contacting mumsnet about article

[singingmum]

Does anyone know how to contact mumsnet as I would like to know why they wrote such an ill informed article on home education.I know I have commented on this on another thread but the article is still there.I am severly dissapointed that this was written in such a way as to make He seem like a foolish thing to do.The article was badly researched and had no information that was helpful.Mumsnet has been a godsend on the advice front except for this and I am a little shocked that they have done this.
Any help or opinions appreciated.

[lucy123]

what article?

[tigermoth]

Do you mean the education info in mumsnet's guide to the big issues?

[doormat]

just go to contact mumsnet at the moderators page.

[hmb]

It did sound a bit flippant, but it is hardly a whole article on HE (if I found the right bit to read). Granted that a HEer might find it off hand, but if you are going to HE then you would have to give up work, or at any rate delay returning to work for quite some time. For many people that would need 'down sizing' to a degree. The cancel social life comment was uncalled for, but the other points were valid (if badly put) and they did give some relevant links.

[singingmum]

I just found it a bit foolish to say heres your choices and then give proper attention to school options but be so rude and oblivious to the facts about HE.A lot of mums I know who send their children to school spend the day at home doing not a lot other than coffee and gossip.I know this isn't the same for a lot of mums but when you look at it logically they could be doing something more useful.I used to work PT and my dp stayed home.I still handled the education as well and found it relatively easy.My friends who have children in school spend so much time making up for what the schools don't teach or dealing with teachers who often can't understand parental concern that they might as well be HEing.The problem is that if they can come on here and get as you put it such a flippant view and an unreasearched view then surely mumsnet has failed to help and as thats it's goal here then isn't that pointless.

[bobsmum]

I'd be more concerned about the complete lack of reference to the totally different Scottish education system. No mention of the 5-14 curriculum etc. Mind you the population of Scotland is only 5 million...hardly rates a mention I imagine.

[dadslib]

Message withdrawn

[CountessDracula]

Blimey DL, get your hard hat on!

[lucy123]

So, don't beat about the bush, Dadslib. If you have something to say, say it!

Whatever your views though, singingmum I do think you are over-reacting. A similarly facecious comment is used (in the article this is) about private education. And there are links to properly researched articles.

I think help sites like this can become very dry without the odd flippant comment anyway. I vote the line stays.

[codswallop]

I thibk htta ll Mumsnet mail outs are written toungue in cheek and I like the style of them. This is the same. I am sure they would similarly take the piss out of other options.

ANyway I think you will find we are not drinking cofee and ghossiping but logging on tho the internet all the time.

[Jimjams]

oooh dear dadslib- think you'd better do some research on HE first. I've thought about HE and may well go for it in the future (although I pass the DL test as my son has complex SN).

Anyway in the course of looking into HE I foud a few interesting facts.
a) HE children do better academically than the average schooled child
b) ditto socially

I don;t know how they would compare to children who go to school but have motivated etc parents (as presumably the school figures will include some real tearaways iyswim)

Anyway the figures suggest that being Home edded can be a very good thing both academically and socially. A lot of HE children actually access exams and courses at their local FE college so the parents aren't keeping them chained to the kitchen table.

I can see why the article grated a bit- but the links it gave were good- and I thought it pointed out that somewhere like EO is a better source of info than the DFES. For anyone who is interested - or worried that DL rather ignorant view may be the truth I know EO worked closely with someone who recently did a PhD on HE- she measured academic achievement etc and I'm sure EO would be able to point you in the right direction to get the correct facts and figures.

Finally I know that many teachers are very well qualified and really rather marvellous (eg hmb :-) creep creep) but the TES did point out this week that teacher training courses are taking students with some of the lowest university entrance grades. Actually I think there's more to being a good teacher than degrees and qualifications- which is why those figures don't worry me- and why the academic achievements of parents HEing are largely irrelevant (most parents buy into external syllabuses for secondary anyway). There is more to education than the national curriculum anyway.

[justiner]

Hi Singingmum,
Sorry our article has offended you. I haven't looked at it for a while and reading it again I see what you mean. It's not that we're meaning to be dismissive of home education, more that it's not what the article is supposed to be about. I think we do point people in the right direction don't we? We'll make a note to re-jig it a bit and if you've any other suggestions about how to help those interested in HE find out more please post them here or mail them to us at [email protected]
Bobsmum you've also got a point. I think a link to somewhere where the Scottish system is explained in detail would be useful. We'd be grateful if anyone suggest a/some good site(s).
Thanks,
Justine, Carrie and Rachel

[anais]

Hello Dadslib, I beleive you and I clashed last time I was around, and here we go again.

There is no requirement for me to 'justify' home educating - I am a parent, and I am doing what I think is best for my child. That is my job, as a parent.

For the record, I am very poorly educated - I had a very patchy education having missed a term of school at age 7 and never managing to catch up, and then I left at 11 suffering from depression. Hardly a brain surgeon, huh? But I am not trying to be a teacher to ds, and on some levels my own educational circumstances are a benefit. I am learning alongside him, so I can see where many of his problems come from. I am however, very committed

My son is not special needs in the standard sense of the word - although all children's needs are unique. He is very bright. Before he was 5 he had taught himself to read, he writes stories and does simple maths. He is way ahead of his peers and would be bored stiff in school. I can see him being labelled as a difficult child - simply for being bright and bored.

We are, obviously, HEing at a primary level, but plan, if it still suits us, to HE right through.

Why is making this decision for my child 'arrogant and conceited'???? I truly beleive that it is in my son's (and my daughter's when she reaches 'school age' to be HE. I am not indulging my kids, just doing what I feel is best, and neither do I have a superiority complex.

HE might not be a 'mainstream' answer - does that make it a bad thing?

My son is thriving, in a way which I don't believe he would be in school. I can see him learning and growing as a human, and it's wonderful to watch. He is so open to knowledge amd learning, and he wouldn't get the opportunities he has open to him, if he was at school.

I have no doubt your wife is a great teacher. For better or worse, schools will always be a part of society, and they need dedicated and committed teachers. I'm just lightening the load a little

[Angeliz]

i am really interested in this and just wanted to ask, why do people decide to Home educate?(for parents out there who have), Is it a safety issue.....special needs of the child......how do you make that decision? It crossed my mind breifly and my reason was safety for my dd, she is only 2.6 and so i have time but just wanted to know how you come to that decision!

[robinw]

message withdrawn

[pupuce]

I am also considering HE. I am researching thoroughly as it will not be an easy answer. I am meeting with people who are doing it adn with teachers too.
And Dadslib - I think your post smacks of ignorance but you won't be the first who knows very little about the subject (nothing to do with your gender )
Not sure who is arrogant and conceited here

[JJ]

Thought this might be of interest: Home Schooled Students Shine in National Merit List

[ScummyMummy]

Just a couple of quick, controversial points!

First- I still think there is a potential problem with H/E on the social side, both in terms of children meeting adults with different perspectives and of getting to play/make friends with a range of other children. I haven't really heard a convincing argument as to how this could be overcome yet, though I've been following HE threads for some years. My problem is that I really don't think it is good for children to have only one significant influence- that of the parent-educator(s)- no matter how fantastic that influence may be (and I have no doubt that the pro-homeschoolies on here are great influences). I had many awful teachers in my school career but the few good ones I had changed the way I thought about things forever- in ways that are extra and sometimes different to what my parents- also fab- taught me.

If the one significant influence is not great there can be real problems. I think H/E is occasionally- hopefully very occasionally- a fear of difference- of a child hearing about multiple ways of thinking. A few H-edders have an agenda they don't want interupted by other messages from wider society- extremely strong religious beliefs can feature as an agenda for example.

Second- I also suspect that H/E is often a fear reaction to schools being perceived as not good enough and parents feeling that they and they alone can handle their child. The former is sometimes true but the latter shouldn't be... so isn't H/E a cop out because parents should be insisting on their child's right to a good education according to their needs and not opting out of the system entirely?

Any answers?

[Jimjams]

Personally scummy I agree with you about people homeedding for strong religious beliefs- I do find that a little scary. I guess they have their reaosns though.

As for the social side- the usual homeed argument is that shoving 30 kids of the same age together in one place is highly unnatural. Certainly most studies seem to show that home edded children benefit socially in many ways (mixed age groups etc). Most do seem to have very active social lives.

IF we home ed it will be because the provision my osn needs is unavailable. It's difficult to fight for it when there isn't anything remtoley suitable available already. autistic children just struggle so much with the environment of mainstream schools let alone the social side. OK I've managed to get the hand dryer turned off when he uses the toilet - but I havent dared ask them to get rid of the fluorescent lights- I'll wait ot see how badly affected he is.

The other problme is that fighting the LEA takes so much negative energy- and is so stressful, that I think you reach a point where its better to use that energy in a positive way and help your child yourself. Not so much a cop out as a way to preserve sanity.

[anais]

Wow, I didn't expect so many messages so quickly.

Firstly, if anyone wants to email me about this then feel free. I will answer any questions I am able and can point you in the right direction for further information and support. Alternatively feel free to email just for a chat

Ok Angeliz. My son is very bright. He was cunting to 100 and reciting his alphabet at 2 1/2. That's when I started looking at schools for him. I got prospectuses and Ofsted reports for all the schools within about 20 miles! According to the Ofsted report (and I know, they are not the definitive answer), pupils leaving his designated school at age 11 were 'well below average' in ability. I needed a really good school which was going to support him and his needs, and I didn't feel any of the ones locally could offer him that. I had started looking at Steiner and Montessori schools, despite knowing that I would never be able to afford it. Although I had another 2 1/2 years before he had to be in compulsory education I was getting in a real state wondering how I was going to get round the problems. And then by chance I picked up a book about HE in a charity shop. I bought it, not because I thought that HE was an option I would even consider, but because I was reading anything remotely related to education, just to try and figure out a solution. By the time I'd finished reading the book and doing a little research on the internet there was no going back. The decision was made, and although I've wavered a few times, with doubts of whether we could cope, here we are

So it was an education thing, really. I felt I could offer him a better education than he could get in school, partly because it's one to one and we can work at his pace, and partly for about a million other reasons

IMO the more time you have to make a decision like this the better.

RobinW, I must admit to being suprised to hear you supporting HE, I don't think you and me have agreed on very many things I just wanted to say, we all make the decisions we feel are for the best, and just remember, no decision is irreversable.

[tamum]

Sorry to leave the topic of HE briefly, but well said bobsmum, I've got so used to Scotland being ignored that I barely even noticed it on here! Thanks justiner for taking it seriously though . I would suggest this as at least one possible link: 5 to 14

[anais]

Ok, Scummy, I am constantly suprised when the 'socialisation' issue comes up. There is far more opportunity for mixing with a much wider group of people. In school, you sit in a class with 29 other kids with whom you may have nothing in comon, except age. At primary level you have one teacher. I cannot understand this being considered a social situation - I remember countless times being told off for talking. In HE, yes there is one 'teacher', but the problems which usually arise in school with just one teacher is a personality clash one, or a lack of understanding one - and that doesn't apply with a parent.

In the course of a HE week, you (have the potential to) meet a huge range of people. Most children who are HE'd go to HE groups (which often offer a very diverse range of activitis and therefore a diverse range of people), 'after school' type activities, many do voluntary work of some kind, and in addition to that there are the people you meet just in everyday life - the delivery man who comes to the door; someone who comes to fit the washing machine; neighbours; shop staff; bus drivers; librarians; museum attendants; tutors etc, etc, etc. And without the adult/child devision that comes with shcool (ie I'm the adult = superior, you're the child = you do what I say) they are able to form relationships on a far more balanced, equal basis, with a far more diverse selection of people. Just because there is only one person undertaking the majority of the 'teaching' (which isn't always the case) that doesn't mean that that person is the only influence.

I accept that in some cases HE is a way of preventing children experiencing different viewpoints, but I think those people who do it for sinister reasons are a tiny minority. Many people do HE for religious reasons, but not to indocrinate their children. Some christians, for example what their faith to be the basis for their child's learning, but that doesn't mean it is exclusive. I am not religious, but I can understand that to some degree - the 'religious education' I recieved at school was appalling. I seem to remember colouring in cartoons of bible stories and watching the odd video, and that was about the extent of it. If your faith is important to you, then I can understand wanting it to play a slightly more significant role.

For myself, I am wanted art to form the basis of my children's learning, and I also wanted issues which come under the heading of 'citizenship' to take more priority. Environmental and human/animal rights issues are very important to me and I wanted them to take more precidence. This was not a major factor in deciding to HE, but to some it is.

Your second point (what, with all that waffle, I have only covered one of your points!!!)I think is pretty much the point Dadslib was making about the superiority complex! I don't think that I alone can handle my child, but I do feel that I can handle him best. I can offer him learning that he will enjoy, not come to resent. I know his strengths, and weaknesses, the things he likes doing, the things he doesn't. If learning can be adapted to make it fun then it sets up a lifelong pleasure in learning. To me, that is a good thing. In school, forced to learn what they are told, to start where and when the teacher dictates, to stop (even if you are in the middle of something) when the lesson ends, is to disrupt the learning process. It makes it disjointed, something you do because you have to. For my children, learning, like play, is something they can do all day. Their time isn't divided into school hours and home time, their activities aren't divided into subjects with distinctions between whether what they're doing is maths, or history or geoghraphy or whatever. They are learning all the time, and it's fun, and enjoyable.

HE isn't a cop-out, any more than private schools, for example. It's a valid educational decision. And while I agree that we should be lobbying for a good educational system all round, that is a long way off, and I am not prepared to sacrifice my children's education in the meantime.

[Angeliz]

why would a private school be a cop out anais?