Homeschooling is pretty intense at the best of times, let alone when you're juggling it with WFH and general parenting simultaneously. At the start of this most recent lockdown (Lockdown Part Trois, si tu veux), I wanted to do something to help parents who were struggling to find accessible activities to keep their children busy and engaged so that they had time to do other things. Make a brew. Do a Zoom call to a colleague. Organise an online shop. Hide in a cupboard for half an hour until they felt vaguely human again. You know, the basic necessities of lockdown life.
So, I began to put together a resource pack for primary learners in KS2 (although it would potentially suit some KS3 students too). I thought about my nieces and nephews and what they enjoy and created a series of English activities building up to a piece of creative writing. The best thing about it is the flexibility of it: each activity can be standalone for younger or less able students, or could be done alongside another for older or more able students. Equally, each activity is scaffolded so that parents don't need to be English specialists, and the bigger tasks have criteria and checklists for students to self-assess and reflect on their work.
It can also be used by teachers to supplement the work they are setting online or to save them the hassle of devising new resources. God knows it's stressful enough in schools at the moment without the added pressure of reinventing the wheel and adapting all the schemes of learning for remote learners on Teams when you're also teaching kids right in front of you at the same time. Plus it can be printed quickly and sent out to those students without internet or technology to access the online stuff.
I intend to develop a few more free resources for people to download and use how they wish over the coming weeks: some more primary work, and also some secondary revision resources for students in KS3 and KS4. Keep an eye out on my social media! In the meantime, feel free to download the PDF of Adventure to the Moon here. If you like it and/or find it useful, please share!
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