Home Ed?? - I want my happy boy back!

[PolarCub]

I am seriously thinking of Home Educating my son. He is currently 6 and in Primary 2 (Scottish schools). We have had many problems at our school from a boy hitting my Ds the school knowing about it and doing absolutly nothing, untill I went in and had to demand that something be done and now!

No permanent teacher this current year - all the way through Primary 2 and having to have supply teachers and on average thats two teachers in a day, not the same ones either, the longest we had one teacher for was 2 weeks. We will not be getting a permanent teacher untill the end of April if at all(funny how that coincides with the end of the finacial year!!).

My Ds is also very bright and now complains of being bored - which jugging by the current work that comes home I'm not bloody surprised - It looks like they're repeating Primary 1 and in triplicate!! I have spoken to the school about this and their answer is that he is at the top of the class and there is nothing else they can do.

There is basically no surpervision at lunch times when the children are eating. My Ds will have ONE mouthful of something (whether that be school dinners or packed lunches)and then the rest will go in the bin! At home he eats very well so that side is something I'm not so concerned about becuse he makes up for it at home, but he shouldn't be because he should eat his food at school.

We went through a long spell of my Ds not wanting to goto school. He would do every trick in the book - I feel sick, and would then make himself sick, I have a head/tummy/leg/arm ache. I've left my legs in bed, so obviously I can't goto school, was the latest one!

He is also very much a 'loner'. He would much rather be playing pretend games in the playground, or running after a ball, but the other kids would rather huddle into corners and see who has the latest Game Boy Games!

I've looked into other schools in our area,but to be honest I don't see getting any joy there either because there is such a shortage of teachers in our area that most of the schools only have half the permanent teachers that they are supposed to!

I honestly thought that sending my son to school was supposed to be a happy experience - for both of us! I seem to have 'lost' the happy little boy I used to have, and who only appears at holiday times.

I've been considering Home Ed for a couple of months now, and have researched like mad on the internet. Why have others here Home schooled? Would you do it in this situation? Or have I just completly lost the plot and gone mad !

Thoughts anyone?

[jordylass]

If your already a SAHM I would give it a go, I did it because my kids were unhappy and that wasn't what any of us wanted.
Have you seen the education otherwise site? and try to speak to other home ed families in your area.
It's nothing to be frightened off though and if his school is so up in the iar try it for a term, he's not going to have missed much if you decide its best to go back.

[nasa]

there is some useful info
here

[nnosam]

hi, i had home educated from the age of 10, and to tell the truth, i hated it. i never learned to deal with peer presure and i never learned to get on with kids my own age. i still have problems to this day (at 25) with people my own age, in fact most of my friends inculding my dh are a lot older then me. if you do go ahead and home educated your ds then you need to make sure that he gets to interact with kids his own age on a daily bases. i dont want to put you off doing it, but it can be very hard to maintain the same level of education that they get in schools. when i went to do my gcse i had to relearn a whole 2 terms as i was that far behind, and that was with a curriculum officer visting every term.

[nnosam]

as "ks" said you can get together with other home-ed kids but they tend to be diffrent ages and in my case too far to see on a reg bases.
is there not another local scholl that you could move him too.

[PolarCub]

Thanks for your views.
nnosam - I can understand where you're comming from with not getting on with your pears, but to be honest I'm the same, I've always got on with people who are older than me. I'm 24 and my closest friends are in there late 30's and 40's. So I don't think that it's nesesarily to do with Home Education, at least not in my case, I went to school 'till I was 16. I think it's alot to do with your own life experiences and your personality - but that's just my view
I've looked at other schools in our area, but with the lack of teachers in general in our area I don't see us really having any stability at any school.

jordylass-Yep I am a SAHM. I'm also studying with the Open Uni, but I don't see that getting in the way of me and my Ds Home Educating, he loves trying to 'help' me with my homework. I think your right that it's nothing to be scared of, and if we did try it and found it wasn't right for us, then he could always go back into the system.

Ks- Yes I can see what you mean aswell. I think my Ds would be very amenable to home schooling as with the way this school year has gone already we are basically doing it anyway! I know that during the holidays he doesn't mind if we don't see people for days on end, but we do know a few people in the area and they come to play, and we goto the park and meet other kids there.

nasa - thanks for the link. It was very useful

There does seem to be a strong group of home educators in our general area, so I don't think we will have a prob with meeting others in the same boat.


Anyone else with views on this??

[HelloMama]

my mum home educated my little bro (now aged 18yrs) mainly because he was badly dyslexic and not getting the support he needed in school and she felt she could do better teaching him herself. She home schooled him all through primary school and he still had friends, though perhaps a few close friends (well selected) rather than a big group. When it came to taking his exams he decided he wanted to be in school, so he started attending high school and did really well in his GCSE's. He is now in the process of applying to do some swot subject at uni. Basically home schooling is as flexible as you want it to be, and like you say, if it doesn't work out, or you don't enjoy it, he can always go back to school. My mum has got a website which you may find useful. It is a support for people who are considering or currently home educating, and there is information for people whose children are 'school phobic' or refuse to go to school as well. Look here I hope its helpful.

[spacedonkey]

Make sure you join Education Otherwise - as a member you get a copy of their member contact list so you can discuss your options with people who are already home edding. I found them to be a very helpful bunch