Home Education

[MUMINAMILLION]

Read with interest all the various viewpoints about HE. I have 4 children, all autonomously home educated, happy and thriving. I know HE is not for everyone, but if you have any doubts atall about sending your child to school or are having problems at their existing schools, HE is well worth investigating. It is not as daunting as you might first think - it can actually be highly enjoyable!! I have recently read two excellent books which I am sure would help those who would like to know a little more about HE and how it actually works in everyday life.

The books are 'One-to-One' (aimed at children ages 0 - 11) and 'Unqualified Education' (for ages 11 - 18) and are written by Gareth Lewis. More info can be found on the following website: www.freedom-in-education.co.uk

Hope the above might be of help. I would also recommend Education Otherwise as a good source of support and information. Would be interested to hear from other HE'ers to swap ideas / groans / adult conversation. (Not that there are any groans of course!!)

[MeanBean]

Hi MIAM
I've thought about HE, but haven't had the necessity of it as I'm quite happy with DS's school at the moment. I'd be quite prepared to give it a go though, if I felt that it would be in my children's best interests. However, one of the things I like about school is the free babysitting service it offers. How do you deal with always having your children in the house and never getting away from them? This would be extremely daunting for me. Much as I enjoy spending time with them, I love having time to myself as well - and I get that between 1 and 3, when DS is at school and DD is asleep! How d'you manage it?

[stupidgirl]

Hi everyone, I'm a former regular here and after several months absence I don't recognise most of the names here!

I HE my 2. Meanbean - admittedly I get very little time away from my children. Evenings are about all I get. It means I'm generally late to bed most nights, which isn't good as I've just started working nights over the weekend.

We get on ok most of the time though. Some days I shut myself in the bathroom for a bit of peace, or spend 1/2 hour lying on my bed. And it's not as if we're stuck in the house. If we're feeling cooped up and the kids are climbing the walls then we go out, and that usually alters the mood. It's all a state of mind

[MUMINAMILLION]

Hi. Meanbeam, glad you've found a school your children are happy with. Seems to be quite a hard thing to do these days. I never really wanted my girls to go to school but they did go initially to a very small village school (28 children) which they were happy in. But when we moved and they did not settle into the new school, it was my chance to take them out! It's true that I don't have a lot of time for myself but the girls are usually in bed by 8.30ish and that is when I put my feet up. And just recently, I have agreed to look after my sister's children one day a week in return for her having mine on a Friday. Bliss!!! Don't know what I'm going to do with myself! I have to say, I feel less tied now than when they were at school and in some ways do have more time for myself. There really wasn't a lot of time free during the day in between dropping them off at school, lunch times and then before I knew it they were back home again. Then we would have homework and preparing for the next hectic day. Now, we have the whole day free to do what we want to do. When the girls are all working on this and that, I quite often have time to read a book or paint.

[Debs37]

Hi my name is Debbie, and i home educate my 13 year old daughter. I also have a 15 year old daughter and a 2 year old son.
I have HE my daughter since taking her out of school in April this year.
I have found it both hard and easy. The school tried to make it difficult for me so i actually phoned the LEA myself to tell them what i was doing as the school said they would phone social services...
We both enjoy the fact of HE and am wondering if i should take my son to playgroups, nursery etc when the time comes.

[MUMINAMILLION]

Hi, Debbie. How have the LEA been with you? I'm really fortunate as the LEA in Clackmannanshire have been really supportive. I decided not to send my younger girls to nursery. I felt that they would be pushed into structured learning at too young an age and I feel that I can provide more of what they need at home. Again I am fortunate that I have a large family around so they have plenty of cousins to play with (so answering the 'socialisation' question!) Also, I felt that if they were never registered into the educational system, I wouldn't have to go through the rigmarole of deregistering them. I've been HEing now for over 3 years, and have finally got into the swing of it! It takes a while, but does get easier. Was making the mistake of trying to follow the curriculum initially but the girls were kicking against it. Now that we are much less structured they seem to be learning more and with increased motivation and enjoyment. Has your daughter settled into HE yet? I know it took mine some time, as discouraging comments from ex-schoolmates took their toll.