Help! We've de-registered the kids from school - Panic!

[interflora]

Hi, as the subject line says, we've taken the plunge and have de-registered our children from school.

The problem is - what do we do now?

How should we go about home educating them? Not sure what to do or how to do it?

Any advice gratefully received.

TIA

[needmorecoffee]

what do you and they want to do? Take things easy for a bit and see what everyone wants first. How old are they?

[interflora]

Eldest 8 and youngest 4 and 2 inbetween!

[compo]

when do they actually stop school?
this may sound a silly question but didn't you do a wee bit of research first?

[interflora]

so worried that lea will turn up on our doorstep/make life difficult/force us to take our kids to school???

[interflora]

as from today compo, yes we did do lots of research, but still uncertain now that we've taken the plunge iyswim?

[compo]

hopefully someone will be on here with more experience soon. Do you know if their is a local home ed group near you?

[interflora]

Not sure of home ed group near here compo - what do they do at such groups?

[needmorecoffee]

You are legal but will get a letter from the LEA at some point. They might even send some stupid form which you are under no obligation to fill in.
Find the local HE group if there is one, have lies in and genarlly just chill for a bit. Do not leap into workbooks or you will all end up shouty and thinking you've made a mistake.
I took my horde out at 8, 6 and 5.
The LEA cannot force you back into school unless they can prove in court that you are not providing and education according to Section 7 of the ed Act so don't worry about it.
I accepted a visit and didn't let the woman get a word in edgeways plus told her the local group did 500 activities like french and pottery etc etc (the fact we didn't go was irrelevent )
There may be people on here who know about your local group if you say what city you are in.

[needmorecoffee]

groups usually meet in a hall or at someones house. Some are more formal so will meet to do maths or somesuch, others will be like coffee mornings. groups often do day trips out to places where everyone meets there.

[needmorecoffee]

try here

[chapeloffearstickchick]

I home ed

this is what id do.... look at the subjects you wish to cover ...

english ,every day matt writes a diary and illustrates it

we do some written work sometimes punctuation sometimes poetry sometimes spelling excercises sometimes a story in addition to the diary

number work - times tables telling the time etc etc.

reading - a book you read together in school time.

thats the basics the next thing maybe you can visit a museum and talk about the displays an art exhibition and recreate some pics.

Craft is a big part of our day be it drawing/painting/sticking/cooking etc etc.

To start with i used lots of the letts books and i still do.

Its been succesful for us so far and so im sure it can work for you.

[interflora]

Thanks all for your advice, much appreciated.

[julienoshoes]

agree with nmc
chill!

Why not do what you would do in school holidays?
Play, Go for walks, play, read, play, watch TV, play, discuss everything and anything the children want to talk about. play some more!

You will be astonished just how much your children will learn from living life, talking to you, watching you -and playing!


Find local home educators. As NMC says some groups are more formal and organised than others. Some base their group around social events and workshops. Have a peek at our local HE group website to see what we get up to.

Join the Home Education Early Years support list specifically for families who home educate children aged about eight and under-so perfect for you.
Have a look at Muddle Puddle website
There is also a Muddle Puddle Blog ring - 93 different blogs where folks write about home educating young families!

If you feel like you need it at first, there is a book:
One-to-one: A Practical Guide to Learning at Home Age 0-11
By Gareth Lewis & Lin Lewis

but I'd strongly suggest you read Alan Thomas' latest book
How Children learn at Home

Enjoy!

[interflora]

Hi - thanks to all of you for advising and reassuring me.

We managed to find a home-ed group just 13 miles away from home, so ideal.

We are so glad to have found such a wonderful group with like-minded people.

Thanks for your help xx