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Teacher advice: If home-schooling gets too much, just stop. Go and do something else; don’t make it more important than it needs to be. Really, your well-being is more important than an English lesson.
I’m seeing lots of people saying it’s tough going. From the other side of the screen, let me tell you that we know it is; we understand, and you just have to tell us you need a time-out. It’s fine, honestly.
Imagine your teenage years, minus seeing your mates, mucking about at school and going to clubs or sport; never getting to knock around in the park. Just stuck in front of a screen with your family right there all the time. Look after them and give them a day off if need be.
We can’t ever truly understand what it’s like for them, but we can be understanding. Praise them for the wrk they manage and don’t stress about the stuff they don’t do. Look after them; it’s really hard for them.
The biggest bit of advice I can give is: Talk to the teachers. I tell my students this all the time. We don’t intend to make it stressful; it never should be. If it is, we’ve messed up, so tell us and we’ll put it right. We don’t want anyone to be stressed at any point.
I teach English. My results are good. I never ever push a child to a point of stress. I support them, I love them and I stop when they need to stop. I’ll tell you a tale:
A couple of years ago, I was given a group of students who weren’t engaged at school. You know the ones, wander around, don’t do any work, don’t see the point of it. Nice kids, but felt disenfranchised from school. Like outsiders in their own school.
There were 12 of them and my remit was basically: ‘Just keep them in a room so at least they’re not wandering or bothering anyone’. It was initially tough going and the usual kickback you’d imagine from students who have disengaged from learning.
I didn’t teach English. I taught them I cared and I taught them I understood. I showed them that they weren’t outsiders; that they were loved and that I trusted them. I bought a kettle and hot chocolate. We would sit and talk, and built a trust and understanding.
Then we started learning. We began to say how good it would be to prove people wrong, to open that envelope and be proud. To be able to say to the people who said they’d get nothing, that they had achieved. They bought into it and wanted it.
They wanted to do it, they believed they could do it and they enjoyed knowing they were going to be successful, when everyone thought they would fail. They were absolutely brilliant. They were on time, they made the hot chocolate and they worked.
Every single one of them passed English. The majority of them only passed English and nothing else, but they passed and it was the greatest day of my working life. So, what am I telling you?
I’m telling you teaching is only successful if you do it without stress, but with love and fun and trust. You will never get that if you allow homeschooling to be stressful. Nobody ever achieved their potential when stressed.
You’re a parent, you love them and you’ve guided them every step of the way in life. Don’t doubt yourself now. Listen to your gut; you know if it’s too much. And if it is, stop, tell them you love them and do something else, anything, just not work.
I’ve finished now. As you were.
