Children in lockdown

Luckygirl3

None of my GC (of widely varied ages) suffered at all. We all rallied round and helped them on zoom and they simply took it all in their stride. We approached it with humour and a sense of fun and they were fine.

Honestly I think children are adaptable and if we didn't make a fuss about it then they were OK.

I am not in the least worried about some children being "behind" - behind what? is the question .... the arbitrary required levels of the national curriculum are a millstone round the necks of imaginative teachers and chidlren catch up in their own time.

watermeadow - I am amazed that your GC had no schoolwork. All my GC had work set from their schools, both state and private, and they were encouraged to do this and we did it alongside them on zoom - and had some fun doing it. They learned a huge amount about computing and even the little ones are now slick and confident in using them.

The lockdowns were necessary - not what anyone would have chosen, but necessary, and everyone rallied round and made the best of it.

The schoolwork was fine, older ones able to do their own research and Twinkl was invaluable for younger ones but not all children had laptops, they perhaps had to share or the household did not have one between them.

Children with caring parents probably did find with schoolwork but the amount given was limited in amount and extent.

It was the social aspect which caused such difficulties. It's normal for teenagers to want to spend time with their friends, more so than very young children. Also the habit of getting up, dressed and off to school each day was broken and the result of that is evident in the increase in school absences.

My grandaughter was due to start school at the beginning of the pandemic, but obviously didn't.

For parts of the day, she had online schooling, where all of the class came together and were given tasks to complete within a specific time frame
The pupils had to log on at 9am each day, to ensure all were engaged and parents of those not engaging were contacted and offered support and equipment if necessary.

Fortunately, or not I was shielding and due to my former career, I was able to work with her each day on phonics and maths activities. She now has an above average reading age. It does not seem to have had a detrimental effect on her, academically nor socially.

I purchased the phonics materials, which she would have been using, which enabled continuity when she did start school.
I appreciate not everyone could afford the time or finances to do that.
Don't tell anyone, I was very familiar with those materials but was sick of of the sight of them, by the time she was able to start school. I thought I had seen the last of them, when I retired!

We broke up the Zoom sessions into sections and DH would take over and read and talk to her, which also maintained our relationship with her.

My DIL was an optomotrist and had to work, my input and that of my DH allowed my son to work from home, uninterrupted.

However, I do know of a number of children, due to start school last year, who were deferred. They had missed out on being at nursery and were just not mature enough to start school.

My youngest grandson was born in June 2020. Though my DD got little or no support, he is doing just fine. Having both parents at home with him means that for him his language skills are excellent as he had so much focused time with them. He took a while to get used to us and particularly to people he didn’t know at all.
My granddaughter hated school and relished doing all her work at home. She’s now left school and has a good job.

It's not about whether individual children we know are OK. It's about the statistics generally. Attendance at school is one indicator.
For vulnerable children it was a terrible thing. I don't think I would ever support the idea of lockdown for children again.

None of my GC (of widely varied ages) suffered at all. We all rallied round and helped them on zoom and they simply took it all in their stride. We approached it with humour and a sense of fun and they were fine.

Honestly I think children are adaptable and if we didn't make a fuss about it then they were OK.

I am not in the least worried about some children being "behind" - behind what? is the question .... the arbitrary required levels of the national curriculum are a millstone round the necks of imaginative teachers and chidlren catch up in their own time.

watermeadow - I am amazed that your GC had no schoolwork. All my GC had work set from their schools, both state and private, and they were encouraged to do this and we did it alongside them on zoom - and had some fun doing it. They learned a huge amount about computing and even the little ones are now slick and confident in using them.

The lockdowns were necessary - not what anyone would have chosen, but necessary, and everyone rallied round and made the best of it.

My 3 GDs are all just fine

My Grandson who lives nearest me was/is fine. He was just 7 during lockdown. No problems at all.
The other two one older and one younger had no trouble either.

I know a few families with children who were born during lockdown, and without exception, they all seem much further behind in their language skills and general social skills than you would expect for their age.

Most of mine were OK but a 14yr old GS lost 6 weeks of school in one term during that phase when they were in pods or something and all had to stay at home for a week every time anyone tested positive. Impossible not to fall behind.

Closing schools for such lengthy periods of time was the thing that annoyed me most about the lockdown rulings.
Fortunately my school age DGC seem to have coped well, but they did have the excitement of leaving London to move to Devon to keep them positive and happy during covid.

On the other hand a friend's GD was about 15 suffering anxiety and school refusal. The pressure of going to school socialising and so on being gone gave her time to heal and she went back to school with no issues. Apparently it was like the anxiety and school refusal never happened. So hard to predict how these things work.

DGD did her online schoolwork in a relatively short time and got good reports on what she had done. Her DP were also working from home and a younger sibling too.

However, isolation from their peer group did cause a lot of social problems. Friendship groups shifted and some children suffered anxiety as a result when they returned to school.

It did a lot of psychological damage to some children.

DD works at a senior school and her job includes doing the paperwork when a child is suspended - invariably these children are from Year 10 (aged about 15). She says that nationally schools are seeing problems with the behaviour of this age group and it is thought this is due to them having had so much disruption during their final year in primary school and then their first year at secondary.
Worrying my DGS is in year 10!

My son was in his final year at university, and came home just before the first lockdown. He had good online support from them, and definitely got a better grade in his dissertation than he would have done with all the distractions of uni life. He missed out on the social aspects of post finals though, virtual celebrations weren’t the same, and by the time he got together with his friends again life had moved on for all of them. No long term effects that I’ve noticed, although maybe it was easier for him because he understood fully what was happening and why.

One GD who is also neurodiverse took her GCSEs during lockdown she had very erratic online teaching during that time she did worse than expected and had to retake at college and is still struggling even now.

It was a terrible thing to do to children. The attendance figures alone are a stark reminder particularly for children from poorer families.

We have two lockdown GC, they definitely took longer to get used to people other than immediate family.

Another was in reception year, their online connection through school was basically a teams class get together once a week along with emailed worksheets for parents to go through.

The other five have coped better, apart from our neurodiverse GC who couldn’t cope with senior school after lockdown, fortunately they have settled into college.

Mine have been fine. At the first lockdown they were aged between 3 and 15. The eldest is at university now. The 8 year olds are full of fun and doing well at school. The two in the middle are fine one has just passed his 11 plus and the other one did better than predicted in GCSEs.

I haven't seen any issues with any of them which I am grateful for.

Was there a reason your GC didn't do their online school work?