The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Tips for those operating School of Mum and Dad
As the coronavirus crisis changes life in Britain, Michael Alexander looks at the pros and cons of home schooling
When the coronavirus outbreak forced the government to close UK schools for the foreseeable future on Friday, parents everywhere were faced with a new challenge – how to balance working from home with looking after their children’s education.
But home schooling was already a reality for an estimated 6,000 children in Scotland. So what advice would past pupils of the School of Mum and Dad give? And what about tips from Courier Country teachers on how to navigate the metaphorical chalk face?
Journalist Ciaran Sneddon, 23, was home schooled all through his childhood in Fife and never spent a single day at primary or secondary school.
The university graduate, who works for a magazine in London after a spell at The Courier, said his parents tried teaching after his sister did not warm to it, and found they really enjoyed it.
His parents provided most of their lessons at home in Milton of Balgonie, supplementing them in certain subjects with night classes at what is now Fife College.
He and his sister were also part of home ed groups, which brought them together with other families from across Fife and beyond.
“In terms of positives, I am still benefiting from the independence and free-spirited nature of being home schooled,” he said.
“My parents used all sorts of approaches during my education.
“Some of their styles closely mimicked the school curriculum, others stretched a little further from convention.
“I think the most successful of these approaches was when we were set a list of tasks for the week, and once we had finished all of these, we were free to use our time as we pleased.”
Ciaran said this technique helped improve his self-motivation and allowed him to focus on subjects he was genuinely passionate about, an advantage over his school-going peers.
He knew he wanted to be a writer from a young age and felt exams and other formal qualifications weren’t as important as they might have been if he had wanted to pursue medicine or law.
To any parents who are taking on a home schooling role now, he’d say: “Don’t worry too much about being a ‘teacher’.”
Instead, be a guide. You don’t have to know everything about the subject your child is studying.
“Just encourage them to find things out themselves. Or, if you have the time, learn something together,” he said.
One Fife secondary school teacher providing electronic teaching materials for his pupils from home, recommends a regular routine of school work (packs provided by school/bbc Tv/bitesize online) at the same time every day.
These don’t necessarily have to be the same topics but literacy and numeracy in the mornings and art/practical activities in the afternoons would be one approach.
Ensure activities are varied, fun, interesting and personalised.
“This provides a real opportunity for interest-based learning not possible in a class of 30,” he said.
“If possible do outside work in the garden to promote health and wellbeing – exercise, yoga, cycling etc. There should also be reward time and bed times should be the same. It’s important to maintain discipline and have weekends.”