HUGE numbers of parents have had to turn into teachers overnight, with home-schooling essential during the lockdown.
But what happens if you cannot understand your child’s homework or even read it properly?
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The National Literacy Trust estimates there are five million adults in England with a reading age of 11 or below, making educating children really tough.
Here, single mum Michelle Beard, 40, a farm worker from Kent, tells Alley Einstein how concerned she is that her illiteracy could be holding back her kids.
SITTING at the kitchen table with my daughter Dolly, I sounded out some words from the English comprehension exercise she was working on.
But I wasn’t doing phonetics to help Dolly. I was doing it because I can barely read or write.
The truth is, I have the literacy and numeracy skills of a five-year-old child. Until recently, I have muddled through.
But now I have to somehow home-school Dolly, ten, and brother Lenny, 14, as a single parent in the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown.
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And I’m terrified not only of catching the virus but also of jeopardising my kids’ education and future, because I can’t explain what they need to know.
Suddenly I am their teacher, though I can’t use a computer or read emails. Their homework looks like a foreign language.
Growing up around Kent, I moved from school to school. Inevitably, I fell behind.
I struggled with maths, English and science, leaving school at 12.
It wasn’t so unusual then. Kids like me fell through the cracks.
My mother tried to home-school me but didn’t have the resources today’s parents have. I ended up doing seasonal work picking fruit on farms.
At 18, I met my ex, Pat*, settled down and had four kids — Demi-Lee, 20, a trainee beautician, Billy Allan, 17, who’s training for his forklift licence, plus Lenny and Dolly — before splitting up in 2010.
Over the years, I tried to better myself, attempting to read children’s books and attending adult education classes. But not having had a consistent early education, I struggle to retain information.
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Instead I relied on friends and family to help me fill out forms and read labels and menus, and I count out money on my fingers.
I made my peace with the fact I might never learn to read or write properly, and instead I focused on my children’s education.
Demi-Lee and Billy have always known what they want to do in life, while the youngest two were doing very well at school before the coronavirus pandemic.
Dolly, who wants to be a teacher or businesswoman when she grows up, was top of her year, while I’d fought tooth and nail to get Lenny into a top, outstanding secondary school.
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He was getting brilliant grades in French, maths, design and technology and science. He wants to be an architect.
I could never help them with their homework, which made me feel inadequate.
But I knew they were getting a wonderful education.
They never missed a day in class, never had to be badgered to do their homework, and the feedback at parents’ evenings was always wonderful to hear.
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Meanwhile, I’d always been honest with teachers, telling them that I wanted my kids to have opportunities I never had, and they praised me for putting such an emphasis on the children’s education. Then coronavirus hit.
When I see Lenny struggling with a French translation or Dolly frustrated over an English exercise, I feel so helpless.
Thankfully, I can make sure they stick to their timetables and help with things like art and drama. Lenny asks for help with design but I can’t understand it.
He tells me I’m good at other things like cooking and being a great mum. The kids are very understanding.
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Aware of our circumstances, the school has provided additional printouts and worksheets, but they are not much good when I can’t even read them.
I don’t blame the teachers — we’re all trying to figure out a way through this, and I know they can’t come to our house for individual lessons.
When I hear of other parents struggling with the stresses of home-schooling, I feel envious.
I appreciate it must be tricky to juggle working from home with teaching kids, but they don’t know how lucky they are.
I’d give anything to be able to sit down with Dolly and Lenny, and see their eyes light up as I explained something new to them.
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Instead, I have to look on helplessly, panicking that their future is hanging in the balance and there is nothing I can do about it.
Will they fall behind their classmates? What if they can’t catch up? I just want my children to have a better life than me, to embrace their education and fulfil their potential — and the guilt that I can’t ensure that is immense.
All I can do until lockdown ends is give them cuddles, and love, and encouragement. I just hope that is enough.
* Name has been changed.
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