Win Learning Resources goodies worth over £200 *NOW CLOSED*

He is only three so no changes really. Just give them time to show what they are doing and encourage them.

Making learning as much fun as possible has helped my grandchildren. They have also been baking a lot and asking me for recipes and ideas on Facetime.

Keeping cheerful and positive. Not inflicting my moans on others.
Cry on Fridays when all my family have got through healthy and face the next week.
Ask what they want, not what I want.?

Timetable and routine has helped.

My grandson who lives with me and I ‘home school’ every morning unless the weather is good in which case we garden together. He’s year 1 and loves gardening, digging for treasure and watching wildlife like centipedes and ants. He talks nineteen to the dozen and learns as we go. I think Countdown maths for kids counts as a maths lesson and scrabble against the computer is a fun literacy occupation. We also play proper scrabble and he has to add up his own score so that covers both. He writes stories, He knows more about planets than I do, he watches “Inside the Factory” type TV and David Attenborough programmes and makes notes. We talk about other countries and he picks them out on the globe. He’s a really good reader so I don’t worry about phonics but I do get him to do handwriting tasks as his brain works too fast for his hand. The website Twinkle has excellent Mystery worksheets to download too which makes the maths really fun.
We don’t honestly have a routine. I want him to learn but mostly to be interested and happy during this strange time we are living through.

I have to feel closer to the one grandchild I live with but of course I love the 6 I don’t see including a newborn I know only from photos.

we have found having a regular routine has helped during these uncertain times. We all feel scared, but having a routine leads to a calmer child as they know what to expect every day. Lots of positive encouragement and reassurance and answering their covid questions in an honest and age appropriate way.

Lots of laughter, and reassurance that this won't be forever. I've been learning to play the ukulele, and the children check up on my progress too.

My GGC are benefiting from having an enthusiastic and committed Mum who comes up with some interesting activities adding lots of support and praise

Two of my grandsons are working now so it just leaves the little one at home and I do feel I have lost contact with him a bit. We have had family zooms but although he answers my questions I do not feel he particularly misses me. However, Lego is a great topic of conversation and he does get his mum to send me pictures of what he has made. I can't wait to see him again.

Video calling with all the grandchildren (the older two call me themselves) has been a lovely way to keep in touch with all 5 of them. Only the older two are at school and their mum is doing a great job keeping their schoolwork up to date.

My little granddaughter has had both parents at home throughout and their good sense to make home, as much as possible, like nursery has been good for her. Walks out in the park (meeting them at a distance) have been especially joyful for me and kept us in touch - although I know this hasn't possible for many.

My daughter or SIL practise home schooling from 9 am until noon, supplemented by virtual sessions from class teachers. They join in with joe wicks activities first thing & do outdoor activities in the afternoon. We FaceTime regularly and discuss what they’ve been learning, as well as sharing photos of nature & asking them to research facts about the plants, animals and insects. Our grandchildren are twins, just finishing P2, and although we miss personal contact with them (best hugs ever!), lockdown has encouraged them to send us more written messages (by post and text/ what’s app) which is good.

My grandchildren have being going into school 3 days a week as both parents are Doctors. We have had video calls with them,I found this hard seeing them but not being with them.
I have sent text messages, e mails and sent notes by snail mail.
I have ordered books to be delivered to them on topics they are studying.

Supporting my daughter by asking DGS what he's been learning and praising him for his achievements. He's only 4 y.o. so it has to be fun because he's smart! We love puzzles and I buy him wipe-clean books to help out when I can. It's so good to be able to visit them again now and see him for real. These learning resources look brilliant though... Fingers crossed.

Being open to new ways of making learning fun - bringing in nature etc

Our grandchildren are 4 (just) and 2 (nearly) and with the older one it is repetition and reinforcement at every opportunity that works best in our experience. Having to remain at a distance (we are shielding) has very much reduced our opportunities for doing anything with them beyond a virtual birthday party by Zoom for the 4-years old.

I've made this plea before but it has fallen on deaf ears. Why do you not move this message box to just underneath the question(s) you're asking and then respondents could see the question without having to scroll up? I copied and pasted it into the top of this message box this time, simply to have it readily available but that only works for a short while as well because of the small size of the box whereas if you were to do as I suggest the questions would be visible throughout the reply process. I removed the pasted question before posting my response.
Other sites seem to manage to do what I have suggested and I really would appreciate a response to this part of my post to learn if there is a logical reason that I have missed for not doing it.

One of my granddaughters had ‘maths week’ last week and one of her tasks was converting old money to new and vice versa! Obviously I was first port of call via Face Time. It was lovely being able to give her the background to the changeover to decimal coinage as I was working in a bank at that time. We were both left a bit mystified as to why we ever though £ s d were a good idea - it seem so complicated now.

Love BBC bite size. Found it very resourceful and informative for us all.

A flexible routine with a balanced timetable of work, fun and physical activities. Usually school set maths and English in the morning. The afternoon on projects that encouraged creativity and research. It seems to be working ok.

Sending things through the post addressed to the grandchildren has been a real hit, it makes a change for them than getting everything digitally. With parents trying to home school I see my role as giving space for creativity and imagination, which often has educational benefits as well

Grandchildren’s School has an excellent home school timetable with weekly catch ups with the teacher and rotation of friends via Zoom. They all have to have something to show and tell to talk about. Our children have found best to use this as a guide, and only do what they feel capable of doing, this flexible approach has been amazing, and if feeling reluctant, get them to be the teacher, works every time.
We have split the game “Guess Who” and play this via Zoom, which is great fun.

I’ve found a positive reaction when playing a piece of classical music and asking them to envisage the scene being set, for example, 1812 overture finale. Lots of horse galloping and listening for the bells and canons. Great fun, even with the 18 month old.

my grandchildren have learnt that even at home there will and should be some structure and routine on a daily basis, parents, of course , should and will ensure that timetables are adhered to

My grandchildren live a long distance from me and also have been into school/ nursery as parents are key workers. Saying that we set up an email account to encourage literacy and I have been setting them challenges as add on. They have also enjoyed joe wicks first thing in the morning and learning through life experiences like cooking , fence painting and science experiments. Bike riding has become a big favourite ( challenged 4 yr old to ride without stabilisers and he quickly did!) as has any outdoor activity.

Sticking to a routine and encouragement. Try to make learning as fun as possible. We’ve been keeping in contact via video call but it isn’t the same as face to face.