. The expectation and the stress, and at the same time we are trying to hold down jobs – it’s a nightmare scenario”, explains Ratcliffe
You are going to have to plan well, get organised and work to a strict timetable if you want to get everything done. Equally, you will need to have a proper split between work, school, fun and rest.
“You firstly need to take some time to come to terms with the change in lifestyle – and lower your expectations, because the minute you try and do too much, is when the stress will hit you like a brick wall – life has changed for a few months and you need to accept that”, Ratcliffe adds.
Lower your expectations of what you will achieve with work
Communicate with your boss daily
Simplify your day into a set routine
Do not try and achieve too much
Pause and try and appreciate moments with your kids (if you can!)
Our 10 tips on how to survive lockdown with your kids
START EARLY AT THE SAME TIME EACH DAY: Routine is important for good sleep and mental health, for both you and your kids. School starts at a set time, so make sure you are ready and stick to the timetable.
GET DRESSED PROPERLY LIKE TEACHER AND STUDENT: Getting showered and dressed is important to divide sleep and school.
CREATE SPACES FOR DIFFERENT ACTVITIES: You might set up a teaching room (kitchen), quiet room (spare bedroom) and a play area (living room)
STRUCTURE YOUR DAY LIKE A SCHOOL DAY: Teaching time, activity time, play time and lunch time – just like their normal school routine
MAKE A PLAN WITH YOUR KIDS: At the start of the day ask them what they want to do (within reason) so they feel involved
TURN OFF YOUR PHONE: How are your kids meant to feel involved if you are checking emails?
SET ASIDE BREAKS FOR TV, IPAD AND EXERCISE: Use these times to schedule work emails or calls
TAKE EXERCISE: Depending on where you live, if you have a garden or not – try and get some fresh air, this also allows you some headspace
FINISH AT A SET TIME, BEDTIME AT A SET TIME: By getting a routine drilled in early on, you can try and get the kids to sleep at a sensible time, thereby giving yourself some space to work if you need to
DON’T BE TEMPTED TO HIT THE BOOZE TOO MUCH: If you can, evening time will be the only real time you can realistically work. If you drink your concentration will be poor, sleep poor and you will wake in a grumpy mood. Try and keep drinking to a minimum.
“The only positive is that you’ve done this before, and you can do it again – but life has changed and coming to terms with that is a good start. It is not an easy time for anyone, and especially the kids who will also be finding the change hard to cope with, more so if you are stressed! Good luck to everyone”, concludes Ratcliffe from Offices.co.uk
If you had a hundred home educators in a room, each of them would likely have a different approach, but there are various steps you can take to get the most out of homeschooling.
With a third national lockdown closing most UK schools, Greg Smith, Head of Operations at Oxford Home Schooling, one of the UK’s leading home education providers, has given his 10 tips for how to effectively homeschool.
1. Take breaks
A bit of experimentation should identify what works best for you and the child. You might find 30-minute blasts followed by 10-minute breaks help to keep your concentration up. Alternatively, you might prefer to work for longer periods at a stretch and then enjoy a longer break.
Boring as it might sound, giving your learning a predictable structure and routine does help to make sure you get everything done!
2. Make a routine
Children get the most out of homeschooling when parents decide when and what they should be studying. At school, the typical day might consist of seven 40 minute periods – four in the morning and three in the afternoon. So should parents try to emulate this?
It’s important to remember that most children (and adults) are not able to concentrate for long periods of time, whatever the learning environment and kids do not concentrate on their studies for five hours a day at school. The average lesson is filled with interruptions and irrelevancies and the real ‘work’ might be condensed into 10 minutes. The same is true at home. Even if you have assigned 40 minutes to a subject, do not be surprised if the useful work is done in just 10 minutes and the rest is spent in (apparently) less productive activity.
Organisation is not simply a matter of time slots. It is a combination of timetabling and study objectives. By setting routines, children will find it easier to stay focused, engaged and make progress.
3. Get rid of distractions
It’s really hard to focus when the TV’s blaring, the radio’s on or there is lots going on in the place you’re working, so try and get rid of the distractions.
Also, concentrating is easiest when you’re in a quiet, comfortable place, so play around with how you and your child study – sitting, standing or lying down; inside or outside; with lots of light or without – and find a method that helps them concentrate.
4. Divide up the work
Sometimes it can be difficult to motivate yourself when faced with a really big or difficult task. The best solution is to break it down into smaller pieces, planning out the various stages that need completing before you start. This way, your child will know what needs doing and you’ll both get a good sense of progress as you work.
5. Get lots of sleep
It’s an accepted fact that if you don’t get enough sleep, you’ll find it harder to concentrate, learn and retain information. The trick is pretty simple – get some sleep! Most people between the age of five and 11 need 10 to 12 hours of sleep per night, while 11 to 18-year-olds need 8 to 10 hours.
6. Don’t multitask
Sometimes, particularly when there’s a lot of work to be done, it can be hard to resist the urge to multitask and try and get lots of jobs done at once.
This is best avoided though, as, in essence, you’re dividing up the amount of brainpower you have available to a given task, meaning you might miss out on important bits of information.
7. Meditate and reduce stress
Plenty of scientific studies have shown the benefits of sitting silently, with your eyes closed and the mind focused on the present. This can dramatically reduce stress levels – a factor that’s been proven to exacerbate tiredness and reduce memory retention.
8. Utilise TV and online learning
Technology is a massive part of education both in schools and at home. Sites like BBC Bitesize and Geography Games are great for delivering educational content in a fun, engaging way.
It can also be used to keep in touch with the homeschooling community to share tips and advice.
If you’re temporarily homeschooling, then tools like Google Classroom can help you interact with your class and teacher from school.
9. Stick to the curriculum
It’s important to try and cover all of the subjects your child is used to learning about, but don’t worry too much about spending an equal amount of time on each.
You will naturally have greater knowledge in some areas than others and it’s fine to lean on these more heavily. However, your child may have interests in subjects you are less familiar with, and it would be a shame if they were unable to continue learning about these during this period. Avoiding these topics altogether could result in your child losing their passion.
If you are unsure about any content, it can be quite refreshing to do some research yourself and learn something new, before passing on the information to your child.
10. Make it fun
Learning doesn’t have to be a chore, there are hundreds of games you can play to exercise your brain, including the following memory tests.
There are card games where you have to match pairs or groups of face-down cards, flipping two each turn and reverting them face-down if they’re not a pair.
You could also place a number of small, random items on a tray, memorise the items for a minute, then cover the tray, listing as many of the items as you can remember in a given time period.
Then there are two-player games, such as Memory Master, where one player stares at a picture (magazines, books or photos all work) for a minute, after which the second player quizzes them on all aspects of the picture.
