newbie help

[Homeedhelp]

My dd is due to start school this September but due to house move etc has no school place so am looking at temporarily home schooling until a place comes up for her..this could be weeks, months no way to tell!
Any advice for someone brand new to this? I'm leaning towards a quite structured approach as don't want her to be behind once she starts primary and she is very eager to learn.
I've found a curriculum to buy online through the structured home learning website, has anyone any experience of this? Is it worth buying?
Also any tips on dealing with the comments I'm sure to get over the decision? Despite wanting her to start school when possible, I do feel positive and excited about home schooling but I know I will likely receive negative opinions from friends and family!

[Betty74]

We home educate! We follow the national curriculum for maths and English but they get to choose what else they want to learn.
My oldest daughter did reception and year 1 at school but it really wasn’t for her so we made the decision to take her out, when my second daughter got to school age we decided that home education suited our family and lifestyle better (because she wanted to copy my older daughter she was already doing odd bits of work anyway)
Anyway, it took a lot to convince my husband it was he right decision and how we would cope but I pointed out that from the hours he works and comes home he wouldn’t even know if they’ve been and school or with me anyway.
We do get let’s of questions and comments, mostly positive. I’ve been lucky that my family have been very supportive.
I get asked a lot by strangers ‘well are you a teacher then’ I’m not a teacher (although lots of teachers actually do home ed) but with the internet and support of Facebook groups it’s all laid out there for you.
You will get asked a lot about your child socialising but in most areas there are more home ed families and many groups to attend (Facebook is a good place to find them)
I was actually really surprised by the size of the home ed community in my area, I never knew about it until I became part of it.
We use Reading Eggs and Maths Seeds (online programmes) my children actually enjoy doing them, they track progress and you get to print off certificates which the children like.
I’ve used CGP books and printed work sheets off of URbrainy.
It’s all about finding what works for you and your child.
You will have moments of panic and frustration and moments of pure pride that your child has learnt something you’ve taught!
Good luck on your new journey and enjoy it 😊

[Betty74]

I really hope that all makes sense, Im typing with one hand a feeding the baby with the other 🙈

[CramptonHodnet]

I think really all you'll need to do for her age is help her begin to learn to read. Yoy could try Oxford Reading Tree levels books which you can often get cheaply from The Book People. Help her try to learn her letter sounds (phonics) and counting up to 100. That should be enough for her. And matbe some simple handwriting practice. WH Smiths do good early years workbooks. Nothing is very expensive there. And lots of play time.

[CramptonHodnet]

Forgot to add - we used Jolly Phonics for learning to write. They have a good website.

[Betty74]

Yes! Should of said, lots of play! At that age play is the best way of learning xx

[itsstillgood]

SHL have appalling reviews from Home educators. The books are the same you can buy from WH Smith's for a tiny fraction of the price.
Home Education is much more efficient than school for formal learning because of the one to one aspect. You will find 30 min to 1hr more than covers it so allow plenty of play. Seek out other local home educators on facebook. Enjoy the opportunity to get out and visit places while it is quiet.

[Tinuviel]

We used Schofield and Sims books for reception/key stage 1 - they cover the essentials, are easy to get hold of and cheap!

For reading we used Letterland but I know most schools round here use Jolly Phonics these days (still prefer Letterland!)

[bandthenjust]

I'm reall y glad I've found this thread. My dds were in primary school until last friday, and they're now being home schooled. Or rather, deschooled.

If anyone has any tips on how to tell children they're no longer going to school, I'd be very greatfu l.

[CramptonHodnet]

Band - hadn't you discussed home education with your DDs beforehand?

My DC both asked to be home educated. DS because he had severe school anxiety as well as dyslexia and dyscalculia and DD because she is HFA and wasn't coping with the huge secondary school environment. She's calmly getting in with her work at home and will quite likely get to her gcses earlier than had she been at school.

[bandthenjust]

Dds have always known they weren't going to secondary school, and were going to be home educated.
For the last year and half (or so) is when my dh and I (ma inly me) have serious ly considered home ed instead of primary school. The school they've both recent ly left is dd1s second school - the first we had to remove her from after she was bullied (harassed is a more appropriate term) by a child non-stop for her first four months. We eventually removed her when said child strangled her and another child had to hit him with a book to get him off her.
The most recent school I've had to remove them as dd1, again, is coming home upset and scared due to the environment she's in at school. Very disruptive children, teachers can't cope, h ead teacher is massively in denial. Its the same in dd2s class. After these two different experiences in two very different schools I've just lost confidence in schools.
My kids like schools purely because they have friends there. I asked them about home ed, they're mainly concerned with not seeing their friends. They're under the impression they're going to be locked at home with me and never see an under 30yo again lol.
sorry for long post.

[CramptonHodnet]

Ah ok . DD did try secondary but found it too much - too busy, too many crowds, and couldn't handle the stress of it plus long evenings of homework.

And there had been bullying at primary which had followed her up to secondary

[Betty74]

Bandthenjust
Tell them that you just don’t think the school environment is the best thing for them and school is not for everyone. Maybe join some local home ed groups on Facebook (my area has loads) and go along to some of the groups and meet ups to show your children they will make new friends.
Try showing them the fun side before settling into some of the ‘boring’ stuff as my children call it haha xx

[Saracen]

bandthenjust, in that case I think you'll need to give your children lots of reassurance about how they will be able to see other kids. You can't promise them true friends, of course, because that is a matter of luck regardless of where they are educated. But you can come up with a plan which offers them lots of opportunities to be with kids.

Are you planning to help them keep in touch with their existing friends from school - would their friends' parents be keen on playdates? Do they go to any after-school activities which they can continue? If not, maybe they would like to take up some new ones? They'll probably have a lot more time and energy for such things now they aren't at school. Can you promise to take them to a busy local park regularly? If you go, say, every Wednesday from 3-4:30 then you may find that many of the other kids are "regulars" on the same day of the week, so you see the same faces from one week to the next. Do you have neighbour children who would like to come play? Home ed groups are another obvious thing to try - we found that a slightly better way because the other kids there tend to be looking for friends too and to be available for playdates during the daytime.

[Saracen]

OP, you don't have to do a curriculum as such in order to ensure your child isn't behind at school. At Reception age, just a bit of basic reading or pre-reading skills, plus arithmetic, will be fine. In particular, since you might not be home educating for long, it seems unwise to invest much money. There are plenty of free and cheap resources, or subscription services where you pay per month.

I rather doubt that you will get negative comments about home ed, since you aren't home educating through choice but only because you don't have a school place yet! If anyone is particularly concerned, you could just observe that in most countries a child of your daughter's age wouldn't even be in school yet, so you're sure she'll be fine.