HE Secondary School Ages

[Kat1973]

Hello, I was hoping to get some advice please. My DS is only 5 in July so we have plenty of time until he's of secondary school age, but so far his time in reception has been a negative experience and we are pretty unhappy. We are trying our best to partner with his teacher and with the school, who we feel have been unsupportive of our decision to start him late and part time. We are seriously considering HE although this is dependent on my DHs employment situation. I feel fairly confident I could provide a happy learning environment up until around the secondary school age, but beyond that I worry that I'd be out of my depth. I wonder if you could share your experiences please? I was anticipating that DS would still need the option to study GCSEs and possibly A levels if he wants to, and I realise that there are great online opportunities and/or possibly enlisting the help of tutors. For those of you who have reached or passed this stage how did you help your child choose options for GCSEs, who taught the subjects, how much was your child's own self motivated learning? Or did you decide that studying for formal exams were not required? How did this impact on career choices? Also, what do/did you do to help with the social side of teenage life when play dates are less appealing? My son will always be an only child so this is another concern of mine.

Many thanks for any advice.

[Nigglenaggle]

I asked a similar question and was told that once you are at that stage it doesn't seem so daunting There's always the option of doing primary school and then going back to the school system as well

[ommmward]

I was about to reply that mine aren't at that stage yet, and then worked out that one of them is, pretty much. I'd say that is pretty much an answer to you. When home educating, there is no need for a big sudden shift in approach at age 11. Instead you can just go on doing what you have been doing - responding to the educational needs of the child as they arise. Quite a lot of home ed teens go into school in year 10 or else go to college at 16 (where, by all accounts, they are almost always the star students, because they are intellectually self confident and self motivated).

I would say: The home educated teens seem to disappear from the parent organized activities somewhere around 14 or 13. By then, I think they have their own sets of friends to hang out with, and focused interests to pursue. So it would be worth being established socially in the home ed community before that point. I sometimes see parents of teens posting on our local lists to try to set up that sort of thing for people who have just come out of school.

[streakybacon]

I agree with Niggle - you'll find your way, we all do. To be fair you probably find the whole GCSE thing daunting at the stage you're at now, because it's so distant and unknown, not just in HE terms but the big picture. But you find out as you go and by the time your son is ready for that level of work you'll have made links with loads of other people who've been there, done that and can advise you on the steps to take. It won't be anywhere near as complicated when you're living it.

Also worth taking on board what ommmward says about older kids and social mixes. We had a teen group in my area but it didn't last because like she says, by the time they get to 13/14 they want to go off on their own, meet their own choice of friends and make their own arrangements without parental involvement, so you do need to establish some networks by then. It must be quite upsetting for parents of teens who deregister from secondary school and find there's no network for them to tap into, but this is usually the reason.

[Kat1973]

Thanks very much for the reassuring replies. Just have to wait and see if we can afford to do it now...

[Carrie5608]

If you like the more formal approach have a look at Oxford home schooling. Although it does seem quite expesive.

[Kat1973]

Thanks Carrie, useful to know this exists. I've joined a couple of Facebook groups too and I'm finding out more and more about HE.