Would you consider homeschooling after lockdown ends?
I ask after research suggests almost a quarter of British parents say they plan to continue homeschooling after the coronavirus lockdown ends.
If the research is to be believed apparently 23 per cent of us want to carry on educating our children at home – and I don’t know about you, but I won’t be one of them!
Would you consider homeschooling after lockdown ends?
If I didn’t work and only had one child I might think differently, but as a working mum of four I simply cannot fathom why anyone would choose to homeschool if they didn’t have to.
For me the case against homeschooling boils down to a simple case of mathematics: I’m outnumbered four to one and it’s simply not possible for one person to do four people’s jobs.
But apart from being outnumbered, homeschooling makes me feel like a 1950s housewife: I feel like I’m constantly cooking, cleaning and nagging from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to sleep with no time at all for anything else. And it fills me with rage.
That rage boiled over this week when the Chancellor of the Exchequer decided it would be a good idea to publicly thank mums for bearing the brunt of childcare duties during the pandemic. At the same time the government released a new ‘stay home, save lives’ advert featuring women doing just that while a man lounged on a sofa (it was taken down pretty swiftly after the internet erupted, but not before I managed to screen grab it).
Swearing at the Chancellor of the Exchequer in Alpha Bites on social media made me feel slightly better, but that’s not the point. The point is it’s 2021 yet the powers that be think it’s ok to perpetuate the gender stereotype of women ‘doing it all’.
The truth is, by juggling homeschooling and work with cooking, cleaning and nagging I feel like I’m perpetuating that gender stereotype too.
Then there’s all the terminology that’s been dreamt up somewhere between the time I left school and the kids started school. Like obscure acronyms for things that ought to be really simple, and as for old maths and new maths, that’s a whole new blog post! As far as I’m concerned teaching is best left to the experts, of which I’m certainly not.
Interestingly, the survey into homeschooling was done during the first lockdown and before the latest one, so I’ll be interested to see if the same parents are still so keen knowing what we know now.
But I, for one, am holding my hand up to say I will never ever in a million years consider homeschooling after lockdown ends.
What do you think? Would you consider homeschooling after lockdown ends? I’d love to hear your point of view!
Hell no! Me neither. Home schooling is surely not for me, I have so much awe for people who do that.
Me too!
I know of several families who home school on permanent basis with great success #mischiefandmemories@_ksrendennis
I think the difference between homeschooling in lockdown & homeschooling by choice is that in lockdown we’ve been set specific work by the school, so for me that’s 2x sets of lessons on top of looking after the younger two & everything else. If we were homeschooling by choice there’d be one set of lessons with age appropriate tasks, which would make life SO much easier!
No way! LOL I’m 100% sure that I won’t be deliberately home schooling, working full time and doing the usual house stuff to keep things running. *Runs for the hills at the thought of it. THANKS for grabbing that screen shot of the poster – I hadn’t seen it. Grrrrr!!!! what a joke that someone would even think about portraying women like that. Thank you for joining us for this weeks #MischiefAndMemories linky xx
What’s frightening is that that poster would have gone through so many levels of sign off, from commissioning an illustrator to approving the final design & the powers that be STILL thought it was perfectly acceptable!
It would be very interesting to see the figures now! I think it will be less appealing now we’ve experienced a cold, wet January lockdown. March last year felt very different to this time around so I’d be surprised if recent figures showed that level of interest in home schooling. I have no interest in doing it and I’ve only got one child!
Katrina x
#MischiefAndMemories
I think you’re absolutely right – knowing what we know now & all that…
I can answer that very easily….. HELL NO!!! Hahahaha and I’m a teacher! Give me 30 of other people’s kids any day π #mischiefandmemories
I think kids have more respect for adults who aren’t their parents – if I had Β£1 for every time I said ‘you wouldn’t speak to your teacher like that’…
Popping in from #KCACOLS too π
Absolutely NO WAY Home schooling is very different to what we are being subjected to right now. Home schooling is a whole community of people whose children benefit from the specific curriculum they have devised. It is not the regimented screentime that has been imposed! Thanks for linking up with #MischiefAndMemories
Not so much about the schooling, but the lack of interactions with friends. It’s such a huge deal for kids as they get older. Even with the weekends, the kids are after sleepovers and playdates….but it works for some kids #KCACOLS
this is actually something that I did briefly consider but decided it was mainly for selfish reasons. I like having her around during the day and I think we’ve done pretty well but mine misses her class #KCACOLS
I am considering home educating my children after lockdown. I’ve noticed a massive improvement in their mental well being since the school environment has been taken out of the equation.
There’s part of me that’s considered home schooling for my son a few times in the past but I’m not sure how we could actually juggle it all. It’s definitely a big decision to make and I’m guessing not one any family would make lightly! x #KCACOLS
I’m with you – homeschooling is most definitely not for me. If I wanted to teach, I would have pursued a career as a teacher. Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time.
We’ve been homeschooling since the beginning of 2017, and chose it mainly because the school environment wasn’t working well for our son (who is autistic, nonverbal and has learning disability). I think it suites some children and some parents, but not everyone. And likewise I think that a school environment isn’t the best thing for all children either. I very much appreciate that there is choice in these matters here in the UK (and in many other countries, but not all) x #KCACOLS
In the beginning I did consider home schooling my 8yr old son, whom had been experiencing some of the worst kind of teaching practices from his awful teacher, leaving him with some long lasting anxieties. After being away from school I saw some real positive changes in his mental well being after being away from school. However, he now has a wonderful teacher and I am exhausted. Like you say it is tough going with all the extra house work on top of the so called home schooling.
The images on that poster were disgraceful x x
#KCACOLS
I think actual Home Schooling would be much easier than what we have had to endure. With home schooling, there’s the freedom to follow how your child what’s to learn and what they want to learn rather than trying to get through work which is prescribed for you. That said, I don’t think I have the patience for it!! #KCACOLS