I'm glad mine are in their early 20's and that gun laws are strict in the
UK.
On Thu, 26 Mar 2020, 20:33 Nicola Petto, <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I am soooo not cut out for home schooling! One of the good things that
will come out of this is a huge amount of respect for all the teachers/
nursery carers/ childminders etc who do this for a living. Unfortunatley,
my children may not...
On Thu, 26 Mar 2020, 19:35 Margaret Clarke, <margieclarke@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
for those of you who have young children at home - a long one (but so
true!).
*Parents!!! * A lot of you will be starting your own journey into
teaching today. Please read the advice below to make sure you get it right.
is going to happen during that time, including any questions you are going
1. Before teaching anything, always remember to write down exactly what
to ask, what the learning objective of what you are teaching is, what the
success criteria of the lesson is and how you will know if children have
met this, not met this or exceeded this. This must happen for every lesson,
regardless of how much of an expert you are in teaching the subject and how
many times you’ve previously taught it. If you fail to do this, children
will not learn. At the end of the lesson, you must write on the plan how
the lesson went, who met the success criteria and who didn’t and what you
intend to do to address this issue. If you fail to do this, children will
not learn.
work the children have done, including three things they have done well and
2. After teaching any lesson, be sure to write detailed comments on the
one thing to improve. This is known as three stars and a wish and must be
done regardless of whether children have the ability to read the comments.
If they can’t read them, you must still write them but write ‘vf’ beside
them which stands for verbal feedback. Then you must read the comments out
loud to the child. If you fail to do this, children will not learn. Any
marking carried out must be done in a variety of coloured pens and
highlighters and responded to by children in a different colour pen. Pens
of the appropriate colours will disappear on a daily basis never to be seen
again.
children get bored. If you have more than one child, you must make sure
3. You must make sure that lessons are long enough but not so long that
that every child gets equal chance to speak answering questions that are
carefully directed to be challenging for them but not too challenging. If
they do seem bored, that is your fault and you must make the lesson more
engaging. If you fail to do this, children will not learn.
reading, phonics, handwriting, fine motor skills, some kind of topic,
4. Every day, you must remember to include teaching on maths, English,
something promoting social and emotional health and some outdoor time. If
you fail to do this, children will not learn.
at them’. Please prevent this from happening at any time. If you fail to do
5. Most children are not able to learn when another child is ‘looking
this, children will not learn.
gloves, shoes, socks, PE clothes, glasses and lunchboxes. It’s fine if they
6. You are responsible for making sure children do not lose jumpers,
aren’t labelled as most children recognise their own and others’ belongings
by smell alone.
exist in the English language. Don’t be fooled if they can read actual
7. Children aged 6 and under should be taught to read words that don’t
sentences fluently and understand what they are reading. If they can’t read
the words ‘strombron’, ‘clightning’ and ‘fraw’ then they will not be
successful later in life.
determiner and whether something is written in an active or passive voice.
8. All children should be able to recognise a fronted adverbial, a
Never mind that you didn’t learn this in school, will have to Google to
discover what this means and that it will not be used beyond Year 6. It’s
important. If you fail to do this, your children will not learn.
exclamation mark if they start with the words ‘how’ or ‘what’. You may be
9. Remember that sentences should only be punctuated with an
thinking ‘what a silly rule!’ or ‘how ridiculous!’ but every piece of
writing should include this.
wee. Scientists have not yet determined why but it is an ever-occurring
10. Tidying up resources generally causes children to urgently need to
phenomenon.
begin around ten past nine and continue around every ten minutes until
11. Be prepared for being asked how long until lunchtime. This should
lunch.
your children’s friend’s parents) should be allowed to come and watch (via
12. Most injuries are instantly cured with a mini ice-pack.
13. Someone from a different home-school (maybe a neighbour or one of
a window, obviously) your lesson. They may arrive late and leave early but
they will still be allowed to comment on parts of the lesson they haven’t
seen as if you didn’t teach it. Afterwards, they will give you their
opinion on how you did and give you something you need to improve. You
won’t remember any of the good things they say but the suggested
improvement will be imprinted upon your brain until death.
explain to your partner how well their / your child is doing at school.
14. It would be useful if every now and then you can sit at a table and
Don’t forget to have targets for the children to practise and preferably
write them a short report that says exactly the same thing.
let your child’s teacher know exactly what they can do and what the teacher
15. At the end of the teaching year, please write a 4 page report to
should practise with them. It would be useful if you could add photos too
and also the child’s thoughts on how well they are doing.
different seasons or with differing needs, don’t forget to compare them to
16. If you have children of different genders, or children born in
make sure you are doing the best for everyone and not leaving any groups
out. Use percentages to compare this and never mind that the small number
of children may give misleading statistics.
range of voices for each character.
17. When you read a story, don’t forget that it needs actions and a
photograph it and write about it, it didn’t happen.
18. If you work with children under 5, remember that if you didn’t
Come and Praise book will suffice. Add in the Lord’s Prayer and the school
19. Don’t forget about assembly. Singing songs you remember from the
creed for the full experience.
write the day off and try again tomorrow.
20. If it’s windy and the children have been outside, forget it! Just
these to relatives. Actions and printed resources are mandatory.
21. Don’t forget to learn a song and poems for Easter and to perform
sufficient to go to your garden, eat the packed lunch and return to the
22. If you are considering arranging a school trip, it will be
house. Most children are only really bothered about the lunch and will be
happy once it’s been eaten.
keep guessing until they see the appropriate reaction on your face. What is
23. It is normal for children to repeatedly blurt out any answer and
4 plus 3? “Nine, five, one hundred and four, orange, zero, eighteen?” Keep
calm and don’t shout, no matter how many times it happens.
often ask if they can turn the page to continue. Avoid sarcastic remarks
24. When a child is writing and reaches the end of a page, they will
such as ‘no, just write on the desk’ as they will.
including using picture prompts. Be ready for this information to be
25. Be prepared to explain what you want the child to do several times,
forgotten in the time it takes to pick up a pencil.
while you can. It’s probably not an opportunity you’ll ever get again, so
In all seriousness though, it is the best job in the world, so enjoy it
look at the positives, enjoy the quality time and don’t sweat the small
stuff. You’ve got this!
