Home Schooling

Just do you! It's not a competition. Your main aim should be coming out of this with your sanity intact. We can all play catch up later.

Have you looked on Twinkl? You can join for free and the resources are really helpful, with lots of ideas, even an SEN section. Worth looking at.

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resources/specialeducationalneeds-sen/sen-and-pshe/general-sen-resources

Nichola1991 - i read your first sentence 'its week two but feels like month six' and laughed...i literally said that exact thing this morning! Im pulling my hair out too. But id rather them be at home than at school.

I have 3 but the eldest does homeschooling independently. The main problem I'm having is getting my youngest two to concentrate on there own work they keep looking at each others

Week one for me in scotland, day one on monday i was ready to give up. Your house sounds VERY like mine. An 8 year old who needs the help and really stresses me, a 3 year old doing everything he can to distract us and the dog barking every time someone is anywhere near our gate

I decided to return to this one with some ideas that may just help some but not everyone. These are distraction tactics. The important thing is to keep the activity short and if it fails then leave it. Only try them when the little darlings have completely lost their concentration levels and you need a 10 minute breather. Some SEN children don't cope well with timers or being timed but it they do then use a visual clock/watch or Alexa if you have one.

Cut out a good selection of pictures and ask your child to choose 4 from the pile. Give them 5 - 10 minutes to put the picture into a sequence and make up their own story to re-tell. Great for imaginative story telling and the retold story doesn't have to make sense or be complex.

Print off some spot the difference pics, age related. Even adults find them hard to resist.

Sound discernment pots. It's important that the pots are opaque and the same (I've used plastic 35mm film pots but a collection of same type will do) The game is to guess which two pots have the same things in them without opening them up. The beauty of this activity is that everyone has to be fairly quiet so that they can hear.

3 grains of rice, two 'clunky' pieces of pasta, beads, sand, enough water to make a splashing sound and anything you can find that makes the game fun

Prediction game - they've probably already covered it if they are at school but always worth testing what they've already learned. Transparent bowl of water with lots of different small items. Will it float or sink? Start with a cork then perhaps a piece of fruit, paper, playdoh, eraser, paperclip, pencil etc.

Balloons - only if your child likes them! Get rid of some of their energy by putting an inflated balloon on the floor and let them pop them without using their hands/nails. It works even better if you have two children as they have to hold hands and work together to burst the balloon.

Nichola1991 avoid competitive games at all costs! Don't be too hard on yourself - home schooling is so difficult and most of the country's parents are feeling the same as you. It would be helpful if other parents came back to your topic and added strategies that have worked for them.