Homeschooling better than going into school currently.

I think if you ask the children, they will say they want to see at least some of their friends in school. You say yourself that the pupil grabbing your GD's ponytail has severe problems at home, so obviously she needs to be in school, where she can be helped with behaviour problems.

If the online lessons crashed, no-one in school or out would have been receiving lessons, up to the school to fix. If it was a problem with an individual laptop, you only have to ask the child to move aside.

I can see the damage that is being done to my grandchildren's mental health, shut away from their friends and teacher. Normally outgoing and sociable, they are so close to the edge the slightest thing has them in tears, and they have a loving home with a chromebook each to use, and as much adult help as their working mum and the pair of us can provide.

Two disadvantages of home-schooling are:

It could be difficult to get the children back into the school in the future, especially if it's an oversubscribed school.

When the children are ready for GCSEs and if here are still outbreaks of Covid and lockdowns (let's hope there aren't), entering them for public exams could be difficult. Last year, home schooled pupils had huge problems being entered for assessments.

Why do the children need to be home-schooled anyway? Just because there are places available in the school, they don't have to go. Who would supervise them during the day? Are they mature enough to be left on their own. It's not a decision which should be taken lightly.

Santana firstly, who would homeschool? Secondly, have the children voiced any wishes, our GC, aged almost 8 much prefers to be at school, if they’d prefer to be at school I’d suggest a weekend trial so they know the reality.
growstuff children that young can’t be left at home on their own, they’d have no problem reclaiming their places once schools fully open again.

I am not sure what OP means. Do you mean that they are currently going to school as a keyworker child and you want them to do online lessons at home?

Santana, nobody should expect normality right now. Everyone is just doing their best to manage.

Obviously, you feel protective of your grandchildren, but they need to learn to take the rough with the smooth. It's a valuable lesson to cope with occasional bad days and less than ideal situations.

I doubt that they'd be happier at home. Who would look after them and provide the two hours of home schooling they'd need every day?

Jaxjacky

Santana firstly, who would homeschool? Secondly, have the children voiced any wishes, our GC, aged almost 8 much prefers to be at school, if they’d prefer to be at school I’d suggest a weekend trial so they know the reality.
growstuff children that young can’t be left at home on their own, they’d have no problem reclaiming their places once schools fully open again.

They're Years 8 and 9, so 13 or 14 years old. Many children of that age can be trusted to be on their own at home.

And, yes, they could have problems reclaiming their places, if the school is oversubscribed. Once they're deregistered, other children can take their places. There are a number of cases where that's happened.

I don't understand why they need to be deregistered (home-schooled) anyway because they don't have to go to school at the moment.

griwstuff apologies, misread OP as ages 8/9. I believe legally they must be in school or working as much as they can on their school curriculum.

So you mean home schooling during the Lockdown?
My 2 GCs are homeschooling as are most schools and they don’t love it, the youngest has a full day of online lessons, the eldest has a couple of hours and then has online study.
They both miss their school friends and all the other social activities of school.
If you mean homeschooling as a full time option it’s a different matter, but our GCs would hate it.

So because of one unpleasant incident and a problem with IT in the middle of a pandemic you want your grandchildren to be pulled out of school and home schooled? Overreacting I think. It's not as if they are small children. Teachers will have been given instructions about how close they can get to pupils to avoid spreading the virus. It's not up to you anyway.

Thank you for your replies, even if one was a bit sharp. As I said homeschooling during current situation not permanently. DD is a keyworker.
GD is supportive of the other pupil holding handfuls of her hair. Her little group of friends are sticking together on line, and helping each other.
She has grown up considerably during the pandemic, and we are very proud of her. They are both responsible children and the situation will be discussed with them in the cool light of day. Feelings were running a bit high earlier.
We are in a support bubble so I will help out if they decide to WFH. Not sure how strong my maths skills are these days.
There are 12 pupils in year 8, 7 pupils in year 9, all plugged into a laptop taking part in different lessons. The teachers aren't at school generally, just the ones supervising each year group.
This is the reality of the situation, not a criticism of the school or the teachers.
Just using GN as a sounding board as I know there are some good opinions on here. So thank you again for your time.
And no it's not up to me is it..... nice reply, thanks for that.

It sounds as if the OP’s grandchildren are essentially doing their schooling online from the school premises rather than from home because the parent is a key worker. If the OP wants them to do the same thing from her house instead of in school, that shouldn’t be a problem. From the point of view of minimising the spread of infection, the fewer children that are mixing with others, the better. I’m sure the school won’t object if the children remain at home until lockdown ends.

Homeschooling is great if parents are able to do it. That’s quite a big if for most people.

My sister homeschooled her kids for some years & they all did very ( very ) well when they eventually went into public education. But she had a whole network of other homeschooling families that the children interacted with and she worked with. I’m not sure doing it on your own in lockdown conditions would be quite such an easy matter.

If anyone is interested the organisation is Education Otherwise.

Um... seems I jumped in too quickly. The term homeschooling actually means something quite different from children doing set school work at home. I apologise for my confusion.

I probably should have said on line lessons, so sorry for confusion.
They have decided to WFH, or my home.
I may need some assistance from GN if I get stuck with my maths.
Judging by my last attempt at working out a code to get a virtual child out of a castle, I could be in trouble.
We are planning some practical things as well, like woodwork and sewing, and will be nice to have some company on my short walks.
Not getting together with their friends is the big problem, but can't improve that one.

I jumped to the same conclusion as Baggs. Home schooling involves taking a child off the school role and informing the local education authority. Homes and the teaching provided are supposed to be inspected. What is happening in most families now is something different, although I've noticed some in the media are using the word indiscriminately.

Santana The school will direct the children's work, including maths. You don't need to be able to teach it, but (if you are involved) keep them motivated and organised. There are some excellent online resources available, including (off the top of my head) BBC Bitesize, Oak Academy and GLT Curriculum. The school will direct you towards those which are relevant and almost certainly follow up with other appropriate materials. From what I've heard, teachers are available as far as possible for helping with problems. You don't need to plan the learning yourself. If you want to help with maths, you could possibly buy one of the CGP learner guides - ask the school which textbook they would recommend.

Only my 4 youngest grand children (11, 8, 7 & 6) are still at their various schools. Without a doubt they would love to be back at school amongst their peers and friends. The social interaction side is as important as the learning, in my opinion. My 6 year old grand-daughter had a facetime call with one of her best friends from school. She asked her friend if she wanted to play Barbie. So there is my grand-daughter sat in the playroom with her dolls and her friend in her house with her dolls, chatting together on their Mum's phones. They were happy enough but I found it incredibly sad.

Sarnia, you said ‘They were happy enough but I found it incredibly sad.’

It is indeed. But it would be sadder still if one of them lost a parent or grandparent through picking up the virus at school.

My daughter goes into school every day to supervise her Year 7 pupils (key workers children and vulnerable children They all sit at desks at least two metres apart, with their own screens. All their lessons are set by the teachers. There is also a large screen at the front of the class, so the supervising staff member can see what is going on and can also be aware of those that may need some individual attention So, it is exactly the same lessons as those working from their homes. But these youngsters do have the opportunity some sort of socialisation, and lessons such as PE can all be done together (outside). Windows in the classrooms are left open, pupils can have their coats on. Several of these pupils do not have access to broadband and/or computers in their homes, About 25% of the normal year numbers are now attending. My daughters own children are all at home being supervised there in the work by their shielding father. Obviously, they could go in as she is a key worker. She did ask the youngest (Year ^) if he wanted to go, but he declined as he said that none of his own friends would be there.

This isn't actually correct, Growstuff:
Homes and the teaching provided are supposed to be inspected.

Some confusion here between what OP means by home schooling as opposed to distance learning.
Distance learning is what my 8 and 11 y.o. grandchildren are doing. They are on their i-pads and connected to their individual schools 6 hrs a day due to schools being closed to all except key workers and vulnerable.
Home schooling is when a child is not registered with a school.

I think a lot of the children can make or break this homse schooling

Deprived children aside, my 12 year old grandson is doing brilliantly Stunned his parents as he's a reluctant school pupil.

And my 4 year old granddaughter has a teacher Mummy so she's fine as well

My 10 year old grandson is struggling .

It's a tricky one.

I missed over a year with school as a child and didn't cause me any problems.

But life is very different to now as it was in the 70s.

NotSpaghetti

This isn't actually correct, Growstuff:
Homes and the teaching provided are supposed to be inspected.

I'm not sure what you mean.

Children learning at home aren't being inspected, although Ofsted is still inspecting that schools are providing work.

The inspection of proper home schooling is patchy to say the least. However, those who de-register their children from school (ie proper home schooling) are supposed to be inspected annually.

Two of my GSs (13 and 15) follow their school's timetable. When they might be doing PE, they usually switch over and play an online game! I'm not sure how they manage with science subjects which involve practical work - dissect a frog in the kitchen? (OK only joking, I hope). The older one is in his GCSE year as his cousin was last year. He does seem to be doing quite well and can join in class discussions. When I stayed with the family back in August, I gave him an intensive tutorial on Macbeth which I think has stood him in good stead. Maths he is well able to deal with himself.