Home Education

[Shirley]

Thanks Andy

Really happy that you've put this section here for us mums and dads.

Interested to learn from any home educators - my two older children have been/are going through the mainstream education system but I'm feeling less and less enamoured with this (even though my other half is a qualified teacher and about to start a job with a local academy) - I'm very tempted to home educate my little one (almost 3).

If you have done it, or thought about it and decided that you couldn't do it for whatever reason (money/time/sanity/whatever) then please let me know - I'd like to know the pitfalls/bonuses etc.

There was a really good article about it in 'the green parent' magazine and it's really made me sit up and realise that there IS an alternative.

[glenniedragon]

I know what you mean Shirlz, we've only had a little brush with formal education (as parents) so far- and I'm not all that impressed. Callum (5) is turning into a real critical thinker at home- he's asking very good questions, like why does the sun go up and down? how does a turtle sleep? and this doesn't seem to be encouraged at school. He'll come home and say "I asked Mrs XXXX, but she didn't answer" I'd love to home educate, but the risks of doing it wrong are too high for me! what about socialisation? you're in a better position with OH being a teacher and you are a woman of great resources Shirlz! did you teach before offspring?

kind thoughts
Deb

[albert onglebod]

We've been home educating for 9 years this september.
DD was 7 1/2 when we started,DS was 9. DD is going to 6th form college in September to do her A levels(she hasn't taken any GCSE's).
You dont need any formal qualifications and to be honest I think sometimes they are a hinderance not a help. Many people take their kids out of school and think "right, we need ; a desk,chair, instructions on the national curriculum attainment targets ,reading scheme books etc,etc..."
Actually you are limiting what can be learnt in this way, once you get into it, you find you are doing less and less of the sit and write and more and more following what your child is interested in. Children will learn huge amounts when they are happy with the content.
We did Geography using Aquila (by Andrew Norris) as an incentive as we had seen it on TV. My daughter loved the Worst Witch books and we did 'worst witch' Maths for a while. We've used Harry Potter quite a lot too

DS went to adult education classes to do GCSE's in 3 subjects .His English was excellent because he is so widely read and has absorbed grammar.
He decided to go to the 6th form college last September because they have a wide range of A level subjects available(much more than the local college) .

The biggest expense for us when we decided to take the plunge,was buying a PC.We did have an Amiga but couldn't find any decent software for it. DD uses it everyday for emailing her penpal and research.

As to socialising, don't you remember being told in school 'You are not here to socialise!' . Teachers often change the seating arrangements in class so that the chidren wont chat.
There are many clubs, kids can join out of school hours.

A good place to start is by looking at the Education Otherwise web site...
http://www.education-otherwise.org/
We have been members of 'EO' throughout our 9 years.
They have weekly local meets and events and country-wide camps.

[glenniedragon]

That is a great link Albert, so many local links-you don't realise they're out there! I'm seriously very interested....how do you structure your day? do you have set 'school' hours? do you stick to Mon-Fri and lets kids have a day off in the week if you are doing something educational at the weekend? I know so many questions I'm sorry!

Kind thoughts
Deb

[albert onglebod]

Hello Glenniedragon ,
We have tried all sorts of different things when ours were younger.
At one point they decided to do mornings only,so we got up very early and did our 3 hours before lunch, so they could have all afternoons free.
Remember,schools are not having lessons for 6 hours,they have assembly,playtime,lunch hour and registration plus going to lessons and getting ready for P.E..
When mine were both in the infants they were expected to produce 1 piece of work per day ,so that shows you how much they do at school.
We used to do Maths and English every day which was sometimes a work sheet or book,sometimes a board game ,reading a book or a computer prog . If we did cooking,it encompassed maths and science. We had science books with lots of experiments which they enjoyed. They went to swimming club and mini rugby which covered PE and 'socialising'. Even on holiday we would visit things they were interested in.
As they got older,they decided to try using work books which they did for a while. It's useful to see how they compare with what is expected of school kids of their ages .
We would go out 2 afternoons a week to the library and around the shops and Fridays were free days.
My DD works autonomously now,as she mainly teaches herself as did my son from about age 14 .
You can buy courses for work that you are not confident in teaching yourself. DD has just completed a second course in Art by correspondence . DS did a Maths course.
Family may be interested to help too. My FIL gave us a Piano which was lovely . BIL has helped my son a lot with 3D computer graphics , even buying him a program to use on his PC.
We have noticed with some schooled children that there are huge holes in their (basic)general knowledge which has to be a result of the National Curriculum. Home educated kids dont have to follow the national curriculum .
Even teachers can be dunderheads at times. DS aged 5 came home from the infants to say his teacher had told him Oats were not a cereal. Does that mean in her opinion that cereals are things you buy in a cardboard box with a cockerell on?

[Shirley]

That really is interesting Albert (still seems odd calling you Albert when you are female )

Have you seen the Aquila magazine worth subscribing to?? I posted about it on another site before now but it didn't get any response. I know it isn't desperately cheap but it really does look interesting. http://www.aquila.co.uk/ for anyone else who is interested in having a look. I know that the book by Andrew Norris is different - but it just jogged my memory!

My daughter (19) commented "but don't people WANT to send their kids out to school to get them out of their hair for a bit?" - What would your reply to that be??

What about when they start looking for jobs?? Do employers discriminate against people that haven't been 'through the school system'?

Deb... you are far too kind... no I didn't teach... I sold aircraft fasteners (rivets, nuts and bolts etc lol) to airline companies and the MOD

[albert onglebod]

I suppose everyone has off days where they think it would be nice to just not have the kids about but I love having my kids at home and so do most home educators I have met. The first home ed camp we went to was about a month after taking the plunge,
I had recently gone with my son to an 'outing' with his year at school.The kids were ordered about the whole time except lunch break when they were completely ignored by the teachers and just went mad(cant imagine why LOL ). Well I think that is why some school kids are tiresome at home ..anyway back to the camp..The kids had different parent-invented activities to do but most of the day was spent in amusing themselves. There was absolutely NO nasty stuff,no rudeness to the adults or other kids,no vandalism just a large group of kids (at least 50 families some with as many as 6 kids) happy to get on.It was a pleasure to be amongst them. So ,I would say, No, most home ed parents are not glad to see the back of them.
There is even a name for the transition.. common amongst ex school childrens parents...unschooling..meaning first the kids dont want to do anything remotely like school..then they become interested again when they have not been force fed 'information' and just get on with happily learning (as they did before ever going to school in the first place).

I forgot to say earlier that if your child has never been to school,you do not need to inform the LEA that you are homeschooling.Some people do anyway, especially if they think nosey neighbours might accuse them of not sending their kids for dubious reasons. If your child has been to school,you need to tell them (you dont need permission) and the head teacher of the current school.Some schools and even LEA's mistakenly think they have to give you permission but the law is clear.Anyone having problems on this point can get help from Education Otherwise to put their LEA straight(They will send them the relevant sections of the education act).

[Hepsibah]

I've been home educating my thirteen year old daughter since last October. We had bullying issues that the school was unable to resolve and decided home ed was our best choice.
It is a bit daunting at first, the idea of being so very responsible for everything but it isn't so bad in reality. We are teaching each other most of the time.
I have found that the best way for us is to let it come naturally, allowing her to choose her own path and walking it with her. We don't have set hours or times when we work, we just do what she likes to do and learn in the process. For instance, she is doing biology at the moment because we have eggs in the incubator that she is responsible for and she is doing a lot of work on our allotment - finding out how to grow the things she likes to eat.
Home education isn't for everyone but if you think it might be for you, give it a try, I'm very glad I did.

[Shirley]

Well... I think that I might just have made my mind up to do the home schooling. I hate the thought of handing over responsibility for MY child to someone else anyway. Already (he's not even 3 yet) we've covered maths and writing - he loves seeing writing and loves listening (and joining in) to stories.... it sounds just perfect to me, so watch this space

[Magpie]

Yay - good for you, Shirlz!

We have been home ed-ing for about 4 years now, we unschool, ie have no set lessons, the children are free to learn what and when they like. This is a pretty radical idea to get your head around, but it works for us.

Check out Sandra Dodd's site - http://sandradodd.com/unschooling for more info.

[Hepsibah]

There are are a lot more home schoolers on here than in the general population aren't there? I asked my local 'school bobby' (the first contact I had with the LEA after deregistering my daughter) if she could put me in touch with other local home edders and she said she'd love to but didn't know any!

[hetty]

I think some LEAs have a policy of not putting people in contact with the home ed organisations although some are very good at giving this info.

It could be hard to find out about local home educators without the internet but when I was first considering home ed I found relevant websites quickly through google. My main reason for home ed was because my two both have ME and by coming out of the school system we were able to tailor their education to their needs. They were not able to mix with others much due to the illness but there were plenty of things we could have been involved in had they been able to.

Susan

[Shirley]

Hi Hetty

Welcome to the forum

Thanks for the hints... Did their health improve at all when they were taken out of the system? How old are they now??

[albert onglebod]

Education Otherwise has local contacts you can call to be put in touch with other HE'ers in your area.
We didn't do that though , as we decided we'd rather go to the camps and the odd local gathering. They do school type visits to interesting places.DD went to the Globe theatre for a workshop with a local group. The group got a school group discount so it was very reasonable and its much more fun to do those things with other youngsters than just with your Mum.
My 2 also went to skating once a week for 50p each which included a non compulsory lesson and fun skate and lasted all morning.

Just to add a bit about unschooling..
Most of us have to learn about self sufficiency,gardening etc and soak up everything we think is relavant with no trouble at all,that is unschooling , thats how easy it is to learn when you arent being forced..

[hetty]

Hi Shirley

Thanks for the welcome - I have been reading here for ages but just got round to registering so that I can post.

My son and daughter did improve a little without the pressure of school but not greatly which just goes to show that all the people who said they had school phobia not ME were wrong.

They are 17 and 19 now and are still learning but find formal study very difficult. They have both improved healthwise a bit more but are still not able to lead anything like a normal teenage life. In some ways though it helps that they are both ill as it would have been more difficult if one was able to do normal things and the other couldn't.

Susan