A wave of illiterate “home schooled” children

@Hubblebubble post grad and work in web development now with a good circle of friends and a lovely family - no thanks to my mother of course, lots of ups and downs throughout education as there was no support from her or anyone else and I honestly do wonder what I would have achieved had I had a mum who cared.

I think schooling provision in the UK forces people into making binary choices around home schooling in some instances. My teenage DD (ASD) simply can’t cope with a full time school timetable - the social side exhausts her. She could cope with a part time timetable though and that would be excellent. I’d love schooling where lessons were routinely recorded for those who can’t be in the classroom so she could do a couple of days online a week. We have such flexible remote options in the workplace and the technology exists. But flexi schooling isn’t an option that I’ve managed to find and attendance requirements make full time mainstream unsustainable for some ND children.

I’ve had to enrol her in an online school and supplement it with a lot of external activities to keep up the social interactions. I get very frustrated when I’m judged for my choices to move to an online school as it’s actually not my preference. However, without viable alternatives to her being full time in a physical building, I’m left with little other choice.

I do think home schooling should be regulated. I’d love to give feedback as to what I believe other alternatives could be to our LEA. I’d love to see a commitment to systemic change. But when you’re trying to navigate a system that doesn’t fit, it feels like the choice is that either you have to adapt to the system or go it alone.

I don’t get it at all either. I have a university education to doctoral level and still had to buy books to understand how to help my primary school age child with phonics. I am 100% sure I am not qualified to teach all the things my kid learns at school. I suppose I would have to significantly upskill if I was to homeschool, and I find it really odd that homeschooling parents don’t have to be appropriately trained and follow a curriculum when formal education teachers absolutely do. Of course there are many who are very invested and have learned the content themselves or employed tutors, but it’s odd that it’s not a requirement.

I only know one person who home schools her child. She’s a lone parent with a full time agricultural job. The child (he’s now 13, but this has been a few years now so would have been 10/11 when they started) either just stays home alone while she’s at work or he comes to work with her and does her work while she’s sits on her phone.

Bless him, he’s actually a lovely kid, but I can’t imagine he’s getting much out of being home by himself all day. And I cringe sometimes seeing him do jobs around the farm because some of them are quite dangerous and if he was injured, it would be really bad for everyone. I can’t imagine the farmer is insured for having children working there. I always just think, gosh, his life should be so much more enriching than this. Getting out and seeing the world and learning things and meeting people, not moving manure trailers around. He has his whole life to be working. Childhood should be for play and exploration.

All of those can be developed through friendships, extra curricular activities, everyday life. At no other point in your life will your social circle consist of thirty children with whom all you have in common is being born in the same September to August cycle. School isn't realistic socialisation.

I home educate my son who has significant additional needs. It wasn't what we wanted but it has been the best decision we could have made for him. In the end it was the only decision.

What concerns me is the lack of monitoring. I do the right thing and my son receives a good education and the therapies he needs at my expensive. This isn't the case for all children. We haven't had any contact from the EHE team at our local authority in 3 years nor has his ehcp been reviewed in that time.

Oh and there will be no "joining" of clubs either.

Agree, and little children doing a 10 hour day is a whole other subject.
I don't sense a forward looking slightly " cookie" family here. Rather a desire to be away from and different from . Sad.

My son (14) goes to cadets, library club, home education groups, youth Council and a youth club, so he has plenty of opportunities to socialise and get involved in team work etc. He also hangs out with some of his old school friends.

However, a home educating parent does have to put this effort in to make sure children do have these opportunities.

This is the problem. I know of two families where the children are bright and articulate but have difficulty making their way in the world because of a lack of qualifications. The parents relied on the vague notion of "They can do the Open University..."

The exception that proves the rule.

One of my mum friends is in the process of pulling her child out of school to home educate (child is in year 1). She’s a gentle parenting type and the child rules the roost and is actually stressed and angry, having regular meltdowns and no idea how to behave in a socially appropriate way - she came round for a play date and when I tried to help her with a drawing and got it wrong, she started screaming and ripping all the paper and pens off the table.

She’s convinced herself it’s not a problem with her child but a ‘society problem’ because schools are trying to turn children into zombified slaves ready to be fed into the corporate grinder

Talking to her is like talking to a brick wall.

@LEWWW it's interesting to hear from someone else who had an education at school whilst their sibling/s were home educated (or rather not educated). I feel like a study on outcomes for families like ours would be really fascinating. I'm educated to post grad level, work in publishing, and have a good circle of friends. Hbu?

Academics aside what about the benefits of being in a classroom with other children , structure , Team work, Communications skills , friendships ? Interacting with children from different backgrounds?
would love to hear the input of actual educators and researchers.
It’s really difficult to get a balanced unbiased opinion when it comes to home schooling children.

My younger half siblings was home educated from the age of 4. It was educational neglect by mad abusive people who were educated to nvq level and whatever GCSEs used to be called (o levels i think?). There was one visit in all those years to check on her welfare/education. One. Absolutely disgraceful.

My mum home educated all my siblings (I was the only one who went to school out of 10 siblings) she didn’t take them anywhere, made out she was ridiculously smart while having no qualifications- she couldn’t even spell properly but thought she could teach them multiple languages she didn’t even speak…now all of those children are either adults in their mid 20s or late teens, none of them have any qualifications or job prospects, they don’t have friends, they are very ‘odd’ and I say that as their sister, they all still live at home and are very insulated. The system failed them by letting my mother do that! (I don’t have contact now)

I believe it works for some but it’s so unregulated and honestly believe the current system is failing children…

" But it's not like you can rock up with a GCSE in PE and teach science" no but when you haven't got any qualified Physics teachers in the school then you grab any teacher you can get to teach those classes.

I home schooled my 4 children..the eldest three for primary age and the youngest untill year 7 .
But mine were very structured and all main subjects every day ..
When they joined a school they were immediately put in on gifted and talented schemes
Two have a maths degree 1 st class ,one has a degree in criminology and is high up in the police force.
I met many home ed families many times ...we were completely in the minority because we Welcomed the LEA for yearly aessment ,plus we were very structured,and most parents were free thinkers and had feral kids running around with no shoes on ..
We never fitted in . mainly because we were structured and followed the national curriculum..

I have a friend who has made an excellent job of homeschooling her children. Even so, I recall hearing that one of the children regretted not attending school and not being in a school environment made it harder to access certain qualifications.

As a (now retired) secondary school middle manager, I became aware of several families where the boys were 'home schooled', but actually working with their fathers. The fathers and sons are functionally illiterate.

The LA is well aware of what is really happening, but it's easier for the LA to solve an attendance issue by letting the families tick a box and go on like this. There was a specific liaison officer for the group, but she was rather naive in many respects.

Prior to leaving school, the boys were previously frequently absent although the girls stayed in school until 16.

I recall that we had one lad (from a very different background) who came to us in S6. He had no formal qualifications at all but needed some in order to attend a particular college course. His twin wasn't going to college, so stayed at home.

He wasn't in my department: the father didn't want him anywhere near it, for fear of what the boy might encounter - the father was a pastor of some description.

I'm not sure how the boy managed in the end. He was taking only science qualifications: I recall that he came equipped with his own textbook which claimed that the Earth was only six thousand years old.

I was never asked for anything, not offered a visit or any contact. I was always prepared to show what she was doing but never asked. I did think that was negligent

Also, as a home educator...

We don't accept home visits. My son is seen by enough 'others' (health care professionals, st john cadets leaders, library staff, youth club leaders) and so there is no need for anyone to visit our home. I'm also aware that without a paper trail of evidence, things can be and often are misconstrued or twisted. Not always intentionally, but it does happen. Also, personality clashes and things like judgement made on appearances can influence people.

However, we quite happily send a detailed report every year to the LA, and this again is where I disagree with many other home educators. While legally, the LA cant 'demand' samples of work or portfolios, you are expected to give in depth written examples of what they have done, learned and how they have made progress. Now, this can be done with a good detailed explanation. A home educator who is perhaps lax at doing what they are legally required to (providing a full time education, suitable to their age and apritude) COULD use the guidance online in many groups and fudge their reports to make it look like they are. I have no idea whether it happens, but it is definitely open to that.

I quite happily send samples of my child's work in the form of a portfolio. Not every piece obviously (because that would be immense - my report is already 7 pages long and still have 4 months to go before I have to submit it!), but to show that we are actually doing what we say we are doing.

I do think LAs shoukd legally be able to insist on seeing some evidence - whether a portfolio of work, photographs of them doing practical activities and so on. Not all.of my sons work is written - sometimes he works on whiteboards or does online stuff, so i scan it occasionally or take photos and screenshots.

The barely literate parents withdrawing their kids are a product of the school system, people who spent 12 years in education and still haven't reached the standard expected of an 8 year old. They feel that they didn't benefit from school, so why would they send their kids?

I home educated my 2 youngest children, it was only meant to be the youngest due to his SEN and no local resources for him, it was supposed to be a short term fix a a new school was being built, this was 7 years ago and it is still not built.
Our other son had a problem during year 5 with a disruptive boy in his class, luckily during Easter term he was expelled and the whole class got back to being able to learn, the first week of year 6 his twin brother was moved from his class into my sons class and he was even worse than his brother as he was also violent, an issue arise and quite a few parents took our children out for their safety, we were then assured by the head we would be kept updated and assured that our children were safe, then next day my son told me something so alarming that we decided to remove him from school.
So we accidently home educated the son that was going into senior school 2 years before our plan with our SEN child.

During this time we worked with the local authority and we followed the curriculum, we went to lots of clubs where lots of families did something called un-schooling where they debunked the regime of school, and they were led by the child and did what the child wanted to do.
We however had a timetable and we got up each morning and followed the timetable and I made set plans each week and we all learnt, we converted a spare room into a study and spent hundreds on resources.
My 17 year old SEN child is now on his second year of college and is plodding along but doing so much better than we expected, but obviously still needs plenty of help
And our 19 almost 20 year old did 2 years of college before he was 16 (you can get in early if home educated) and then 2 years in further education, and yesterday we went to his passing out parade as he is now in the British Army and he is using his skills there.
Home education works but it's not for everyone, I personally think it should be more regulated and that you should not be able to refuse to let the L.A access, and that you should be able to prove without doubt that you are providing your child with an education, and I also believe that the exams should be free.

My friend HS her son when she wasn’t happy about his secondary choice. She’s a FT childminder so he gamed and ‘went on BBC bite size’ and read a bit. He walked with her to take the children to school. The woman who did their home assessment seemed very happy (apparently) with what they were doing. Luckily he got a school place. I think as long as he wasn’t abused and happy they didn’t seem to care.

I do know someone who HS her children from mid primary to college. Her reasons for it used to change depending on who she spoke to, but she also talked about how much she missed them and I think that was the main reason. She endlessly went on about doing history lessons in the museum, physics in the park. Like no one else went anywhere with their children.
Both children were bright and popular but by mid teens they had no friends. She complained other kids thought they were ‘odd’ but they were, they were like mini adults. They did go to college and uni, the younger one at home for uni and has never left and doubt he will.
DD managed very little of secondary school consistently but I fought for support and to keep going because I wanted her round people her own age. I’m not her friend. She needs friends of her own. Thankfully she’s in college now happily surrounded by people of her own age.

I dont think you can talk about home ed children as a whole or school educated children as a whole. There are many children who attend school who come out with no qualifications, children who have been failed and can barely read, write or perform simple maths - I know this because I teach these children.

I also know that some home ed children do exceptionally well, but there is some which are being failed - but many of these are forced into home ed.

I found myself in this situation where I had to home ed my son - I didnt want to but was massively failed by school. I believe if I had left him in school he would not have achieved, he is autistic and was not coping. I am his mum though, not his teacher and whilst we do fun learning together he didnt want and I didn't want to be his teacher. He did online lessons and now at college but I was never going to let him just be at home doing nothing.
What I read on some of the home ed Facebook groups is quite scary. I think that many of the home ed mums who have chosen, and do a very good job, shout loudly to protect what they have got but I dont think this is beneficial always to those who almost find themselves forced to home ed because they have been failed by the system.
I do also believe that every child should have the right to access exams for free.

I'm not against home schooling, but there needs to be far more checks than there is. Some parents home school very well, have resources and even additional help from tutors. Others, unfortunately don't have the right skills themselves to teach. There's also the whole safeguarding issue - how many times have we read of an abused/neglected child, who has died, and they were removed from school, weeks/months beforehand by a parent/guardian? Sadly, it happens. Children who are home educated, should be checked up upon as a duty of care. Of course abuse/neglect happens to children who are school educated too, but it's more likely signs will be picked up by staff. I know of a family who removed their son from Reception, because he didn't like all the rules!! He was massively spoilt then, ruled the roost, and there's no boundaries. He's now 12, there's zero structure to his day, gets up when he feels like it, goes to bed when he feels like it. Education is mainly from information he's reading, his Mum is the person home educating him, and she's simply not equipped to do so. Dad works full-time, so he doesn't participate at all in the education side. Mum is up in arms that there's changes afoot and she may have to show plans of her son's education! If you're educating effectively, then there's nothing to worry about is there?! She very clearly isn't!! According to her the son is 'very bright and clever', but how would she even know, the child has no siblings and there's no independent verification outside of her own mind!!! He might actually be average or below, she'd have no idea, as she has nothing to compare it too!! Home education is perfectly fine for some children, if it's done properly and effectively.