Help for Parents with Online Teaching during lockdown *Mod Warning in OP*

karlitob

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

I have a five year old almost six myself and I actually just went asking about voice training. On piano or instrument training I’m very much wait. Wait until they ask for it. Wait until they want it. I was one of many piano players in school. I didn’t start until age 13 but I was grade 5 by TY. I’m the only one who still plays it. Because I really really wanted it.

For voice training I was told he’s too young for formal training yet. Make sure he’s having fun, singing a lot, lots of playlists, lots of fun.

I may look into a theatre style school for him for confidence but serious music lessons are going to wait for now in our house.



In that case he is almost certainly finding music fine. Then only thing he needs to keep an eye on is the exploration of composing in the new specification and that he learns the material for the areas like advertising that he wouldn’t know automatically from piano. I’m sure his teacher will have plenty for him but if you have access to a device that he could compose on (eg musescore for computer, GarageBand for Mac/iPad) he could have fun playing around with different melodies and accompaniments and projects without the time pressure of school.

Great advice. Thanks so much.

Marz66

It is really nice of teachers to offer their help.

However should parents not be contacting their child’s teacher in the first instance if they have questions? Their teacher knows their child and understands their ability and knows what they have covered and not covered.

khalessi

Marz66 wrote: »

It is really nice of teachers to offer their help.

However should parents not be contacting their child’s teacher in the first instance if they have questions? Their teacher knows their child and understands their ability and knows what they have covered and not covered.

Yep agreed, but if someone is having difficulty with something and cannot contact their teacher they should feel to throw a question up here on the chance we can help.

BonsaiKitten

4th class teacher checking in to assist. Also experience with 3rd, 1st and SET.

Just to pick up on something from earlier in the thread I never, ever use Sparklebox - I actually won't have anything from it in my classroom - and wouldn't recommend anyone else do so. The founder has child porn convictions. Just visiting the site generates money for him.

Hold My Hand

BonsaiKitten wrote: »

4th class teacher checking in to assist. Also experience with 3rd, 1st and SET.

Just to pick up on something from earlier in the thread I never, ever use Sparklebox - I actually won't have anything from it in my classroom - and wouldn't recommend anyone else do so. The founder has child porn convictions. Just visiting the site generates money for him.

Agree. Twinkl is great

9db3xj7z41fs5u

khalessi wrote: »

Yep agreed, but if someone is having difficulty with something and cannot contact their teacher they should feel to throw a question up here on the chance we can help.

It is also a nice resource of information for parents to look through.

Thank you so much to the teachers!!!

khalessi

Biggest thing is to look after the children's mental wellbeing

https://twitter.com/mssweeneyhomeec/status/1347309615139184640

Murple

Marz66 wrote: »

It is really nice of teachers to offer their help.

However should parents not be contacting their child’s teacher in the first instance if they have questions? Their teacher knows their child and understands their ability and knows what they have covered and not covered.

Often it is but sometimes people feel more comfortable asking anonymously.

Murple

olestoepoke wrote: »

I have two boys one in 3rd class and another in 4th class. They are great students with years of fantastic reports and no difficulties, the older lad in fourth we have been told is gifted in that he is doing math and reading way beyond his years etc. Now the last lockdown home schooling was living nightmare, they had some kind of a disconnect. They were stubborn and didn't want to do it and half arsed the work and moaned. I tried everything from being nice and talking them through it to warnings of xbox taken off them or bed early, both the carrot and the stick. I for one am not looking forward to this carry on again. Any advice would be great. Thanks

Maybe it was their way of trying to control a situation that they were finding difficult to cope with.
Would you have a chat with them outside of schoolwork, before it starts at all and ask how they feel about it this time. Talk to them about each persons role in the family and how you need to work together. See if there is something they could suggest to make it easier.
I would also say that it’s very important for you to remain calm yourself. Yes they need encouragement and guidance but you are their parent and home is a different space to school. Take a step back and reassure yourself that academically they will be fine. Your relationship with them is what’s most important at this time. We will be in the company of whoever we live with for near 24 hours a day for the next few weeks. So long as they are doing something to develop their minds and bodies, the time is not wasted.

Murple

karlitob wrote: »

Thanks for this. Very helpful.

I was more wondering - do the DoE publish standards or guidelines on what each class/year should be able to achieve?

How do teachers know what to teach? How do you know if a child can go to the next class?

Sorry if that’s a funny question. It’s the way my head works.

There is a curriculum which somewhat guides what a teacher teaches. I say somewhat guides as it is quite general with the exception of Maths. Your child is in Junior Infants so the teacher will be following objectives laid out for Junior/Senior Infants. Maths is the only subject with class specific objectives.

A child will go to the next class unless a decision is made that they need to repeat, which very very rarely happens. All children progress at their own rate and there would only be a need or consideration for a child to repeat a class for exceptional reasons and it would be a joint decision by school and parents.

In Junior Infants, one of the most important ways a parent can support their child is by sharing books with them. Read to them every day. Talk about the pictures. Ask them what they liked about the story or what might happen next. Playing I Spy is also good. Vary it by saying ‘something that sounds like....’ to develop rhyming, or ‘something beginning with ssss (using letter sound rather than name) or even ‘something that ends with ...’

Lashes28

Great thread. I've junior and senior children that will be using the seesaw app,can anyone tell me is there an easier way to flip between their profiles other than scanning the QR code everytime? I feel like I'm missing something somewhere but can't figure it out.
Thanks.

mirrorwall14

Actually should have mentioned I should be able to help with ICT. The most important thing I’ve noticed as a teacher is sending absolutely huge pictures in of work. I would advise using the notes app in iOS or something else to send in a PDF or reducing the quality of the photo. So long as it’s readable, it doesn’t need to be big and if your wifi isn’t great or you are trying to live stream or the teacher hadn’t great internet it makes it really difficult

Ashersmc

This is brilliant I have a 6yr old who im concerned about his speech, are there any apps that help with sentence formation, he loves books but struggles with blending in phonics.
I also have a 10 yr old with dyspraxia, the 10 yr old really struggles with mental maths ,money,telling the time and english comprehension any suggestions re apps welcome.She had a major meltdown the first day of her school holidays because of the lack of structure.
Major struggles here I'm a front line worker depending on my hubby to do most of this with them.
Are there any carpenter/soccer/golf apps that might ease his pain.LOL

Neyite

Following this thread as I may very well have questions down the line though I'll be taking my lead from his teacher - they've SeeSaw and in second class.


He's wanted to learn guitar for a while so I got him a 3/4 size but he's just got basic tin whistle skills so really an absolute beginner. I might get his cousin to go though a few basic chords for fun rather than feeling like it's actual lessons.



My approach this time around is that I'm happy if core subjects get handled by the teacher, and I'm happy to throw myself into some arts & crafts, board games and crank up the reading at bedtime. With that I'll be happy and focus on his mental health - the solitude of being an only at home with two working parents will be tough on him so that's my main concern.

hesaidshesaid

Neyite wrote: »

Following this thread as I may very well have questions down the line though I'll be taking my lead from his teacher - they've SeeSaw and in second class.


He's wanted to learn guitar for a while so I got him a 3/4 size but he's just got basic tin whistle skills so really an absolute beginner. I might get his cousin to go though a few basic chords for fun rather than feeling like it's actual lessons.



My approach this time around is that I'm happy if core subjects get handled by the teacher, and I'm happy to throw myself into some arts & crafts, board games and crank up the reading at bedtime. With that I'll be happy and focus on his mental health - the solitude of being an only at home with two working parents will be tough on him so that's my main concern.

Board games like chess or checkers, connect 4 are great. Simple card games. Pictureka is always a winner and great for observation and concentration.

ETA: Jigsaws are brilliant for that age too.

Neyite

hesaidshesaid wrote: »

Board games like chess or checkers, connect 4 are great. Simple card games. Pictureka is always a winner and great for observation and concentration.

He's great at chess, and has kicked his dads ass in 25. And bankrupted us in Monopoly!
I think it's his parents that need the simple easy stuff, he's grand

khalessi

Just putting this up here as a useful hack if kids dont have devices but have access to PS4 or XBox

https://twitter.com/EoinBearla/status/1347499945427873793

BonsaiKitten

Lashes28 wrote: »

Great thread. I've junior and senior children that will be using the seesaw app,can anyone tell me is there an easier way to flip between their profiles other than scanning the QR code everytime? I feel like I'm missing something somewhere but can't figure it out.
Thanks.

That's something that my school looked into a while back and the short answer seems to be: no. Unless you are using Seesaw Families app (which is something I don't know much about other than that parents can message teachers through if). Seesaw is great in many ways but very clunky in others!

khalessi

BonsaiKitten wrote: »

That's something that my school looked into a while back and the short answer seems to be: no. Unless you are using Seesaw Families app (which is something I don't know much about other than that parents can message teachers through if). Seesaw is great in many ways but very clunky in others!

Seesaw drove me bonkers as a parent the last time. Sooooo cluncky to use. CHangin word docs to PDFs to ensure I could upload work. Mind you could have been the work that was given, the highlight was having to upload 54 photos for one exercises, like I have the time to take them and upload them sheesh.

mirrorwall14

khalessi wrote: »

Seesaw drove me bonkers as a parent the last time. Sooooo cluncky to use. CHangin word docs to PDFs to ensure I could upload work. Mind you could have been the work that was given, the highlight was having to upload 54 photos for one exercises, like I have the time to take them and upload them sheesh.

If you have IOS (and I’m sure there’s a way on Android) use the scan to PDF feature in notes. Open a new note, open the keyboard, click on the camera icon and chose chose scan. Then you can take pictures one after another, click done when finished and you have a pdf straight away

BonsaiKitten

khalessi wrote: »

Seesaw drove me bonkers as a parent the last time. Sooooo cluncky to use. CHangin word docs to PDFs to ensure I could upload work. Mind you could have been the work that was given, the highlight was having to upload 54 photos for one exercises, like I have the time to take them and upload them sheesh.

Yeah I think you have to be very careful what you set on it as work. 54 photos though! Who has the time!

Even looking at the teacher side of things, did you know you can't make groups in your class? I'm teaching small groups in some of my lessons, I need that function...and they seem pretty set on not giving it. Ended up sticking an emoji at the start of each name to try and differentiate between my groups!

I'd use GeniusScan to take photos and turn them into PDFs if I were you. Been doing that since the start of the year for my self-isolating kids plans. Works better on an iPad than on a phone imo but very easy to use.

Purple Mountain

Hi. I'm a parent looking for a little help with 1st year maths.
I'm just looking over the book here now to give myself a refresher to be able to help and I already have a question!
Where can I post my question?

khalessi

Purple Mountain wrote: »

Hi. I'm a parent looking for a little help with 1st year maths.
I'm just looking over the book here now to give myself a refresher to be able to help and I already have a question!
Where can I post my question?

Hi Purple, Here is the link to the secondary thread.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058147798

rameire

The following is a link I was provided today by my work.

https://padlet.com/ciarareillymarino/primarydistancelearning

The description on the top of the page is

Tools, apps and websites to support Irish primary pupils working in the home - List created by Ciara Reilly, Lecturer in Education (ICT and Digital Education) www.mie.ie

There is a HUGE amount of info on this page.
There are links to usable websites and a description of what the link holds.

josip

This year's teacher is very well organised, put up great detailed content in advance and there was a Google Classroom session scheduled for today.
She had technical problems however and dropped out very early on, leaving 20 or so kids 'by themselves' in the virtual classroom.
Mayhem, they had a blast, "TEACHER'S GONE!"
No different to physical classrooms in my day when the teacher would have had to step out for some reason.

khalessi

Tip from Eoin Colfer on writing for kids

https://twitter.com/EoinColfer/status/1348967337458864129

khalessi

Something nice for the children who like marine life

https://twitter.com/DevlinJulieanne/status/1349473006716932103

kerb

Hi can anyone tell me how to get the seesaw fishing rod to work on app or on laptop, cant get it to work on either, it's for the game fishing for letters to spell name thanks