Bitesize Primary Parents' Survival Guide

In the final episode in the series frazzled parents Elisha Sessions (BBC Academy) and Deborah James (You, Me and the Big C) hear from parents about what they have learned during this chaotic period. They speak to comedian Tony Law who has realized his flaws as a dad, and Jenny from Sheffield who has had some profound moments of joy with her son. They also speak to Tom who has discovered his children will do anything for ice cream. Debs catches up with Sindy and Vanel from new BBC Sounds podcast ‘Go Ask Your Mother’ to get the truth about their chaotic lockdown household.

You can find plenty of extra learning resources at bbc.co.uk/bitesize.

New Bitesize daily lessons will be available every week day until the 24th of July. You can catch up with all the daily lessons, just search ‘Bitesize’ in iPlayer

There are plenty more resources for parents on Bitesize, from wellbeing tips to practical advice on activities. Go to bbc.co.uk/bitesize and search ‘Parents’ Toolkit’

Presenters: Eli Sessions and Deborah James

Producers: Lucy Hancock and Georgia Moodie

Assistant Producer: Troy Holmes

Frazzled parents Elisha Sessions (BBC Academy) and Deborah James (You, Me and the Big C) hear from parents whose lives have completely transformed in the pandemic. They hear from comedian and mum Tania Edwards whose career has evaporated overnight and is struggling to come to terms with her new identity as a full time mum. They also hear from Candice Braithwaite, author of ‘I Am Not Your Baby Mother’ and creator of ‘Make Motherhood Diverse.’ She shares her stories of struggling as a young parent, her anxieties about lockdown and how she maintains her identity. She also reflects on the huge positive life changes she has made in response to the chaos of Covid 19 and offers her inspirational advice for how people could find positives in their situation.

BBC Bitesize, Guardian: Defenders of Mathematica

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zd2f7nb/articles/zn2y7nb

What if lockdown has been a relief for my family? BBC Bitesize Parents Toolkit

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zvy9vwx

You can find plenty of extra learning resources at bbc.co.uk/bitesize.

Bitesize daily lessons are available every week day, just search ‘Bitesize’ in iPlayer

You can find plenty more resources on Bitesize for parents. Go to bbc.co.uk/bitesize and search ‘Parents’ Toolkit’

Presenters: Eli Sessions and Deborah James

Producers: Lucy Hancock and Georgia Moodie

Assistant Producer: Troy Holmes

Frazzled parents Elisha Sessions (BBC Academy) and Deborah James (You, Me and the Big C) hear from comedian Esther Manito who has had enough of homeschooling. She’s tired of shouting at her children and making empty threats to them, and tells Eli how she ended up doing her daughter’s homework in the middle of the night - not very successfully. Deborah speaks to life coach Arantxa De Dios who has found peace in her family life by employing structure and neuro linguistic programming techniques to calm her anger. She shares some practical tips for parents on language and calming techniques that will allow them to stay calm in high stress situations.

You can find plenty of extra learning resources at bbc.co.uk/bitesize.

Bitesize daily lessons are available every week day, just search ‘Bitesize’ in iPlayer

How do you feel after being angry? BBC Bitesize

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/clips/z87d7ty

You can find plenty more resources on Bitesize for parents. Go to bbc.co.uk/bitesize and search ‘Parents’ Toolkit’

Presenters: Eli Sessions and Deborah James

Producers: Lucy Hancock and Georgia Moodie

Assistant Producer: Troy Holmes

Frazzled parents Elisha Sessions (BBC Academy) and Deborah James (You, Me and the Big C) hear from mum Jo who is struggling to work with children at home, but feeling guilty for shooing her kids away. Comedian Jessica Fostekew (Motherland, Hoovering Podcast) gets real about her ‘violent’ four year-old son’s challenging behaviour and confesses to finding him boring at times. She also shares some of her fails in the world of judgemental Whatsapp groups and competitive parenting, something social media expert and author Katherine Ormerod knows well. Katherine reveals why, even though so many people need it more than ever, social media can make parents feel ‘awful.’ She shares some practical tips for parents to forge a healthier relationship with social media and give themselves an easier time of it.

You can find plenty of extra learning resources at bbc.co.uk/bitesize.

Bitesize daily lessons are available every week day, just search ‘Bitesize’ in iPlayer

Pirate Bunnies, BBC Bitesize

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zvsd8xs/articles/z6vyf4j

Presenters: Eli Sessions and Deborah James

Producers: Lucy Hancock and Georgia Moodie

Assistant Producer: Troy Holmes

Elisha Sessions (BBC Academy) and Deborah James (You, Me and the Big C) hear from mum Shanae who has been speaking to her 6 year-old son about his racial identity when he had questions about the Black Lives Matter protests. Shanae shares some of her fears about raising a black son in a society riddled with inequalities and explains why her son needs to see people that look like him in all walks of life. She also highlights what detractors of the movement don’t understand about its purpose. Eli also speaks to CBeebies presenter and Dad vlogger Nigel Clarke who has been speaking to his young sons about race. He tells Eli about his own experiences with racism, why confronting it wasn’t his choice and why the campaign for Black Lives Matter must extend beyond the news cycle.

Nigel Clarke's list of useful resources:

Reading list to start the conversation with children about race, diversity and racism.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBOLHmhlQda/

Films and TV shows to help adults understand race and the issues of racism

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBQvNVtlrmR/

Ks2 PSHE – Bullying and Racism, BBC Teach

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/pshe-ks2-bullying-and-racism/z7tv8xs

Jessie Lingard, Book Club, BBC Bitesize

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p089rb0v/bitesize-57-year-olds-week-5-1-jesse-lingard-in-book-club

You can find plenty more resources on Bitesize for parents. Go to bbc.co.uk/bitesize and search ‘Parents’ Toolkit’

Presenters: Eli Sessions and Deborah James

Producers: Lucy Hancock and Georgia Moodie

Assistant Producer: Troy Holmes

Frazzled parents Elisha Sessions (BBC Academy) and Deborah James (You, Me and the Big C) hear from brilliant teachers all over the UK about their professional view of lockdown. They share their practical tips and insights from their experiences teaching children during this period. Frankie and Natalie tell Eli and Debs what the kids they teach make of Corona virus. Head teacher Dave is still struggling with the decision to reopen the school, while Naveed in Bradford has been innovating by creating a local radio station for children who are harder to reach. Eli speaks to Chloe, who has calming advice for parents and can’t wait to get back in the staff room. Debs speaks to Ryan who has been teaching since the outbreak. He is still getting to grips with smaller class sizes and social distancing measures.

You can find daily lessons for every school age group on bbc.co.uk/bitesize or search ‘Bitesize’ in iPlayer.

Yoy can find plenty of resources on Bitesize for parents. Go to bbc.co.uk/bitesize and search ‘Parents’ Toolkit’

Presenters: Eli Sessions and Deborah James

Producers: Lucy Hancock and Georgia Moodie

Assistant Producer: Troy Holmes

Frazzled parents Elisha Sessions (BBC Academy) and Deborah James (You, Me and the Big C) hear questions from parents struggling with the decision to send their children back to school. Comedian Jessica Fostekew tells Debs that like, many parents, she has surprised herself with her decision not to send her troublesome four year-old. We speak to other parents have decided to send their children, but have questions about preparing them and the anxiety and guilt of doing so. We put these worries to educational consultant Penny Tassoni who shares her practical advice to help parents come to the best decision for them. She gives her tips for reducing anxiety.

You can find daily lessons for every school age group on bbc.co.uk/bitesize or search ‘Bitesize’ in iPlayer.

Galaxy Pugs, BBC Bitesize

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/collections/primary-games/1

Art and design, BBC Teach

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ks1-art-and-design/zftyd6f

If you are concerned about any of issues raised in this episode, you can find plenty of resources on Bitesize for parents. Go to bbc.co.uk/bitesize and search ‘Parents’ Toolkit’

Presenters: Eli Sessions and Deborah James

Producers: Lucy Hancock and Georgia Moodie

Assistant Producer: Troy Holmes

Frazzled parents Elisha Sessions (BBC Academy) and Deborah James (You, Me and the Big C) hear from mum Hannah whose 5 year-old son has begun to lash out. We also speak to psychologist Kat who, despite her professional experience, is finding managing her own children’s mental health tough. Debs puts these worries to child and educational psychologist Hannah Abrahams. Hannah shares her practical strategies for getting children to open up about mental health through creative means, such as naming anxiety the ‘Red Beast,’ drawing, and keeping a ‘worry jar’ in the house.

You can find daily lessons for every school age group on bbc.co.uk/bitesize or search ‘Bitesize’ in iPlayer. There will be no new lessons between Monday 25th and Friday 29th May. New lessons resume on Monday 1st June.

Finlandia, BBC Young Composer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/TByVm765XjYpg6b8y5MCzM/bbc-young-composer-30-second-composition-challenge

If you are concerned about any of issues raised in this episode, you can find plenty of resources on Bitesize for parents. Go to bbc.co.uk/bitesize and search ‘Parents’ Toolkit’

Presenters: Eli Sessions and Deborah James

Producers: Lucy Hancock and Georgia Moodie

Assistant Producer: Troy Holmes

Frazzled parents Elisha Sessions (BBC Academy) and Deborah James (You, Me and the Big C) hear about puzzling child behaviour in lockdown from dad Tom, whose daughter Olive has started doing some bizarre new role playing. Fellow dad Sam also asks what he can do about his son’s new habit of throwing blocks at his head. They are joined by neuroscientist Paul Howard-Jones (The Secret Life of Five Year-olds) who specialises in child development. He shares his best advice for getting to grips with unusual lockdown behaviour and gives tips for activities for children that will encourage their brain development.

More from Paul Howard-Jones on the science of learning at home can be found on: sites.google.com/stem.org.uk/science-of-learning-at-home

You can find daily lessons for every school age group on bbc.co.uk/bitesize or search ‘Bitesize’ in iPlayer.

There are plenty more resources for parents on Bitesize, from wellbeing tips to practical advice on activities. Go to bbc.co.uk/bitesize and search ‘Parents’ Toolkit’

Presenters: Eli Sessions and Deborah James

Producers: Lucy Hancock and Georgia Moodie

Assistant Producer: Troy Holmes

Fellow frazzled parents Elisha Sessions (BBC Academy) and Deborah James (You, Me and the Big C) hear from mum Adaeze about her busy home life and why she’s overwhelmed trying to teach maths, a topic she struggles with. They are joined by primary teacher and University Challenge finalist Bobby Seagull who shares his best advice for getting to grips with tricky topics and points parents to some easy wins and crowd-pleasers for primary kids on the Bitesize website.

Bobby’s recommendations on Bitesize:

Guardians: Defenders of Mathematica (7-9s)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zd2f7nb/articles/zn2y7nb

Ancient Egypt (7-9s)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zg87xnb

Karate Cats (5-7s)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zjkphbk/articles/zf4sscw

You can find daily lessons for every school age group on bbc.co.uk/bitesize or search ‘Bitesize’ in iPlayer.

There are plenty more resources for parents on Bitesize, from wellbeing tips to practical advice on activities. Go to bbc.co.uk/bitesize and search ‘Parents’ Toolkit’

Presenters: Eli Sessions and Deborah James

Producers: Lucy Hancock and Georgia Moodie

Assistant Producer: Troy Holmes