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My grandchildren who attend school have a few hours of schooling in the morning and do the work sent to them by their teacher. I have FaceTime with my oldest granddaughter who is eight and she texts me on hangout and we send pictures to each other ,so I think we’re becoming closer as it’s one on one time without her younger sisters. My youngest grandson has turned a year old in lockdown and is now running around. I’m still shielding so can only sit in their garden and I can’t pick him or his three year old sister up. It is absolutely soul destroying and I wonder what will happen when I can hug him, will he even want to ? I feel I’m rejecting him.

Before lockdown I looked after my 3 gc. 2,5 and 7. Only being able to see them remotely was very hard indeed and I think the 2yr old and I grew a little apart. The boys have short attention spans and favour tablets with games and puzzles over reading or writing so the trick has been different activities for short time slots. It's felt important not to pressure them and make things fun. Lots of outdoor activities around nature, science experiments like making rockets and volcanos and watching BBC bitesize. The resources in this competition look fantastic!

My grandson and I have both completed his weekly challenge from nursery class, separately , then compared our efforts on line. One week was to make a castle to trap ‘Evil Pea ‘ from Supertato . We also set each other to find out ‘ 5 things about....’ different things each week.

Although children previously benefitted from learning with their peers this (temporary) change in their lives has afforded them the opportunity of experiencing life in a different environment. With both parents and grandparents involved in their tuition they are being given a broader perspective on things. Plenty of fun exercises for both the body and brain will hold them in good stead for a happy return to their regular schooling.

I have been giving help with my granddaughters art assignment. I have found that tapping into their interests and encouraging independent learning works well. My 7year old has been struggling a bit, the other 5 have positively blossomed with independent learning. One got 98% for his end of year science exam - books and u-tube really interested him rather than formal lessons! Another has been writing creative poetry and has raised a chicken from an egg.

An agreed strict timetable with regular breaks to just relax, run around and let of steam.

The grandaughter has had a very structured day art, craft music play sessions reading. Playing with water and sand Nature walks story time sessions. Don't think she even realises she has been missing nursery.

Really like BBC Bitesize and all the sessions on there.
They are fun and explain stuff much better than I!
Certainly made a difference.

keeping in touch with WhatsApp and Alexa video calls, sending them links I see online, great one this week www.forestryengland.uk/resource/tree-trumps so they are out collecting leaves in the garden and tomorrow we are meeting them to collect some in the park and play French cricket. When we couldn't meet up sent seeds, art and craft materials etc so they could show them to us and have something to talk about on video calls.

I generally read a bedtime story via FaceTime twice a week which is lovely to see them settled down for the night & they look forward to it. My daughter FaceTimes often to show me their school work they are doing at home & I have to say I’ve been very impressed. They understand it’s not forever & really look forward to FT

I have got much closer to my grandson, he seems to pay more attention to me.

My grandchildren are home educated all the time and they have absolutely thrived on it. There are so many positives to it, plus they still make a lot of friends with drama club, Rainbows, Scouts and Brownies, and the biggest bonus is aside from missing their clubs, things didn't change too much for them, so they have all stayed very settled which has been lovely.
Because its home education and not home schooling, the onus is on the children deciding what they want to do, and they thrive on doing things that interest them...my younger two love baking and writing, so they concentrate on those areas, and the older ones most enjoy art and geography. By only focussing on the subject the children enjoy, we get so much more out of them, they are happy and eager to learn, which makes them a pleasure to be around.
I wish I had home educated my own children. x

Definitely have a routine ,or timetable, and stick to it. Always try to include something that has an element of fun.

Praise, encouragement and turning learning into games eg I spy for sounds

My great grandson has work set by his school and often shares his finished work with us on WhatsApp so he gets plenty of praise. He has also developed his love of birds by adopting it as his project. |He recognises most bird songs and all the birds he sees in his garden and local woods.

Keeping to a routine but adapting that routine if things aren’t working Informing kids of the change too is important

Keep it to routine as much as can be done. Arrange lunch and play time so work will not be boring. Arrange games and jigsaw, card games which you will get engaged and participating together. May be some cooking lesson and washing up and play in the garden and do some planting and sowing seeds. Try to keep in touch through WhatsApp and zoom.

Lots of brain breaks and keeping as active as possible between tasks to ensure tired out and good night’s sleep!! Also constantly praising the effort and the results. The zoom chats have been a bit harder as the children love the interaction if they’re 1:1 but the squabble or wander off if both there at the same time. Everyone also really misses the physical contact and we have learned to appreciate that even more!!

I’m a retired teacher, specialising in primary aged SEN. I’ve been teaching my two year one granddaughters literacy and numeracy since the beginning of March although one left us a few weeks ago to return to school. The lessons have been delivered via Zoom which has caused some difficulties although not insurmountable.
I’ve found that the key to a successful lesson is in the planning of a range of personalised activities based solely on how the child is achieving and what the learning objective is. For example, literacy lessons will have been planned using the examination of a writing sample e-mailed to me from the previous lesson. Spelling errors would be addressed and practised either using spelling rules or mnemonics etc for tricky words or phonological awareness for phase 2-5 sounds.
In maths, I’ve noticed that my granddaughter has a problem with the teens numbers so I’ve ensured she has bundles of 10 straws with single ones at her disposal so we can explore place value together.
It’s not ideal and obviously I’d prefer her next to me to explore these maths and literacy issues but it’s the next best thing. I’m certainly enjoying doing my job again and spending time with my girls.

Mixing a bit of fun whilst still being stern enough that they understand they are learning as well. Sticking with a set timetable and also taking breaks as if in school, if the sun's shining we take lessons outside (in the shade) and a bit of music mixed in as they say that helps concentration too.

Lots of fun interesting activities, I used to teach and know children learn best when they are having fun and interested in what they are doing. We FaceTime and also communicate by post. It is an exciting time of day that we look forward to.

Engaging with them & opening up discussions to ignite an interest in learning although to do this it's important to think about the individual ages and how they make sense of the world.

Let them get it wrong, you can put them right next time you do it together

Keeping a consistent approach always helps little ones - even more important when nursery has been curtailed and they are with both parents working from home. Just as we start to get back to normal-ish routine the school holidays will take over and back to square one. I think starting with the most familiar and introducing something new with visual, aural cues is better when learning at home than the in with two feet approach!!

I love the fact that with Zoom, we are in touch every day rather than once a week. We have a timetable and I help with the work set by the school in the mornings so their mum can get on with her work. Then we all bake together most afternoons.