Cardiff or South Wales home educators?

[Dwelf]

Hi there,

I'm currently writing an article on home education in the Cardiff area, and I was wondering whether it would be possible to get in touch with home-educating parents in or around Cardiff to find out about their experiences and why they decided to home school? Feel free to get in touch by either posting on this board or private messaging me.

It would be really great to contact Cardiff home educators as I think that many parents don't realise home educating is a viable option, and this article would hopefully raise awareness about the possibilities of doing this, as well as its benefits.

Many thanks, any replies would be much appreciated!

[julienoshoes]

I am willing to pass details of this thread on to the main home education support lists.Then home educators in South Wales can make their own choices.

Before I do who are you writing an article for?
What experience of home education does you have already? Have you read any of the research or books on the subject?

Forgive the concern, but many home educators are wary of being hung out to dry by reporters pretending to be interested and enthusiastic and then churning out the same old biases and inaccurate statements.

[Dwelf]

Hi julienoshoes,

I'm a trainee journalist doing a postgraduate course at Cardiff University and so the article would be appearing in our inhouse newspaper marked by our tutors, with with the possibility of giving it to a local newspaper (the South Wales Echo or Western Mail).

I completely understand your concern, and although it's very hard to prove online that I'm not the kind of journalist that would deliberately lure someone into a false sense of security and then, as you say, churn our "the same old biases and inaccurate statements", I would say that I have a friend back home who was homeschooled, and I understand why parents consider this an attractive option, what with the ever-increasing amount of problems and bullying children can encounter, so I am truly sympathetic to the issue (although as I mentioned, it is very hard to prove this via a forum).

Although I don't have a personal experience of homeschooling and am currently in the middle of researching it, without finding out the views of someone who has, or is, homeschooling in Cardiff, I'm not able to continue with the feature as the article depends on Cardiff home educators' experiences, and what they think of the Cardiff education system.

I would be so grateful if you could pass on this thread to other home educators, as naturally the council doesn't disclose contact details, although they told me there were 82 home educators currently in Cardiff - so they do exist, heh!

Many thanks again, and I do completely understand your reservations - if it would help at all, please feel free to ask me for any other details about either myself or the article.

[julienoshoes]

Thank you for your reply.

Is there an email address that I can forward onto the main home ed email lists, so anyone interested can get back to you directly?

If you don't want to give your email address out here you can send it to me though the contact link on our Worcestershire Home Ed group webpage Any message sent will come directly to my inbox.

I can't promise any responses though-many home educators are very busy answering the latest Government Review of Home Education-and as I think this is the fourth flaming consultation in as many years, we are getting fed up with answering questions, when we would rather get on with the business of home educating our children.

[Dwelf]

Many thanks for your speedy reply, I'll send you my email address right away via the link you've given above. Thank you again!

[Dwelf]

Bump

[Dwelf]

Bump again (any replies would be really appreciated - if you know someone in the Cardiff/South Wales area who home educates, has considered it but opted to send them to school instead, or is currently considering it, please feel free to get in touch. Cheers!)

[missblythe]

Hi Dwelf,

Have you tried contacting the Steiner Kindergarten in Cardiff?

I suspect they may have some former pupils who are now home educated, as they only take children up to age 7. Worth a try!

this is them:

www.cardiffsteiner.org.uk/

[Dwelf]

Hi missblythe,

Great idea, thanks so much, really appreciate it!