Perfect Polly meets Reckless Ruth (a day in the life of mother who teaches her children through distance education)

The Roll of C2C for the Douglas Family (opposed to the roll out!)






In Reflection of how C2C affected one distance ed family this year. There is a sprinkling of the truth in both Polly and Ruth who is the mother/home tutor of the family. She aspires to be a Polly but Ruth is far more her reality.



Perfect Polly’s Plan

5:30: rise; feed baby; morning yoga

6:30: awake children; serve nutritious breakfast of Burcher muesli (prepared yesterday); fresh organic juice; camomile tea

7:00: House keeping and schoolroom preparation. Children commence before school fitness and gross motor programme. It should be noted at this point during the holidays, Polly familiarised herself with all c2c curriculum ensuring every aspects were studied and comprehended as it arrived/or she could access it. She also ensured all technical components of the c2c were working and she upgraded/uploaded compatible software of her own equipment accordingly.

8:00 Official start of the day- children will be at their desks with pencils sharp/hand at the keyboard and already writing/typing without being told to. Baby routinely goes to sleep.

Daily writing (genre/topic picked from previous day and children write continuously for 20 minutes without stopping or speaking unless to ask a question. This gives you time to scan through maths tasks for the morning and check emails from the school.

8:15 Brain gym exercises and school maths programme- all cd’s/sticks/internet links have been previously tested and are running smoothly, activity sheets previously cut out and resources collected and ready.

Spend equal amounts of time with each student accordingly and play times table cd in background. This week we are using “tables with Tchaikovsky”

9:05 unscheduled visit of father/husband to see children’s progress and current work

9:30 morning tea (fruit platter previously prepared) Baby routinely awakens and joins family for pureed fruit. Preparation for next session may also be necessary.

10:00 C1 (child 1in year 2) commences on air lesson with web conferencing that was connected during morning tea break- internet is working, no students are dropping in or out during the lesson, phone line is clear, dog is not chewing any cords and Polly has not forgotten web cam is on whilst breast feeding baby in background. C1 is doing an ink straw blowing art lesson today so that has also been previously prepared and all clean up equipment is standing by at the ready in case of spillages. C1 starts English. Meanwhile C2 (child 2 in year 4) commences school English programme and is working on extra spelling, handwriting and poetry activities requested by him from the distance ed teacher.

10:30 C2 commences on air lesson (see note above). Today the class is cooking so equipment, utensils and ingredients have been transferred from the house to the school room during the break C1 starts English. Today she is writing a persuasive text as well as other set activities including spelling, handwriting and reading with comprehension activities.

11:00 Both children continue working independently on English tasks whilst Polly commences fine and gross motor activities with the baby. Assistance is given to children as needed- this is also an opportunity to catch up with school emails, business phone calls and light housekeeping.

12:00 Midday reflection for everyone, how are we travelling and are the goals we set for today being met? Baby feeding and lunch preparation whilst the children continue on English activities.

12:30 Family luncheon (cold meats and selections of salads) Baby settles in for afternoon sleep.

1:15 Ironing whilst children read current novels. This is followed by an in-depth discussion of inferred character development and setting significance of the text. On occasion, this session may run slightly over time if there is much to discuss.

1:30 Return to schoolroom for afternoon session Currently C1 is doing a unit on rules of education and society and C2 is learning how to be a good friend. These may see the children do anything from creating a digital photostory, mixed medium painting/collage, powerpoint presentation or play performance (with props, costumes and backdrops) which has to be recorded for the teacher.

3:00 Official finish to the school day. Afternoon tea (wholemeal banana bread). Baby also routinely awakens to join family for afternoon activities.

Activities may include:

Watercolour painting, craft from another country, nature walk to study local fauna and flora, athletics training in winter months, pony riding (dressage and troop drill instruction), a visit to town for stores/library etc. The baby is now incorporated into afternoon activities as seen fit.

5:30 children’s chores (chickens, dogs, watering of vegetable garden)

6:00 Dinner preparation, baby feeding (organic beef and carrots), story, bath and bed time.

6:45 Evening meal

7:15 Family games night- Monopoly

8:00pm Children go to bed

Polly’s private study and meditation; husband attends to officework

9:30 bubble bath; blogging days thoughts and reflections; bed







Reckless Ruth’s Reality

5:30: something will wake you: be it hungry baby, husband, ringing phone, child with wet bed, or if you’re lucky shrilling crow of a roster

Drag yourself out and brace yourself for the day. Tea to calm, coffee to kickstart; drink accordingly. Feed baby, pack lunches for workers, hang first load of washing out. Ensure each member of family has eaten by counting bowls in sink and do a quick stock take of who’s doing what. Eat some wheatbix and toast.

7:00: C2 has been taken out in paddock by husband to assist with windmill greasing. C1 has taken dog for a bike ride to avoid extra chores. Baby is teething, drug accordingly. It should be noted at this point that over the Christmas break, Ruth prepared herself for c2c by purchasing 2 laptops that no one in the house is yet smart enough to work.

8:00 Official start of the day- children enter school room and commence whinging about writing. 8:15 Ruth needs to stop reading emails and checking facebook updates so she can start teaching school. Teach Maths. Baby decides to wake as it has disgusting dirty nappy.

9:05 husband sticks head in door and announces he is home for smoko- total disruption to all

9:18 early morning tea- I’ve heard there’s nothing wrong with SAOS for smoko…

10:00 Write off an hour of your day here…connecting to web conferencing, collecting materials needed, dealing with drop outs of internet or phone and then reconnecting. C1 on air lesson. Ink everywhere….. C2 knows if he keeps very quiet whilst crisis occurs, he won’t have to start his English for ages.

10:30 C2 on air, baby and dog in charge of cooking clean up on floor. C1 helps Ruth write persuasive text “The Impact of Climate Change on Our Beef Cattle Enterprise” for a grant application.

11:00 Time for some serious school work. Ruth reminisces about the good of days before c2c, technology and flexi-lessons. Baby rotates from jolly jumper, activity centre, floor time and given bikkies as required; ends up asleep on floor with dog.

12:00 Finally, some piece and quiet to do school. C2 remembers it’s mail day and escapes on the quad to collect it. Blue bag arrives from school with marked papers and stickers. Early lunch?

12:07 Lunch time…are there any leftovers? If not break into emergency stash of 2 minute noodles, frozen pies or toasted sandwiches.

12:45 sort washing onto ironing board and get kids to read to the baby.

1:15 Return to schoolroom to finish off what needs doing ASAP

1:45 finished…kids scatter in all directions

Afternoon activities: C1 and C2 have gone flood gate fixing with dad. (Bliss) Ruth mows lawn, pushing mower and pram alternately. Baking done for street stall, now where to hide it so the family don’t consume….. Goanna discovered in chook house and dealt with accordingly- still a crack shot.

5:30 Chores- Ruth does all as no one else has come home yet

6:00 arsenic or happy hour (pick your poison!)

7ish tea- not sausages and veges AGAIN

8:00 kids to bed (always on time for this one!)

8:30 attempt to read book but can never remember plot from previous night, collapse in coma like state to gain strength to repeat performance tomorrow.





End of year up date:

Polly stuck to her routine and is still educating her children perfectly. Her family, home and life run like clockwork. She has found this is only now possible by forgoing all forms of sleep, socialising and ‘me’ time. She is currently constructing a 200 page letter to Ed. Qld with recommendations for acceleration programmes for her children next year. Every now and then these funny people run into her softly padded room, tell her she is going to be just fine in gently soothing tones and give her a nasty jab that makes her feel like a floating cloud again.



Ruth didn’t get anywhere near Easter before the whole show fell apart. After 4ft of water went through the school room her life was somewhat put into better perspective. After being noted as Dan Murphy’s customer of the month 4 months consecutively, she is now the most active member of alcoholics anonymous. She is currently writing a short letter to Ed Queensland demanding the time she has wasted on c2c roll out ‘teething problems’ this year back or a generous compensation would also do. Ruth finally realised she could not do it all and has become one of ‘those people’ who have a Swedish Nanny for the baby whilst she gathers her head back together. She is also contemplating writing her own school curriculum entitled “the paddock programme” based on the philosophy that children will be immersed in all aspects of doing what ever she and dad do each day and hopefully by Christmas 2013 they will have their head around the BAS and mustering the holding paddock by themselves.