Kitchen tables around Northern Ireland are once again busy with the sound of schoolwork.
ut 10 months after first stepping into the breech, parents are not feeling quite so fresh and ready for the challenge. It’s no different for some of our familiar faces.
Cool FM DJ Pete Snodden’s day starts early with his top rating morning show.
And these days he is even busier when he clocks off, arrives home and the school work begins. The day job, it seems, is child’s play.
Dad to Ivana and Elayna, he has now found himself in the driving seat.
“I’ve been promoted from classroom assistant to head teacher,” he said.
“Last time around my wife Julia was the one in charge, this time she’s still working.
“It’s all on me and I’m feeling the pressure of long division, Sometimes I think I’m happier to get the right answer than the kids!”
He said the novelty factor back in March kept things fresh and fun is starting to wear thin.
“Keeping it going is hard,” he said.
“The idea of coming up with timetables was all new and in some ways exciting in March. Not so much this time.
“Now my eldest daughter is halfway through P6. She should be working harder than ever. The work is more intense and we don’t want her to get behind. That’s a lot of pressure, but I feel for teachers too. Too much work and they’ll be criticised, too little and they’ll be criticised.
“What we’re doing is trying to strike a balance, but everyone’s life is different.”
Writer, author and working single mum Leesa Harker had embarked on the first bout of homeschooling with enthusiasm.
But this time round she’s finding things far from plain sailing as she gets stuck into schoolwork with daughters Lola and Lexi. “If I’ve learnt anything from last time, it’s that I need to learn more,” she said.
“I’m already having a bit of a meltdown. It’s already obvious that some schools are much better at doing this than others.
“Today one of the girls had 18 minutes of work. The day before there was a link sent through for a YouTube exercise video for PE, that was it.
“But I’ve heard from other mums that their kids are getting work to keep them learning for hours. There does seem to be a real difference and it’s only going to increase fears that schools haven’t learnt how best to do this and that some kids will be so far behind when they get back into the classroom that it’s going to be difficult to catch up.
“The planning for this should have been better.
“Last year I felt we were all in the same boat. This time some of us are in a dinghy with a hole in the bottom while others are sailing off in expensive yachts.”
For BBC Radio Ulster presenter Kerry McLean, there is an extra workload this time around as her youngest daughter has just started P1.
“I remember talking to my mum back in March and saying how glad I was that Eve was only four. But this time around she’s P1 and that’s probably turned out harder than I imagined.
“If I’ve learnt one thing, it’s that I made the right career choice in not going to be a teacher! With the older kids I can say now you need to do A, B or C. With Eve it’s a sticky fingered, hands on job.
“My kitchen is now part studio, part music store and three parts classroom. I need a bigger table!”
For Kerry, having three children at different stages of their education is proving a challenge.
“They need different things,” she said. “Tara is very self driven, Dan can be easily distracted by a cloud passing the window and with Eve it’s all cutting out and sticking. I try to keep my work under control so I can spend time with the kids and help them through.
“Their schools have been great, but I know there’s a big difference in the way other schools are able to manage.
“I refuse to compare myself with other parents.
“I won’t pretend to be Mary Poppins. If my kids go to bed at night with smiles on their faces, that’s good enough for me.”
