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Remember the time when parents could admit to the fact that their children were plum stupid without being judged? Without having anything to prove to anyone or maintaining a filter in any way.

It wasn’t done to degrade their children, but more as an affectionate matter of fact, lighthearted – just incredibly blunt opinion without holding back…

Almost as support from one parent to another to ease any anxieties someone may have had about their own child’s level of intelligence.

Thick As A Brick

“Hey Betty, how’s little Billy coming along with his school work?”

“He’s as thick as a brick Shirley!”

“Little Johnny’s just the same Love, don’t worry they’ll be right!”

Parenting Without The Farce

Parenting without the farce must have been so glorious, so simple, so uncompetitive!

If home schooling my little ones due to COVID-19 has taught me anything it’s that my children’s teachers err on the side of positivity!

Home schooling Truths

According to these incredible human beings, my children are all doing wonderfully at school. Sure they’re not in the ‘gifted or talented’ realm, but they were supposedly progressing nicely.

I had absolutely no clue that my children were ‘thick as bricks’ – to use a term which was once hilariously acceptable. Not in a bad way, they’re just not exactly where their teachers kindly told me they were.

Perhaps they thought I couldn’t handle the truth?

Oh gosh, that sounds awful, doesn’t it? But I don’t mean it in a nasty way!

What I am trying to say is that my children’s level of education isn’t as rosy as what their teachers made me believe it was.

I Thought It Was All Going Much Better Than It Really Is!

Judging from their homework I was under the impression that things were going smoothly.

Thanks to Google Classroom and the work set out for my little ones by their wonderful teachers however, I now see my children’s school life in a completely different light!

Heavens, I have absolutely no idea how they’ve even made it as far as they have!

Don’t get me wrong, they are just the most wonderful children I could have ever hoped to have and I am proud of who they are as the beautiful little individuals they are.

But I’m not one to sit here and pretend that my children are on track with their learning, when I can see they clearly are not.

And that is perfectly fine, I mean if they’re doing their best and this is all they can muster, then good on them for achieving the best that they can and trying their hardest!

No Effort!

But therein lies the problem. I do not believe they were putting any effort in at all!

And that’s not fair to themselves let alone to the person having to try and get them to retain the lesson.

Honestly, I don’t even know if parents are allowed to admit to having kids who are not ‘on track’ anymore.

Everyone is so busy telling one another how incredibly intelligent and gifted their child is, I’m just not sure if there’s room for anything else.

No breath of fresh air… no moment to exhale and just say to your bestie “listen, my kid has absolutely no idea so we’re starting with the basics”.

Now I’m not comparing my children to Karen’s, because we all know that compassion is the thief of joy. Besides anyone can stage a perfectly styled image of their kids for social media and claim how intelligent they are.

I’m not even trying to keep up!

Not Reality!

No, I’m merely comparing my experience with my little ones to the impression of that which their teachers gave me of them during Parent Teacher Interviews.

There I was proud as punch, and of course, I still am, because after all, I’m their mother. But I am also happy to admit that they aren’t as brilliantly intellectual as their lovely teachers made them out to be. And that’s ok… I can live with it!

Currently, I’ve stuck their sight words to every surface of the house and I’m doing random pop quizzes unexpectedly, reading everything we possibly can… and just loving every moment together.

Thankfully they’re all still in primary school so it’s really not the end of the world!

I’m So Proud Of My Kids!

So far we’ve been in complete self-isolation for over a month now, with my hubby being the only one to leave our home for work and essentials.

I feel fortunate to be in the position to keep them in the safety of their own home- but something even more humbling is that these seven little beautiful beings are happy just to be together!

They aren’t losing their minds or becoming anxious by their surroundings… and that can’t be taught! It doesn’t come from any textbook or depend on how intelligent a child is.

It comes from within and my heart bursts with happiness just to think that I have been so incredibly blessed to have such peaceful children. Of course they have their epic moments with one another, both good and bad. Sibling rivalry is a glorious thing… but they are simply content knowing they are safe.

And I could not ask for anything more!

We’ll Get There

As for my little ones’ studies, with a bit of luck, I will be able to get them all where they need to be eventually. The beauty of knowledge is that we never stop learning!

They don’t always have to be the smartest in their grade, sometimes that desire to learn, the curiosity, willingness to apply themselves and just think on their own is more than enough!

I love their questions, their complete lack of understanding of the concepts in their class work, and most of all I love that they are so little that they believe that someone like me is brilliant for being able to explain the basics to them.

It truly is a magical feeling, one I’m sure disappears with age and education. But, for now, I will enjoy every second of it whilst it lasts… They’re only young for such a short time after all!

Wishing everyone and your loved ones the greatest of health and strength during this tremendously uncertain time!

And anyone worrying in silence about their little ones lack of ability, don’t worry Love, they’ll be right!

What home truths have been revealed by you home schooling your kids? Tell us in the comments below.

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  • One of my kids was a year behind all the way through Primary school until the last year where she attained just above average and suddenly her learning took off.

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  • My kids aren’t at school yet but I’ve heard from other mums that theirs are totally different.
    They are angels at school/daycare and demons at home. Why is that? Because at home they know they can get away with not doing what they’re told whereas at school or daycare, they have no choice but to listen.
    I’ve recently been trying to get my two year old to learn via different apps on the iPad and sometimes she just gets frustrated and bangs on the screen. Other times she’s happy to go along and learn so I wonder what she will be like at school.

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  • My daughter can’t do basic maths to save her life but I have been told she is progressing as expected which is teacher speak for we hope!

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  • I am struggling, I ask my daughter to do a simple task and she whinges and cries for at least 10min, at which point I get exasperated, and one simple exercise takes forever. I believe though that at school, children are very different with their teachers to at home. Hopefully home schooling ends soon!

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  • I think many truths will come out during home schooling – and more appreciation of teachers might be a result.

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  • I haven’t had to worry about it this year. My eldest son has told me that he had to buy his 2 daughters a computer each, this was money they couldn’t afford, but he wanted to give them the best possible chance with their education. He told me that they won’t be going back to school for the first 4 weeks after school is due to start and this came from the headmaster at their school.

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  • They probably respond better to their teacher teaching them than me – as they push the boundaries more at home.

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  • As a teacher I can pretty much guarantee that a parent might say they want to know know if their kid is as thick as a brick but the moment a teacher hints at that, all hell will break loose.

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  • I’m a secondary teacher and I would love to just tell parents the honest truth if their child is lazy, rude, etc but I’m too fearful of the backlash or blame so I opt to phrase things in a subtle way or with a positive spin to cover my butt. Parents can be pretty nasty and it’s quite traumatising when you find out the hard way.

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  • It’s been hard home school as I am still working partner has been doing some home schooling our daughter hasn’t copedwith not been in a class environment
    She has been trying she does struggle so I just said ok no history let’s concentrate on reading , spelling, maths I’m not going to stress and I don’t want to stress my child either at look at this way mental health is so much more important

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  • One good thing to come out of all this is that teachers will be more appreciated and respected.

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  • I am dreading online schooling when it goes back in VIC next week. Husband is living in a different house for isolation reasons so I am pretty much a single mum trying to work full time at home whilst overseeing education for the 6 year old and keeping the 4 year old entertained as well. It’s gonna be nuts!

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  • It is a whole different ball game now.

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  • My youngest is bone lazy with me at home and does the bare minimum required. It’s very frustrating but we’re getting through it and I”m looking at ways to encourage expansion and pride in his work.

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  • i think also that kids are different with parents

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  • How good teachers are at multi tasking!

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  • I think maybe parents are underestimating how skilled teachers are in getting what’s best out of a child. You are their Mum and they’re not going to work the same way for you as they do at school. You have a different relationship and that’s special and beautiful and should be treasured. As teachers, we are able to teach kids at their point of need, scaffold tasks to make them achievable and know the curriculum inside and out so can support and extend kids much more easily than a parent trying to follow instructions at home. This is also an unprecedented time in terms of stress and anxiety across society which also does not make for perfect learning conditions. I don’t think your child’s teachers were lying to you, more they were taking a strengths based approach and valuing your child as a whole human being not just on the academic side. Plus they also have the training to support their academic progress

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  • I never really thought teaching was a hard job but after just one week of doing the class work with my child I have so much more appreciation to them. They have the patience of saints. I’m so glad it’s now classed as school holidays in WA

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  • I don’t think you can judge your child based on the work they are submitting or being asked to do at the moment given that almost every psychologist around Australia is saying that we are all in a crisis. Kids can’t learn in a crisis, they are treading water. They are trying to get back into a routine and make sense of this crazy world. Obviously no-one would compare what your child is doing now to what they would be expected to do at school if covid19 wasn’t happening and teaching was continuing as normal. I think cut your kids some slack and don’t worry about these things. In the end, raising kids who are happy, well balanced and kind people is the aim of the game.

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  • I think these days they just keep pushing the kids through- they’re too worried about self-esteem. Sometimes I do wonder how my kids are in comparison to others, etc.

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