#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Teaching In Thailand >  >  Keeping Children educated, fit and entertained on Covid-19 lockdown

## Chittychangchang

A place to share ideas on our children's well being for the forceable future...

Many countries are predicting that students will be off till September!

The impact could be disastrous for children at a very important time in their lifes, or we can turn it into a positive.

Already exams have been cancelled and the knock on effect will be felt for a year or two.

My idea would be to bring the 5/6 week summer holiday forward to now and combined the Easter and Summer hols giving a potential 2/3 months off now with minimal adverse effect on the schooling calender.

Students could work through July and August instead of March,April and May then start the new school year in September.

We'll see how things pan out.

The main thing is now!

Don't let them spend to much time on their screens, easier said than done.

We started the fitness and P.E classes lat night with Just Wii Dance videos, a great fun cardio workout.

Here's a few to give you an idea...










You don't even need a Wii, just copy the youtube dance moves on screen :bananaman:

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## Chittychangchang

Sats year for the youngest, he's come home with this lot today.
There's more online as well.
Gotta be a few hours home schooling here every day of lockdown. .

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## NamPikToot

Nope, treadmills wired to the grid and get the little shits to power us. Perhaps i was a stern parent.

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## Chittychangchang

Dusting off the board games tonight,gonna be an interesting challenge these coming weeks.

My daughter insists on playing chess every night now!
Feel for the kids and their real life social interaction loss.

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## Mandaloopy

Teach them to cook :-)
We've been using Flipgrid here at my school, judging by some of the response a return to normality is badly needed as we make are way into Day 50 and at least another 30 to go.

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## katie23

@chitty - watch the movie Contagion, if you haven't . The teenage daughter found the lockdown restrictions tough.

For me, zumba works - it's similar to that Wii thing, but it's real people on the vids. Might try some TaeBo too, if I get bored of zumba. Lots of vids on YouTube. Maybe your boys will like TaeBo better, since it's more of kickboxing than dancing.

Ooh. I've watched several cooking vids too! Thanks goodness for YT!  :Smile:

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## kmart

Teach them bushcraft, survival skills, and tactical knife-fighting.  :Smile:

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## Pragmatic

Get them to learn an instrument. No lock-down here but the kids playing outside are few and far between. So my kids did this tuther day.

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## cyrille

:Very Happy: 

Were those dulcet midlands tones I heard there?

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## jabir

Yep, keep those brains stimulated to prevent them from dozing off in front of a screen. 

Not sure what we're going to do, nowhere to go and it's easy to fall into a deadening routine, but will keep an eye on suggestions here, so tia...

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## Mendip

> Dusting off the board games tonight,gonna be an interesting challenge these coming weeks.
> 
> My daughter insists on playing chess every night now!
> Feel for the kids and their real life social interaction loss.


My daughter loves chess and I really encouraged it until she started beating me. I've got her onto backgammon now... it's a bit less intensive than chess and a little easier after a couple of Ya Dongs... also it teaches her the valuable art of gambling.

I've noticed that between online lessons she will happily stay in front of the screen and sneak in a bit of Roblox. The difficulty will be getting her up and outside for some excercise between lessons. It's gonna be hard work.

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## hallelujah

> Dusting off the board games tonight,gonna be an interesting challenge these coming weeks.
> 
> My daughter insists on playing chess every night now!
> .


Standard when I was a kid in the winter. Light nights would see me home from school at 3.45 followed by a 5 minute sandwich then out in the park playing football until my mum shouted me in.

Dark nights were home from school at the same time followed by football under the streetlights until the neighbours chased us off for using their gates as a goal.

Then it was Monopoly, Cluedo and Scrabble inside with my dad and my sister. Occasional card games and betting 5p a hand on them. 

Apart from Thursdays, of course, because Thursday was Top of the Pops night. Dust off some 80s TOTP classics and they'll never go back to their screens again.  :Smile:

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## armstrong

Cosmic yoga is great for younger kids.  Available on YouTube. 

We've been filming music videos, science experiments etc.

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## Pragmatic

> Were those dulcet midlands tones I heard there?


 Coventry to be precise.

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## bowie

> Get them to learn an instrument.


  :goldcup: 

KUDO's Prag, you got a good sounding group there, no Dad karaoke vocals in the background?

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## Pragmatic

> KUDO's Prag, you got a good sounding group there, no Dad karaoke vocals in the background?


 I can assure you that you wouldn't wanna hear me singing.       :Smile:

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## Iceman123

> Get them to learn an instrument. No lock-down here but the kids playing outside are few and far between. So my kids did this tuther day.


Excellent, the kids are a credit to you. Loved the look on your daughters face when she detected your son playing a bum note :Smile:

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## Pragmatic

> Excellent, the kids are a credit to you. Loved the look on your daughters face when she detected your son playing a bum note


 No credit to me thanks but to my wife, as it's her that pushes them. Yeah my eldest daughter makes it known when you make a mistake, irrespective of who you are. Not really the Thai way but ......

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## hallelujah

> Coventry to be precise.


All the same in the West Midlands.




Birmingham,  Coventry, Wolverhampton and wherever: you all sound like mongs.  :Wink:

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## cyrille



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## Dillinger

Fatherless Ray and Camelle adding absolutely fuck all to threads again.

Good on you Chitty.

A proper fuckin dad unlike those two self isolating tefling wankstains

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## hallelujah

^^ Terry Hall's a top red.

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## aging one

> Yep, keep those brains stimulated to prevent them from dozing off in front of a screen.
> 
> Not sure what we're going to do, nowhere to go and it's easy to fall into a deadening routine, but will keep an eye on suggestions here, so tia...


Scrabble, Monopoly?   A good 500-1000 piece puzzle. Make a pizza from scratch?   :Smile: 

Repeat if it works.

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## NamPikToot

> So my kids did


Excellent Prag, love miss serious in the middle, she'll be a heartbreaker. I imagine your son feels a bit outnumbered at times bless im.

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## NamPikToot

Rainbows



Pictures of rainbows have started springing up in windows after schools closed in response to the coronavirus outbreak.


Hundreds of schools are encouraging pupils to put up paintings to "spread hope" after a trend started online.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-51988671

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## NamPikToot

^ perhaps take Nige on. Post up yer art work kids cmon  :Smile:

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## David48atTD

*Prag*, I'd green you with a complementary comment about your kids etc, but in light of you mentioning that you don't read them, reputation ... I won't  :Smile: 

Great work with them.

---

*Chitty*, good idea for a thread.

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## Chittychangchang

Some great ideas and info all, keep them coming.

Day 2 of isolation here involved a 2 hour cycle, a 1 hour dog walk, 4 hours of English class work and finally a game of Monopoly that has just ended in world war 3. 
Accusations of cheating and favouritism  ::spin:: 

Everyone's back on their screens now, me included.
Its been a long day :Smile:

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## NamPikToot

It is adversarial is monopoly, always created arguements. Whatever you do don't introduce them to risk

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## Chittychangchang

> My daughter loves chess and I really encouraged it until she started beating me


I feel your pain!

She's beaten me after her 8th game.

Time to crack open the cards and have a game of Rummy :Smile:

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## Chittychangchang

> Get them to learn an instrument. No lock-down here but the kids playing outside are few and far between. So my kids did this tuther day.


Outstanding Prag, that's the way forward.

This self isolation is turning into a positive.

@ Chez Chitty we have gathering dust, the following instruments.

Trumpet
Guitar
Ukelale
Recorder
Drum Kit
Violin
Electric Organ
a few more i'm sure.

in years to come when they look back, they can say i learnt to play a musical instrument whilst i was self isolating.

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## Chittychangchang

> Teach them to cook


Some on here would class that as child abuse :Smile:

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## Chittychangchang

> Teach them bushcraft, survival skills, and tactical knife-fighting.


Don't forget the 2" Bruce Lee punch
 :Smile:

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## Chittychangchang

> Cosmic yoga is great for younger kids.  Available on YouTube. 
> 
> We've been filming music videos, science experiments etc.


Cheers for that, shall check it out.

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## fishlocker

> Scrabble, Monopoly?   A good 500-1000 piece puzzle. Make a pizza from scratch?  
> 
> Repeat if it works.


From a voice I'd trust.

For funks sakes if it works. I'd give you my chitty chitty bang bang how to get away but that has been derailed as well.

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## Chittychangchang

> ^ perhaps take Nige on. Post up yer art work kids cmon


No offence to Nige, but my daughters art work is in the Premier league.

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## Chittychangchang

> From a voice I'd trust.
> 
> For funks sakes if it works. I'd give you my chitty chitty bang bang how to get away but that has been derailed as well.


No worries Fish, i'll fix it up...

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## Chittychangchang

Sun was shining today so outside it was...
Back to basics, dog loved it...






If the weather was this good all the time, then we could go camping and have some proper picturesque isolation in the Highlands of Scotland.

Trouble is we'll set up camp and come down with the Virus.

Better off staying home for now...

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## fishlocker

> No offence to Nige, but my daughters art work is in the Premier league.


What are you saying? Not that I could help.

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## NamPikToot

Just popped out to get some supplies, looks like Dill has visited the chicken section. 

Listening to Radio 5 live and had Carol Vorderman talking about her Pearson Maths tutorial which are normally £2 / week but during this time when kids are on quarantine Pearson are offering it free. 

Now i haven't gone on to look at it but Vord the Board is alright in my books. She did say they had high sign up volumes and as such they were having to take the server offline a couple of times to cope with the sign on backlog. I assume but don't know if those outside the UK are offered it free.

For those like Chitty, Dill, Lulu or Prag et al it looks like a good free source.

https://www.themathsfactor.com/

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## Mendip

Here's me daughter having her online music lesson...



This is a major imposition on family life and I now have to crawl along the floor behind her while lessons are on... or else actually put some clothes on.

The school has had to issue some guidelines for the online lessons, as kids were sitting on their beds in pyjamas, munching away on bags of crisps. The school wants kids dressed properly and not eating!

We've settled into some kind of routine... 7am dog walk, breakfast for daughter and then online lessons start at 8am. A lunchtime swim livens her up, and then after the day has finished another swim, street dog feeding and some other stuff. Today she started painting un-prompted, which was great. In between lessons we just take pictures of Dan, one of our dogs!



We've been trying to find some talents after watching Pragmatic's wonderful video. The daughter can already say her name in burps, but that's about it. I showed her how to make bubbles in the pool today, but she wasn't very impressed.

To be honest, my life is just the same with this self-isolating. The only difference is no school runs morning and afternoon, which is great. 

But what about a few months down the road... no work, no income and no escape?

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## OhOh

> finally a game of Monopoly that has just ended in world war 3.


I ignored buying and renting malarkey. 

Always the banker. 

Initial smiles when loans were handed out turned into howls when the "players" were unable to meet their repayment calls. 

Oh what fun we had illustrating the facts of over-borrowing on a fixed income and advantages of cash savings.




> don't introduce them to risk


Monopoly is "risk management".

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## Luigi

Good stuff Chitty. 

Gonna have to find stuff to do here, also planning to get out for a drive every day to someplace we can walk around some jungle.





> in years to come when they look back, they can say i learnt to play a musical instrument whilst i was self isolating.


Some real Mancs said that before. The Happy Mondays about Maggie putting them on the dole straight out of school.  :Smile:

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## Dillinger

> I feel your pain!
> 
> She's beaten me after her 8th game.


Never let up on them Chitty...




3 times round the table with your pants down, back in my day for getting the brush :Smile: 

Taught her a couple of card games today too, Fish and rummy. Tomorrow will introduce her to Texas hold em and try and pull some more of her pocket money back. :Smile:

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## Dillinger

A blast from the past that she got walloped on. She'll learn :Smile:

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## Dillinger

Loser gets to be the dolphin







If Carlsberg made dolphins... :Smile:

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## kmart

^Into your hoarded Carlsberg stash already.?  :Smile:

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## Chittychangchang

A few hours home schooling today and an hours bike maintenance then PlayStation time.

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## NamPikToot

Chit - Double tap the diddy pics and enlarge em. Are the winks too old for Carol Vorderman and her Maths thing?

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## Chittychangchang

> Chit - Double tap the diddy pics and enlarge em. Are the winks too old for Carol Vorderman and her Maths thing?


Will look into that cheers,if we run out of set work.
Believe me there's a lot to get through.

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## NamPikToot

Its good to keep busy at this time. I had a quick scan and its UK curriculum and progressively age linked, has fun stuff too, so maybe another outlet when they have you frazzled - my kids did  :Smile: ....frequently.

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## MarilynMonroe

Some great ideas on this thread. I don't have kids, but I've taught many over the last 18 years. 

These "How to Draw... " is something I would use when teaching art or just during free time. Most kids like to draw and this teaches them step by step how to draw different things from animals to ice cream cones. All you need is paper, pencil and coloring crayons. This is one example, but if you check on the right side, you can learn to draw many different things that may catch your child's fancy.

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## MarilynMonroe

Free ebooks  for children. 
You just have to register and login and you can access a lot of free books for children where they can read on a tablet or computer.

Free eBook library | Oxford Owl from Oxford University Press

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## kmart

The missus is rounding up all the waifs, strays, and otherwise iPad-addled children on our moo bahn and putting them to work, picking up litter down at the local beach. Child labour exploitation.

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## OhOh

I see lots of entertainment, academic education but few life skill tuition.




> an hours bike maintenance


Excellent. Taking responsibilities for their own safety. Do you have a copy of the Thai driving and road safety manuals? Study, test - charades or written tests.




> putting them to work, picking up litter down at the local beach. Child labour exploitation.


Social and Community Involvement skills.

Bringing beer, in a swimsuit, to the felang, Is a skill, I suggest, that can be left to a later date. Or never.

Volunteering to local school, medical, admin groups. Probably difficult presently but for future. Get know what opportunities exist to hep and understand the advantages.

Food Security

All that have gardens or even a balcony can teach the necessary skills of herb, veg, chicken or egg .... production. 

Science, agriculture and that strange felang subject - bookkeeping/profitability/risk.

Planting calendar, watering and fertilise schedule, crop harvest, storing and marketing.

Financial Planning

Banking, investment and risk appraisal.

Most of the above too years to gain if the kids are left to find them by themselves or hearsay from their peer groups.

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## HuangLao

Encourage them to actually read books. As in: hard copy. 

Any subject matter will do. 

The attempts to slightly wean them off the dependency of their most engrossed electronic and automation world will not be in vain.

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## MarilynMonroe

^There is nothing wrong with ebooks. Many libraries are closed..at least in my community. Some children may not have a lot of books, so this is the next best option. The main point is to keep reading, keep your mind active and learning.

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## Chittychangchang

One thing we have in abundance at Chez Chitty is books, in fact we have a whole mini library of several hundred on every subject.
Today was walk the dog..

A few hours intensive school work then outside again to enjoy the sun and paint the Thai beach bungalow..

Yes it appeared to be poo coloured at first.

But dried out fine..


Also got the kids planting bamboo around the parameter of the garden .
Back on their playstations now. ..

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## David48atTD

->

Parents forced to homeschool their children because of the coronavirus  lockdown should know it won't be anything like school, experts say.  

"School works the way that it does for six hours a day, with lessons  going for 45 minutes because of the way they are designed and [with] an  entire support structure," Dr English said.


"When you talk to home-educating families, none of them really do it like that."
There are several pointers parents can take from homeschooling approaches to keep children busy, learning and engaged.  


*Create structure to your kids' days*



*Active engagement*
In the short term, Ms Harris said parents  should be flexible and adaptive instead of trying to immediately  introduce a strict new routine.   


*Let kids choose what to learn*
"This is a time where you ask your children what they are really interested in."  
But don't go overboard.
"Having taught in all kinds of schools, I can tell you that most children don't learn that much in a day," 

*Take frequent breaks*


*Coronavirus has changed our education landscape — here's five things you need to know about homeschooling - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
*

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## David48atTD

This is from a little while ago ...







Just have fun with it.

I gave the Boys some structure, some bones and they put the creative flesh on it.

This was done when they were going through their Dinosaur phase so we taped some Dinosaur cards on Bamboo skewers, created a simple story about the Herbivores and Carnivores.

Made a simple stage from their dining table and a microwave box.

We enter home schooling next week ... current trend is the solar system.

We'll see what we make of that.

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## MarilynMonroe

^Great stuff, David. Your boys seem like they are really enjoying themselves.  :Smile: 

^^^Awesome, Chitty! Painting is always fun..haha. That is good you have a lot of books. 

I have a host of really good websites for children if anyone is interested. I've used most of these over the years. 


Where the Wonders of Learning Never Cease | Wonderopolis

For anything your child wonders about (or you) ask and find the answer.

Starfall Education: Kids Games, Movies, & Books K-3

Learn to read or practice reading/alphabet for children aged K-3. 

National Geographic Kids

Tons of pics, quizzes, videos about the world we live in

BrainPOP

This site is amazing. Interesting videos on every subject imaginable.

Free Online Learning & Education For Kids | Funbrain - Funbrain

Games, videos, books, etc


http://spatulatta.com/

Cooking for kids (I have never used this site, but it looks amazing to teach kids how to cook a variety of yummy stuff)

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## MarilynMonroe

> This is from a little while ago ...
> 
> 
> 
> We enter home schooling next week ... current trend is the solar system.
> 
> We'll see what we make of that.


This may help  :Smile: 

Research Help - ScienceBob.com

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## David48atTD

^ Thanks ... will show them.

---

My Boys know the stuff... backwards.

We have a discussion why Pluto is no-longer a planet, they can name the Planets in order backwards from the Sun, the gas giants,
the four dwarf planets and discuss the various sun sizes, from our humble Sun to a Red Giant.

How Venus got it's name ... etc. etc.

---

For anyone with kids interested, adding the video above my Boys like, in order ...

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## MarilynMonroe

^No worries, cute songs too! Anyway, c ya.

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## bowie

> This is from a little while ago ...





> We enter home schooling next week ... current trend is the solar system.
> We'll see what we make of that.


One for each of 'em...

 :goldcup:   :goldcup:

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## MarilynMonroe

@David - Have you seen this? Your boys may enjoy. 

NASA Kids' Club | NASA

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## armstrong

We made a music video.




Tried to keep it as close to the Marilyn Manson video as possible

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## MarilynMonroe

^That is well done! Haha!  :smiley laughing:

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## David48atTD

^^  WOW ... beats the crap out of my Boys doing a dinosaur play.

How long did it take from action to upload? ... including post production.

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## armstrong

About half an hour to film it.  An hour in the evening to edit it.

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## armstrong

Today we designed t shirts and painted cardboard nails.

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## aging one

You made a footy short too didn't you? :Smile:

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## armstrong

No she made me decorate it with Blackpink stuff.

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## aging one

I had Miley Cyress, Hannah Montana... :Smile:

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## Chittychangchang

We also got creative today with our NHS posters, nearly every house in the UK has these placed in the Windows showing support for the National Health Service workers..




No school work today, having a day off.
Although the kids did get some exercise walking the dog who loved his swim and new stick..


Watched the Peter Rabbit movie last night so Peter was exploring today...


Plenty of Wild Garlic foraged..


I even got the eldest to mow the lawn!


All good today. :Smile:

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## NamPikToot

Moss, Chit he mowed the moss not a lawn.

I have spent three days wobbling on a spade (not a euphemism) putting holes in me lawn and raking it of moss. I can see from a country mile you have more moss in there than Kate.

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## David48atTD

> ... you have more moss in there than Kate.



Tish Boom   :Smile:

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## MarilynMonroe

Great Rainbows, Chit!!!
Beautiful nails, Armstrong!! Fun times!  :Smile:

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## Chittychangchang

A marathon 4 hour game of Monopoly tonight that didn't end in blood shed.
The eldest won everything and had every hotel on the board at the end.
Time to chill out now...

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## Dillinger

^ dressed in red, white and black
I sense rebellion :Smile:

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## Pragmatic

Bury the dog.    :Smile:

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## Mendip

The morning dog walk at 7am today. 

It's hard to maintain routines with me daughter's school closed and online lessons starting at 8am... not to mention it's as hot as hell now and I'm sweating buckets even before breakfast.

I usually make sure I'm at work through March and April, but obviously not this year.

But... 30 minutes alone with me daughter every morning is priceless and I'm sure we'll both remember this.

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## Mandaloopy

International Treasure Dolly Parton Will Now Read Us Bedtime Stories
Dolly Parton will be reading bedtime stories

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## marcusb

> We made a music video.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Tried to keep it as close to the Marilyn Manson video as possible


  Thats Fantastic!! Good job Dad!

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## Chittychangchang

Another monster game of Monopoly last night..


They've all been spending a fair amount of time building up their Minecraft virtual world with school friends.

3 Sats tests today then a waik and rope swing building exercise. ..

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## hallelujah

Useful for all children, especially those with kids in Thailand (or elsewhere) who are learning English:

British Council LearnEnglish Kids | Free online games, songs, stories and activities for children

Teens:

British Council LearnEnglish Teens | Free resources for teens to help improve your English

Some good games in both section as well as all the usual stuff.

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## Chittychangchang

Getting more difficult to get them off their playstations and out and about. 
Staying home saved lives is their answer to going out for some vitamin E and exercise. 
Managed to to get them all on the trampoline for an hour tonight whilst having a bbq. 
Youngest still going an hour a day home schooling during the Easter holidays.
Difficult times....

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## jabir

Best we've managed is an agreement to start the day with a full ipad charge, and confiscate the charger. 

Er, that's of today so anything could happen.

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## Mendip

Happy Easter everyone! Highlights from the Mendip 2020 Easter Egg Hunt.

This got the littlun off her tablet for at least half an hour. My mum made loads of effort for this kind of thing, and it's come round a full generation now. Hopefully my daughter will remember in 20 years time...

A rhyming clue with an egg leads to the next clue and egg, etc. I'm no poet, and I know it!




_There are two lovely tables down by the pond…_
_One has an egg, of which I’m sure you’ll be fond!_




_We have one special chicken who eats on a shelf…_
_You’d better be quick, to get an egg for yourself!_




_On three shelves in the house, there are lots of women…_
_But only one of them, has an Easter Egg in!_

Whoops... not that one!



_I hope you’ve enjoyed your Easter egg hunt,_
_The last clue is the car, parked at the front!


_

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## armstrong

I got some small eggs to do just that but haven't got around to it yet..

Found an old phone and packed it with games. Keeps her busy for a bit when I get tired of Barbie's. 

She's taken more of an interest in football lately.

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## jabir

My youngest's school will be starting the next semester with online tuition. Not sure how that's supposed to work, and it did cross my mind as a scam to justify keeping the school fees, with btw includes materials, insurance and meals, or how they expect to hold the attention of 5-11 year olds for 8 hours a day.

Otoh, anything is better than day in day out on various screens.

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## Dillinger

^ Its a ballache. Expect to download a shitload of apps, namely zoom... and you need to be fairly adept on a pc or tablet to work it all out. Then theres Class Dojo and Whatsapp and Facebook.

One good app the school use is called EPIC, a book reading app, which is free for a month if you put your credit card details in.Then costs about 3000 baht a year.
 Cheeky bastards are saving a shitload in electric too.

Oh and all the kids lessons have been cut down to 40 minutes instead of 1 and a half hours. They say its to stop kids getting bored online and they encourage you to do the reading or boring work that would take up the other hour on your own beforehand.... but that zoom app is only free for 40 minutes lessons and the real reason. :Smile: 

Theyve cancelled the online PE lessons here until further notice today which is a blessing seeing qs he was a bearded Indian.

Prepare to pull your hair out and make sure you put some clothes on walking round your own house :Smile: 

Oh... then there's the homework

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## Mendip

^ Yes, it ain't easy.

My daughter does her class lessons on Google Meet, but I'm never sure if her camera is on or the mic muted. Good job my office is upstairs, lets put it that way.

I put up a big sign behind her saying 'DOES ANYONE WANT A PUPPY', but I think that kind of thing is frowned upon.

It works well but needs constant supervision. Home work is issued through this app called Firefly, which is hopeless, and means that parents are constantly checking what needs to be done. For most of the homework I have to take a pic of it and then email that off to the teacher. It's all very labour intensive for parents.

All said and done though, it gives some structure to her day and I'm glad the school is persevering with it.

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## jabir

^^
I've heard of Class Dojo, kid dled zoom last week to chat up his first love, and I will probably need a cam which is scary with all those wires and config boxes, but for background entertainment it's unobstructed movement sporting my Rambo physique either with or without shorts, and nobody here seems to mind.

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## Dillinger

> It's all very labour intensive for parents.
> 
> All said and done though, it gives some structure to her day and I'm glad the school is persevering with it.


Very true.

It's been a pleasure being her classmate today. At the end of the day  you get out what you put in and it all comes full circle in the end

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## Dillinger

> I will probably need a cam


You will definitely need a cam, you can see every kid online on there and the teacher goes around asking  them questions individually.

Oh I forgot powerpoint. I got one of those files today too.
I feel like I've been to school today

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## Chittychangchang

The teachers here are doing naff all apart from initially sending the students home with a ton of revision and test books.
The high school is setting regular home work which has to be completed and submitted online.
No face time classes which is what some students need.
Luckily my eldest two can get on with their work unsupervised.
The youngest needs a lot of encouragement.
As for PE, they've been sent a crap 30 minute you tube video to exercise to !
I get them outside on the trampoline for an hour having somersault and back flip competitions.

Schools over for today and the boys are winning a fortnight comp online and potentially a £750 prize!


Keep up the good work everyone, we'll look back in years to come and wish for these quality time days again.

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## armstrong

As soon as this is over the kids off to the grandparents and I'm off to Samed.

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## Dillinger

I've sussed it with the online lessons now, run a  long hdmi from the laptop into the tv and her teacher is none the wiser of my 9am drinking seshes.

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## HuangLao

Instilling reading regimens in the little ones. 
Can be adopted to be very spiritual lending to an longer/solid attention span.

Novel approach. 
 :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## Mendip

I thrashed the daughter at today's petanque tournament... I believe it teaches her a valuable lesson to lose graciously and still get yer dad a beer when it's all over.

12 - 7... ha ha. Take that!

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## bowie

^ you do know she'll be leaving' you in the dust shortly?... highly likely she let you win, sympathy for the old man, had a smile on her face didn't she?   :Smile:

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## Mendip

She's regularly beating me at chess and backgammon, can now beat me at our 10 length swimming races and usually wins at petanque!

Let me bask in this rare victory!

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## Chittychangchang

Easter camping holiday in the back garden.

If you can't go to Mount Snowdon, then I'll bring Snowdonia to us :Smile:

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## kmart

Lots of online activities / free pdf downloads on this site: Oxford Owl for Home: help your child learn at home | Oxford Owl

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## Chittychangchang

Cheers, shall check them out!

22oC today and time for a Teddy Bears picnic/bbq ..

Couldn't be arsed with home schooling today, took the day off.

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## Dillinger

^ your kids are late teens aint they?

I hope you're not  still bathing them :Smile:

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## Chittychangchang

> ^ your kids are late teens aint they?
> 
> I hope you're not  still bathing them


No, the youngest was suitable impressed at how the blue army got outside on there own and started a bamboo bbq.
He stayed outside playing for over an hour whilst the eldest two went back to their screens laughing.
Not easy being a parent,but we keep trying. ..

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## armstrong

We did similar today.

Daughter's 6th birthday today so all the Disney princesses came to the party.

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## bowie

> so all the Disney princesses came to the party.


The question begs to be asked "Was proper and adequate social distancing maintained?"  :Smile:

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## Chittychangchang

Number 2 child has been busy painting her bedroom..

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## NamPikToot

Can someone close Nige's thread  :Smile:

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## Chittychangchang

I really feel the teachers are taking the piss at the moment and having a long holiday!
No online classroom interaction, everything left to the parents.
The teacher logged on to Dojo this morning and set a task for every minute they were online, finished at 9.30am and back on holiday.

So now I've got 15 homeworks to plough through on top off the revision guides and Sats tests from before Easter that are still ongoing.

The best homework set by the teacher in there infinite wisdom was creating an Islamic artefact and writing an essay about it, this is home schooling for 10 year olds.
Thankfully as a home schooling parent,we shall concentrate on the maths,reading and writing. History,geography and PE shall be my department.

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## apinyasitwat

Every family has been wondering how they will manage to keep the kids occupied at home during Covid-19 pandemic. So, I would like to share some effective ways to keep children engaged in a productive manner. Here you go: 10 Ways High school Students can Make Use of their Time During the Quarantine: shreyamarwah — LiveJournal

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## Mendip

I had to go shopping yesterday for corn starch, which I'd never heard of before.

This was to make ooblek, which I'd also never heard of and was the subject of my daughter's online science class today.

One part water, two parts corn starch, and it makes this really weird stuff that is hard if you hit it, but soft like a liquid if you just pick it up with your fingers. The science class

 looked like great fun, but I'm glad we don't have carpets.

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## Dillinger

^ Newton's 3rd law  of motion?

I've been learning those this week :Smile:

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## NamPikToot

> that is hard if you hit it, but soft like a liquid if you just pick it up with your fingers.


Behold the crime scene.  :Smile:

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## cyrille

> corn starch, which I'd never heard of before.


You'll have heard of corn flour though, no?

It's pretty much the same thing.

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## HuangLao

> You'll have heard of corn flour though, no?
> 
> It's pretty much the same thing.



Well....not really.
Nice try anyway, Syb.

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## cyrille

I'll await your explanation of how they are not _pretty much the same thing,_ then.

Or alternatively...foj.

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## aging one

I am going to jump in here as my mom was a Texan and used both for cooking all the time... Not my words.

*Corn flour is a yellow powder made from finely ground, dried corn, while cornstarch is a fine, white powder made from the starchy part of a corn kernel. Both may go by different names depending on where you live. Corn flour is used similarly to other flours, whereas cornstarch is mainly used as a thickener.*

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## cyrille

Yup...so_ pretty much the same_ (note that wording) and both can be used as a thickener

Cheers, ao.

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## Dillinger

Wrong thread

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## HuangLao

> Wrong thread



It's all about the children.

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## Dillinger

Aye. :Smile:

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## Chittychangchang

Back on topic :Smile: 

School is setting a couple of homeworks via email every day and then that's it!
Its getting harder to motivate the youngest to do any schoolwork,  fortunately Y6 are returning to school on the 1st of June to a very different school experience. 
Small classes and social distancing  in place, it shall give him some closure from primary school as he leaves for the high school.
He's been out with the dog  when he's not on his PS4..


Also helping his dad make a crazy pacing patio..



I reckon the dog was impressed  :Smile: 

The eldest is still keeping up with his homework because he has exams next year that will affect the rest of his life.
Apparently pupils who left this year were given GCSE grades rated on their previous grades,good for some...

The middle child has been very busy interior designing the house and her room, took her out yesterday and let her have fun jet washing the car.

Petrol is less than a £ a litre,top left of pic!

I've been keeping my sanity with a decent bike ride every other day..


Before all this lockdown malarkey, I was working all the time and lucky to see my children for an hour a day.
The house was in bits, my cycling regime had disappeared,  the dog rarely got walked.

Now it's all good and the planet is getting a break from the polluting people.

Keep up the good work parents.

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## Dillinger

Good stuff Chitty. You are a breath of fresh air versus these stuffy, miserable locked down in the Sandpit fuckers, griping online all day, with one eye on Lockdown on Cam 006 or stuck next to a pool with no heater or Birkenstocks in NZud. :Smile: 

Ive been enjoying my daughters online lessons. Its been an eye opener to what level she is at and nice  helping her out in real time and perving at her teacher. The rest of the day is spent whiling away the hours in the pool, reading  stories,walking dogs and can now go out on the bikes
Been progressing well with my weight training, Although I need to be supervised now and realise theres not one more rep left in me.  :Smile: 

Keep on keeping on bro.

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## Chittychangchang

Checkmated without a piece being taken.


Seeing as though there's been naff all help coming from the school, I've put my daughter on the payroll earning £10 an hour teaching my youngest maths,English and various course work.
She's going really well at motivating the youngest!

Just as well because the school opening dates keep getting pushed back..

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## Chittychangchang

JK Rowling has surprised fans with the announcement of a brand new children's book, which she is publishing in daily instalments on her website for free.

The Ickabog is her first children's story not to be linked to Harry Potter. She wrote it over a decade ago for her own children and has now dusted it off.

It's for "children on lockdown, or even those back at school during these strange, unsettling times", she said.

She had previously referred to it only as an unnamed "political fairytale".

Chapters of The Ickabog are being published daily until 10 July on The Ickabog website .

The first two chapters, which went online on Tuesday, introduced King Fred the Fearless, ruler of Cornucopia, and five-year-old Bert Beamish.

Readers also learned about the myth of a fearsome monster called The Ickabog, which is "said to eat children and sheep".

The author said she originally intended to release the story after the seventh and final Harry Potter novel came out in 2007.

But she decided to take a break from publishing, and put the manuscript in her attic.

Image copyrightJK ROWLINGThe Ickabog graphic
"Over time I came to think of it as a story that belonged to my two younger children, because I'd read it to them in the evenings when they were little, which has always been a happy family memory," she wrote on her website .

A few weeks ago, she suggested to her children that she might retrieve it from her loft.

"My now teenagers were touchingly enthusiastic, so downstairs came the very dusty box, and for the last few weeks I've been immersed in a fictional world I thought I'd never enter again.

"As I worked to finish the book, I started reading chapters nightly to the family again.

"This was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my writing life, as The Ickabog's first two readers told me what they remember from when they were tiny, and demanded the reinstatement of bits they'd particularly liked (I obeyed)."


Presentational grey line
It was written to be read aloud, but is suitable to be read alone by children between seven and nine, she said.

It will be published as an actual book in English in November, with all author royalties going "to help groups who've been particularly impacted by the pandemic".

Illustration competition
She has also asked young readers to draw their own illustrations, with the best pictures to be included in the published books.

"I want to see imaginations run wild!" she wrote. "Creativity, inventiveness and effort are the most important things: we aren't necessarily looking for the most technical skill!"

The story is about truth and the abuse of power, Rowling explained.

"To forestall one obvious question: the idea came to me well over a decade ago, so it isn't intended to be read as a response to anything that's happening in the world right now.

"The themes are timeless and could apply to any era or any country."

Fairytale life?
It was in a 2007 interview with Time Magazine that she first said she was writing a "political fairytale". She later revealed she had written the text on her fancy dress outfit for her 50th birthday in 2015 - when she went as a lost manuscript.

Tuesday's announcement is confirmation she was referring to The Ickabog.

A theme of inequality is clear from the story's first chapter.

Most of Cornucopia was a "magically rich land" with happy people and fine, abundant food, readers are told.

But in the northern tip lived the Marshlanders, who scraped by on meagre resources. They had "rough voices, which the other Cornucopians imitated", and were the butt of jokes about "their manners and their simplicity".

Presentational grey line
Follow us on Facebook , or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts . If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk .

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## armstrong

Kids are back in school on Monday, part time so only half the class in at one time.  Getting them to keep to social distancing rules is gonna be a nightmare.

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## Chittychangchang

The whole situation is a nightmare for children and parents.

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## Chittychangchang

Dug out a few old Beano and Dandy annuals to keep the youngest entertained at bed time...

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## hallelujah

> Dug out a few old Beano and Dandy annuals to keep the youngest entertained at bed time...


Brilliant stuff. Takes me back to the good old days of waking up on a Saturday, getting them delivered by the paperboy at my gran's and then going out playing and watching football for the rest of the day.

1. The Beano
2. The Dandy
3. The Beezer

In that order.

Shame you haven't got any old copies of Shoot!, Roy of the Rovers and Match lying about.

A new page has been added to the British Council kids website with a few extra ideas you may not have tried yet:

Covid-19 support for parents | LearnEnglish Kids | British Council

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## Chittychangchang

McDonalds is open!
Zoos and Safari parks are opening.!!
FFS even Primark is opening on Monday!!!

But schools....NO!!!!!

Here's a bubble in a bubble Boris...


 :ssssh:

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## Chittychangchang

Had the youngest out doing some gardening and earning some pocket money so he can pay back the money he siphoned out of my account to pay for playstation V bucks...


No school till September for him  thats 6 months!!!

Flaming lockdown and school.

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## Chittychangchang

It's been a hell of a long 6 months, but finally they're going back to school tomorrow with face masks and loads of social distancing measures put in place.

I thought I'd finish this thread with a positive, my youngest showed me his replica of the International space station that he's been secretly constructing on Minecraft...



CCC

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## misskit

Good work, CCC. You deserve the back to school break!

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## Chittychangchang

> Good work, CCC. You deserve the back to school break!


Thanks, I'm looking forward to it :Smile:

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## jabir

> Dug out a few old Beano and Dandy annuals to keep the youngest entertained at bed time...


Brilliant, I had probably all of those but they usually disappeared during or after being passed to the rest of the street. :Smile:

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## Emmababes

My kids do this too and it's really nice! Still, I encourage them to try out some physical activities to give them some time away from their computers.

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## Joe 90

Back to the grindstone!

We had a good four months of school education with some important exams, overall the grades were excellent considering the year

Although no leeway has been given for lockdown in respect to grades with regards to Covid and lack of schooling.
Unless you're Scottish or Welsh.
Must be difficult for children and parents on borderline grades.

Google classroom is set up and three laptops are ready to go for home schooling ar 8.45am tomorrow. 

The thread unfortunately continues...

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## MarilynMonroe

^Best of luck to them. Happy New Year, Joe! 
Google classroom is pretty good, that is what I use. Back to work tomorrow for myself as well. 
Is it all online now in the UK? All schools in Ontario are online till Jan 28th because we are in lockdown at least till then. 

There are many vids on using google classroom on youtube. Here's an introductory one.

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## Joe 90

> Is it all online now in the UK?


Apparently so, till at least the 18th when this new mutated covid dies down a bit.

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## Joe 90

GCSEs exams have been cancelled for my eldest now after he'd worked so hard in his mock exams getting mostly 8's.
Which is the old A+.
What and when is the alternative?

The schools have eventually got their act together and all lesson are online from 9am till 3pm which is good.

Getting them out for an hour exercise is another challenge. 

Started up our home gym sessions which so far is going well.

Ruddy virus.

On the plus side I'm spending more quality time with my children at this important time in their lives, so shouldn't complain too much.

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## TheMadBaron

> Is it all online now in the UK?


UK be like....

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## Joe 90

Children are back in school on Monday after a tedious winter lockdown. 
They've got to have three tests in the first two weeks before they can attend full time, so remote learning is still a part of their education. 
After the first fortnight,  I must test them with a lateral flow test at home.

So we had a trip out tonight to collect the test kits from an isolated apocalyptic car park tonight.

4 x 7 tests, the maximum issued at one visit..



The irony..



The contents..



I've just tested myself so have to wait 30 minutes for the result, it's a bit like a pregnancy test kit.

If we had these self tests a year ago Covid would of done a lot less damage.



On another note, I've managed to get my kids into home gym workouts which is helping them with their muscle development.

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## cyrille

That must be the first school test you've passed.

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## Joe 90

> That must be the first school test you've passed.


 :rofl:  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## Joe 90

First day in for all three today!

The responsibility is someone else's for 6 hours.

A year of this lockdown malarkey now but there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Celebration time with a Greggs breakfast roll.

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