Work hours lost and maths is challenging to teach – the reality
MOTHERS are more likely to have sacrificed their work commitments in order to homeschool their children amid the Covid-19 lockdown, according to new research.
The figures from a UCL study, indicate that average hours worked fell by 40% in lockdown, and mothers with younger children at home were significantly more likely to have stopped work than fathers.
This echoes findings in a study commissioned by Clarks, which paints a very telling picture of the lockdown homeschooling experience faced by millions of parents and their children across the UK.
A survey of 1,000+ UK parents of children aged 4-18 found:
Almost half of female respondents (48%) used BBC Bitesize and similar online education resources to help with homeschooling, whilst fewer than two in five male respondents (37%) said the same.
This may suggest mothers are taking on a larger responsibility than fathers to ensure their children are using reliable at-home learning resources.
Overall, half (52%) of UK parents turn to Google for homeschooling help. Meanwhile, nearly a quarter (24%) use virtual lessons hosted by celebrities.
Mothers are enjoying teaching their children English (47%), maths (41%) and art (30%) the most, whereas fathers say they enjoy teaching maths the most (58%), followed by English (40%) and history (29%).
Despite being one of the most enjoyable, both mothers and fathers cite maths as the most challenging to teach (39% and 25% respectively).
Of the fathers surveyed, 16% say they’ll miss being the opportunity to understand more about what their children learn at school when their kids eventually return to the classroom (compared to just 7% of mothers).