Ok, I’ll say it – Teachers, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I under estimated your efforts. I’m so sorry i said you lot were living the life with your “long holidays”.
I never really understood what & how much work teachers have to do until I met James (John’s brother) & his wife, they are both maths teachers. They seem to be working most of the time, even on their holidays – marking and preparing learning materials for their pupils. And after work, they are spending extra time bringing kids trailing behind up to speed. Quite impressive really. I bet it feels good to be making a difference to the lives of the future generation.
When we went into the first lockdown, Mayah was still at nursery so we didn’t have to home school her. Now that we are in the third lockdown, I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing this and oh boy… On top of this, Jeremiah is not able to go to nursery, they’ve shut down his room due to a COVID outbreak. Oh and let’s not forget little Judah who hasn’t been well (he’s getting better though).
I’ve created a chronicle of my homeschooling experience and as usual, I’ve included lessons learnt. Not sure how long I’ll do this for but we’ll see lol…
Day 1: Set up
AM
Jeremiah is screaming and blowing raspberries while I’m trying to feed him. Mayah is sitting quietly, she’s managed to grab the remote control and is trying to turn off the tv while having her breakfast (she thinks I haven’t noticed), Judah is on my back staring at his new crazy family and wondering how & why he’s ended up with us.
I’m trying to be as calm as possible, “Mayah, no tv while eating. you know this”. “Jeremiah, please eat your breakfast and stop screaming”. Then I get a message from John – I know it must be important as John is at work, today is his clinic day.
I quickly open the message and it’s a voice note – a recording of John declaring his love for me, perhaps? Oh no, it’s Mayah’s teacher, they can’t see her in the google classroom and are wondering if all is well. Oops, I must have missed that email. I immediately log into the parent portal and find loads of unread mails. Quickly skim through and find the one titled “Google Classroom”.
I have to create a new account as using my existing one will show my name instead of Mayah’s. “Stop screaming Jeremiah”. All done, I log in. Wow, the teacher has been very busy, loads of work to get us started. Yippee.
Mayah asks if she’s going into school today, I said no. “Is it because of the Coronavirus?”, she asked. I said yes. I looked through all the class work. Wow, they really get a lot done in school. Before all this, I used to ask Mayah what she did/learnt in school when i picked her up. The response was always similar – we watched a movie and played. And then she proceeds to tell me about her lunch and her boyfriend.
Looks like they do more than watch a movie and play! We didn’t need to dial into google classroom today. Thank God! Started her on phonics and reading.
PM
We do some more reading. Mayah & Jeremiah seem to be fighting a lot lately, I guess that’s what happens when you are locked up with someone you love 24/7. Welcome to Adulthood kiddies!
Day 1 has been so good so far. I think I gat this bruh…
Day 2: Why so many? Which exactly are we meant to do
AM
Same ol’ breakfast drama. Why does Jeremiah keep screaming? I feel like my eardrums are going to explode. I decided to get Mayah dressed in her school uniform to give her the school vibe but it didn’t work. She’s sad and wants to go to school. 🙁
We get a call from the nursery, Jeremiah is not allowed in. Not enough staff due to COVID…great.
Mayah was able to log into the 9am zoom call on her iPad. She’s happy to see her friends but keeps asking why some of her friends are in school and why she can’t be with them.
9.30am, zoom call is over. Now we have to go through the homework, there’s quite alot! We do a couple, Mayah’s bored. We go back to all playing together and watching TV.
(No PM memoir today as it all happened so quickly, it’s all a blur).
Day 3: Buzz off Supermums
AM
I log Mayah in, her teacher has added some more work. I really can’t keep up. We try our best to do some learning (Mr Ipad and Miss TV have been my teaching assistants to cover me when focusing on the other two).
Mayah & I work on her story map (I’m so glad I bought the printer, it’s been a life saver), it looks really good and I’m so proud of her. She has been able to remember the series of events in the Jack & the beanstalk story she watched on Monday.
PM
It’s time for the zoom afternoon catch up and Mayah is excited to show off her story map. Wait a minute, is that a giant castle I see? oh no, the Supermums have been busy again. There’s no way that 4yr old boy made that castle all by himself. And here comes the giant beanstalk with the perfectly cut & coloured leaves, like really? *eyeroll* (I really need to stop hating).
It’s Mayah’s turn and she shows her story map to the class. She gets a clap from everyone – she’s happy, I’m content.
Happy with Day 3.
Day 4: Step aside Mary Berry
AM
Today is estimation. That seems like a big word for reception school kids. I ask Mayah, she thinks it means something way off (I can’t remember what now). Anway, I start the activities with her – she’s a bit distracted because Jeremiah is watching Paw Patrol and shouting “Go go go go…”. Why is he always shouting though? Judah is asleep – bliss.
PM
I get a light bulb moment, we can bake! I don’t bake but I’m sure Google has got a simple recipe I can use. I go to the kitchen and pull together all the baking ingredients I can find – I find 3 overly ripe bananas (don’t judge me). I think a banana cake should be fine. I get on google and dig up the simplest banana cake recipe i can find.
I tell Mayah and she’s excited, Jeremiah is also happy to be involved. we haven’t got a scale to weigh out the ingredients so we estimate. Oh my God , this fits nicely with her homework!
Mayah, Jeremiah & I do a lot of estimating with the cake ingredients. Deep down inside, I’m panicking, is this going to work? We’ve estimated everything – 75g of butter, 125g of sugar, etc. Oh well, I can only do my best and the kids are entertained so it’s a double whammy!
I definitely need to stop doubting myself, this looks super nice and tastes super yummy. The kids are happy. Day 4 has been a success, step aside Mary Berry – welcome to my Great British Bakeoff
Day 5: I’m tired
AM
Judah has been unwell so I have to take him to the hospital. Mayah’s nan will keep an eye on her & Jeremiah while I’m away. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to homeschool today.
PM
I’m back from the hospital, while we wait for the paediatrician’s diagnosis. Mayah joins in the afternoon zoom update – all her classmates shows off the amazing stuff they’ve been working on. Her teacher asks her what she’s been doing today. She tells them she’s been watching tv all day. Her teacher giggles and asks what she’s been watching.
She says Paw Patrol – they all laugh. I feel so guilty… Day 5, not so good. I’m tired. Hopefully next week is better.