And spoiler alert – teaching their children themselves while potentially juggling their own livelihoods has proved a mammoth task.
Many mums and dads have developed a new-found appreciation for the heroes leading our region’s classrooms, and rightly so. But during lockdown number three, despite the brilliant remote support they continue to receive from teachers, parents tell us it can still be tough to make a horse drink once it’s been led to water.
These photos, sent in by readers of The Express, help to illustrate what homeschooling during a global pandemic really looks like. We're all doing the best that we can - and that's all we can do... We'll be sharing more of your photos later this week.
9. Grandad's help
Melanie Sewell said: "My Granddaughter Megan and her Grandad. ICT Lesson re spreadsheets."
10. Feline friend
Marie Ridge said: " My 8 year old trying to do school work with her little shadow."
11. Old school
Danielle Wilby said: "My 5 year old loving using a laptop. The site school uses to upload work has crashed today so she's been doing some books my husband ordered from Amazon for her."
12. School of Mum!
Lindsey Tonner Evans said: "If homeschooling doesn’t always go to plan, you have to improvise, adapt and overcome. Try teaching fractions using a full bottle of Prosecco; this is a win-win situation."