‘Buddy up to do a lesson together over Zoom’
Reality star Nicola McLean,
39, is homeschooling sons, Rocky, 14, and Striker, 10, with her husband, footballer Tom Williams – but admits she worries about what her boys are missing out on.
“It’s absolutely insane and I really feel for the kids,” says Nicola. “Striker’s actually really enjoying the one-on-one learning, but he’s missing break times and interacting with his friends.
“This is his last year at primary school and he’s going to have missed a lot.
But I know the boys are trying their hardest and that’s all I can ask from them.”
While Nicola says she enjoys the challenge of homeschooling, she finds some days tougher than others.
“I’m not great with maths, so sometimes I’ll call my ‘learning support teacher’ – which is Tom – and he gets involved. We also have a mum group chat for support and we send each other funny memes. Some mums might say ‘God, it just didn’t work today’, and I’ll write back saying, ‘So what? Tomorrow is a new day!’ Nobody’s judging anyone and we’re all in this together. I make sure I don’t follow ‘perfect mums’ on Instagram, who try to make out this is an absolute breeze. That’s just annoying!”
And Nicola is constantly creating new ways to make learning more fun. “I always try to make lessons fun. I’ll say to Striker, ‘Right, Mrs Williams is here’ – and I never call myself Williams, it’s always McLean – and he’s like, ‘Oh Mum, don’t be stupid’. But calling myself Mrs Williams makes it more fun,” she laughs.
“A good tip is to buddy up in twos or threes to do a lesson together over a Zoom call, so the kids have some interaction with pals. Striker did a remote class with his school friend this week and I was teaching them about how the heart works. There’s no point in having tears and tantrums to get your kid to do something they’re clearly not interested in. Striker’s not into RE and music, so we’ll focus on the core subjects instead, like maths, science and English; he can catch up on the other stuff later. It’s hard, but it helps to know that this isn’t forever!”