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I'd like to hear from parents who are managing well. I have a hypothesis that in households where children's behavior is better regulated (through example, dis

I'd like to hear from parents who are managing well. I have a hypothesis that in households where children's behavior is better regulated (through example, discipline, or disposition) things are going better than they would otherwise. (I have evidence from my own childhood that this would be the case), but I'd like to know, if this situation is manageable or even an improvement for your child's education, what are you doing to make it so?

bitcharmer 6y ago
My kids are well-behaved. No tantrums, calm, very cooperative and with great attitudes towards learning. Still, I have to spend at least an hour with the 9 yo and 2-2.5 hours with the 7 yo. There's so much work assigned by the school that even with them it's overwhelming. Add to that having to prepare breakfasts and lunches and it's 4.5 hours taken off my day (at least). Now, I also work from home which means I actually finish around 10-11 pm. I don't even have time or energy for other chores. Barely coping. I don't envy parents with problematic kids.
lemmox 6y ago
This is my experience. One part luck, one part upbringing, one part privilege. Both my kids are thoughtful, even tempered, curious, and tenacious. Often they are called "mature" for their ages (8/11). Such is not a description that fits most of the children in their peer group at school. FWIW most would probably call me a strict parent. Not in a punitive sense, but we do keep our standards high and do not normalise behaviours that we don't like. Honestly the school board's efforts have been phenomenally bad. We're in BC, Canada, which appears to have said "hey teachers, here's your Zoom license! Get on that e-learning thing - kthxbye!" In aggregate it's a bum deal for the teachers, students, and parents. Hopefully it works for some but it doesn't for anybody that I know. However... I took control of the curriculum. I'm not a teacher so I didn't presume I knew best: I based it on the Khan School Closure Schedule [1]. We sprinkle in a few arts & crafts projects with their mom, some nature walks in the afternoon, some Khan math and language arts in the morning, and an hour or so of coding after lunch. They have a few extra chores around the house - nothing too onerous. We've increased their music practice sessions. I've been working from home for several years so I did not have much adjustment to my working situation. It took a bit to find our education groove but, by and large, I'm happy with it now that we've deprioritised the haphazard din coming from the teachers. My wife's impression is that both kids are performing at a higher level than they were in meatspace school. The kids and I agree. I could probably sustain this indefinitely as my kids are kind of self-directing their way through the assignments. I'm keen for the new normal to kick in but, from my POV, this has unexpectedly turned into one of those "golden years" moments for me. We're making some memories and the kids are fine. Lemons and lemonade, I guess. [1] https://keeplearning.khanacademy.org/daily-schedule https://keeplearning.khanacademy.org/daily-schedule
- iandanforth 6y ago
  Hadn't actually read these schedules, they seem great, especially the Maths first and done with "school" by 2pm bits.
davidwitt415 6y ago
My wife grew up in the French school system and is a mostly full time mommy, and she has been very active with both our boys (6 and 12) well before the lockdown. When the lockdown started, she immediately put a schedule together for them, while I went to the library and checked out a ton of books. When the online learning started, she has been combing over everything the school has sent out, spending most of her day on schoolwork and at night is busy keeping ahead of their schedule. Bottom line, it is just barely manageable, with the considerable amount of time she puts in, and we both wonder how others that can't (or won't) do so will be able to keep up. I don't think it's an improvement, but at least I hope this sets a foundation for doing it better in the future, as I foresee this being a long-term trend.

bitcharmer 6y ago

My kids are well-behaved. No tantrums, calm, very cooperative and with great attitudes towards learning. Still, I have to spend at least an hour with the 9 yo and 2-2.5 hours with the 7 yo. There's so much work assigned by the school that even with them it's overwhelming. Add to that having to prepare breakfasts and lunches and it's 4.5 hours taken off my day (at least). Now, I also work from home which means I actually finish around 10-11 pm. I don't even have time or energy for other chores. Barely coping. I don't envy parents with problematic kids.

lemmox 6y ago

This is my experience. One part luck, one part upbringing, one part privilege. Both my kids are thoughtful, even tempered, curious, and tenacious. Often they are called "mature" for their ages (8/11). Such is not a description that fits most of the children in their peer group at school. FWIW most would probably call me a strict parent. Not in a punitive sense, but we do keep our standards high and do not normalise behaviours that we don't like. Honestly the school board's efforts have been phenomenally bad. We're in BC, Canada, which appears to have said "hey teachers, here's your Zoom license! Get on that e-learning thing - kthxbye!" In aggregate it's a bum deal for the teachers, students, and parents. Hopefully it works for some but it doesn't for anybody that I know. However... I took control of the curriculum. I'm not a teacher so I didn't presume I knew best: I based it on the Khan School Closure Schedule [1]. We sprinkle in a few arts & crafts projects with their mom, some nature walks in the afternoon, some Khan math and language arts in the morning, and an hour or so of coding after lunch. They have a few extra chores around the house - nothing too onerous. We've increased their music practice sessions. I've been working from home for several years so I did not have much adjustment to my working situation. It took a bit to find our education groove but, by and large, I'm happy with it now that we've deprioritised the haphazard din coming from the teachers. My wife's impression is that both kids are performing at a higher level than they were in meatspace school. The kids and I agree. I could probably sustain this indefinitely as my kids are kind of self-directing their way through the assignments. I'm keen for the new normal to kick in but, from my POV, this has unexpectedly turned into one of those "golden years" moments for me. We're making some memories and the kids are fine. Lemons and lemonade, I guess. [1] https://keeplearning.khanacademy.org/daily-schedule https://keeplearning.khanacademy.org/daily-schedule

iandanforth 6y ago
Hadn't actually read these schedules, they seem great, especially the Maths first and done with "school" by 2pm bits.

davidwitt415 6y ago

My wife grew up in the French school system and is a mostly full time mommy, and she has been very active with both our boys (6 and 12) well before the lockdown. When the lockdown started, she immediately put a schedule together for them, while I went to the library and checked out a ton of books. When the online learning started, she has been combing over everything the school has sent out, spending most of her day on schoolwork and at night is busy keeping ahead of their schedule. Bottom line, it is just barely manageable, with the considerable amount of time she puts in, and we both wonder how others that can't (or won't) do so will be able to keep up. I don't think it's an improvement, but at least I hope this sets a foundation for doing it better in the future, as I foresee this being a long-term trend.