I dread to think how far behind girls are
FOR Sabrina and Jason Watson home schooling their children would have been a challenge at the best of times.
Like many households they have struggled with the cost of materials, accessing the internet and finding a quiet space for their children to study.
But the task was made all the harder when Jason, a former HGV driver, was hospitalised with
Covid-19 during the first lockdown.
This meant
Sabrina was on her own supporting
Dani, 13, and
Bethany, nine, at home in Marlow,
Bucks, as they tried to navigate the many challenges of home schooling.
Having to adapt to remote learning has caused Sabrina to worry about their long-term futures.
“Dani is years behind anyway, after this I dread to think how far behind she is now,” she said.
Sabrina says her support is essential as both Dani and Bethany have special educational needs. She said: “It was tough because I had to help both of them and it was just me. I had Dani in one room and Bethany in another and I was just running back and forth.
“I couldn’t say just crack on with it and call me when you need help, because they need help all the time.”
At the start of the first lockdown the family only had one laptop between them. A lack of IT equipment is not the only problem for families grappling with home learning.
“Our front room where Dani works, the wi-fi never works very well in there. She would have to come out of the room for things to load. She hasn’t got a desk, in her room, she needs to be in that front room.”
“There seemed to be a lot to print off in the first lockdown, ink is expensive and we were getting through so much. We weren’t earning anything as Jason was in hospital. We also weren’t leaving the house, so we could not get ink from the school.”