A mum-of-three has revealed her controversial parenting quirks online – and doesn’t care if she ruffles a few feathers.
Rosie Graham opts to give her children extra homework as she doesn’t feel she can rely on schools to provide them with a full education.
The 29-year-old, from Bedfordshire, insists that the additional workload works wonders for her three children, six-year-old Hunter, five-year-old Dakota, and two-year-old Saint.
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This includes doing worksheets on the weekend, as well as learning various life skills and helping around the house.
“I don’t rely solely on the school system to educate my children because teachers are under so much pressure to teach well with a mountain of paperwork,” Rosie, a stay-at-home mum, told Need To Know.
“They don’t have the time to work one-to-one with children and give my children undivided attention when it comes to teaching.
“The UK school system is lacking funding and it’s unfair to expect teachers to teach a whole class of varying needs to an exceptional level.
“I see the school system as a support to my children’s education, it’s a luxury that so many people around the world don’t have access to an education.
“It is not a teacher’s job to raise our children – it’s our job.
“My children’s school have fantastic teachers but that doesn’t mean that it should be down solely to them.
“As a parent, it is my responsibility to make sure my children are educated, the school system is a luxury bonus.
“We do maths, English and science every weekend, in the form of worksheets, experiments and daily life.
“Saint also does extra activities to practice his fine motor skills, flash cards and educational games.
“I also teach them life skills cooking, cleaning and survival skills such as making shelters, staying safe in water and identifying plants.”
Rosie, who shares her insights on TikTok (@liferaisingthree), also has strict meal and bed times that her children follow.
She said: “Children in between these ages need between 10-14 hours sleep a night.
“When they sleep their heart rate and blood pressure goes down allowing their heart to replenish and rest.
“Children need a good amount of sleep for good development – especially brain development.
“I often get told they go to sleep too early – between 6-6.30 – but they fall asleep within minutes and sleep 12 hours a night.
“I don’t care if Jane down the road lets her kids stay up until 10pm because she can’t be bothered to sort a bedtime routine out.
“It doesn’t affect me.
“I have done this routine with my children for years so it’s normal for them.
“They have dinner, play and we chill together, then we do bath, story and bed.
“I cook dinner before the kids are back from school so as soon as they get in, they can eat a nutritious meal.
“It doesn’t make sense to me to give them a snack when they get in for them to tell me they are full up and not eat dinner.
“Currently there are no exceptions to this – after school clubs happen from 4:30 onwards so they eat before they leave.”
Rosie, who also doesn’t allow her children to sleep over at anyone other than an immediate family member’s home, is also cautious of too much screentime, placing an emphasis on outdoor play.
She explained: “I’m not trying to raise children who live life through a screen.
“As long as you have the right clothes and shoes, there’s no reason why children shouldn’t be outside exploring in all weathers.
“It encourages them to use their imagination, social skills, team work and improves their physical health.
“My children love being outdoors and are only allowed on their tablets on a weekend.
“We don’t use technology during the week and we get to spend proper quality time together.
“They don’t spend their time sat inside on consoles – we’re out together enjoying nature.
“They are also early risers so we get to spend two to three hours together before school.”
Rosie also opts to pay her children pocket money, which she feels helps teach discipline and budgeting skills.
She said: “The children get £8 pocket money a week.
“They have to save £3 of it and get £5 to spend on the weekend if they have been respectful and done things such as made their beds throughout the week.
“If they haven’t, then they get £1 taken off for every time they’ve been disrespectful to us or each other.
“It’s important that this consequence is put in place because if not they will not learn cause and effect.
“They will grow up to think that it’s OK to act disrespectfully because no consequences will occur and that doesn’t happen in the real world.
“My family and friends are aware that I’m a self-confessed control freak so they’re used to it.”
Online, she says she has faced criticism for the ways she raises her children.
Rosie said: “I often get comments online saying ‘poor kids’, ‘they don’t have any fun’ and ‘when do you spend time with them?’
“But these are comments often from lazy parents who lack the discipline to implement and keep going such a routine.
“I often get hateful and abusive comments on my social media.
“But if that’s what it takes to raise respectful, intelligent, resilient, kind and caring children, then I’m OK with that.”
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