Covid home-schooling: Parents’ ‘nightmare’ juggling work and teaching
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- Coronavirus pandemic
image copyrightClare Ferguson-Walkerimage captionClare Ferguson-Walker says she has struggled with home-schooling her two children
As kitchen tables are turned back into classrooms across Wales, parents admit they are struggling with the return to home-schooling.
For Clare Ferguson-Walker from Tavernspite, Pembrokeshire, the experience has been a "nightmare".
She said trying to educate her two children alongside work has resulted in her relying on universal credit.
Getting to grips with home-schooling in the first lockdown was "a shock to the system".
"My heart goes out to teachers, I can't imagine what it was like for them putting together all these packages," she said.
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"My son is 12 and loves gaming so he's quite tech-savvy. When I have managed to pin him down he's been 'go away, dinosaur mother, I know how to do it!'
"I'm not au fait with these subjects I haven't done for years. It's different to how I learned at school."
As a single parent, Clare said she had found it difficult to juggle home-schooling with her work.
"At first, in the summer, we were doing Joe Wicks exercises every day then some work. Then it fell into chaos. I tried really hard at the beginning to be organised.
"I'm an artist and sculptor – that work ended and my income has dried up so I'm on universal credit.
"It's incredibly tough financially. Life has revolved around looking after the kids," she said.