To find the homeschooling fad really braggy

It would seem a large number of people don't think maths is important or necessary. People who can't see that hey use algebra every day without really thinking about it. Or that all the items they use involved calculations and technical design skills. I'd guess their children will still be playing shopkeepers or something when they're old enough for a secondary curriculum. I have nothing against home education done well, in fact I wish it was an option for my youngest in a way due to issues at school, but most "home ed" that I see just seems to involve playing and getting muddy.

Part of this is resilience which involves sticking at something that's hard through difficult times. It's not surprising that most kids have times when they don't like school and would rather quit, in the same way that many of us feel like that about our careers at times. Perseverance often pays off though or potentially moving to another school/workplace but just jacking it all on altogether robs you of so much in the medium/long term.

@Marshmallow4545 I need to comment on this. I would 100% have agreed with you until I have had my own experience of something else being true.

My 10 year old son was a school refuser. We had no idea why but he just would not go to school. He would not go so much that he tried to kill himself in more than one way to avoid going.

Everyone, and i mean EVERYONE told me that I needed to stick at it to teach him resilience and my common sense told me the same.

But my gut instinct said something else so i withdrew and home educated.

Thank goodness I did. The same child is much more resilient now than I could ever have imagined because he has learnt to trust that his parents had his back and that he can tell us anything. He is now living 3 hours away from home studying at UCL.

We were told by EVERYONE that I would have an adult incapable of leaving home but they were absolutely wrong. If a child or young person is struggling so badly that they cannot cope the WORST thing you can do is to ignore them and to tell them they should be resilient. They will end up resenting and not trusting the adults who are supposed to protect them.

There are not-in-school-nurses, seems to be different in different areas like all things. I think there’s a vaccine clinic where I live now but our GP just did it in our old area. Developmental checks could be offered but a lot will just decline, much like with HVing and weighing in school. Developmental checks should be done for school kids because look how many ND kids are undiagnosed till late in their school career when they fall apart and there’s no time to do much about it.

I think councils should try and run HE stuff but people will be skeptical about going, more flies with honey than vinegar though. Idk if I’d go, probably not for now as we have enough on for now and are off the radar. There was a coop running KS2/KS3/GCSE level classes where we lived before and I’d be interested in that sort of thing

You wouldn't have met them, though... Because you'd only meet those involved with community. I'm not against home education at all in principle ,but my husband was "home educated"... Neglected by drug addict parents. Those families definitely exist.

The problem with this is that DC1s nursery thought she was fine and I’ve had her past teachers come up to me and say how much she loved nursery but if you asked her she never wanted to go or go back, it eventually damaged her MH so much that she was housebound often so her attendance was terrible and she freaked out at the idea of any “learning” or “teacher” figures for a couple years at least after we pulled her out. But the “professionals” there thought she was fine. CAMHS saw that she wasn’t but it was a year or two down the road before we got to them so she “should have been in school” by then but she couldn’t and they was pretty quick to see CAMHS by most accounts.

I don’t get what’s going on by more and more kids seem to be struggling in school and nursery and they fall apart so much that they’re barely attending and the parents end up pulling them out to home educate. I would LOVE for this to be fixed, I would LOVE for more educational options (different types of schools, my kids sort of sit between mainstream and specialist)

Us parents didn’t need to add fighting with whoever to prove that our kid was unwell and school would make it worse while simultaneously trying to manage, unpick and repair the damage. Only at nearly 7 it’s DC1 “ready” for something like school but normal, state, mainstream school would most likely redo the damage soooo HE continues because there is no option for a school that would be safe for her.

I suppose it’s possible in theory but idk how much it actually happens. Especially as most kids seem to start and then be withdrawn so they are on the radar (known to the LA) so will probably be checked in on to some extent and were probably known to be at risk when at school.

Neighbours tend to notice kids and if they go to school or not. If I’m out with my school age kid in the day someone normally asks, the neighbours have asked and been told and I’m sure if the kids vanished there would be questions. Same as for the under school age ones?

no you don’t have to have a curriculum. If you’re “on the radar” yes you have to show progress, usually annually, we do not as the kids have not attended school and telling the LA we HE would have zero benefit for the kids or family and would create work and stress tbh with staff pushing their luck and what is within their remit.

Home ed to boarding is quite the jump from extreme to extreme, that must have been tough to navigate!

I have a feeling DD will at some point want to try it as she gets into her teen years, so we’re v much keeping an open mind (and I absolutely expect her to go to sixth form to do A levels). But who knows! If she does want to try it then I think we would likely want her to go to a smaller private school so it’s not such a shock to the system, but at the moment I just don’t think we could afford it.

I was homeschooled for 6 years so I have met quite a few homeschoolers. Academically it wasn’t an issue although I stopped when my mother thought I had reached the age when I needed specialist teachers. I found the transition back to school incredibly tough especially as it had to be boarding, but I’m very glad I did go to school.

"It feels a bit damned if you do, damned if you don’t: if you show your life home educating then people like the OP think you’re being smug, if you don’t then people assume you’re strange or that you’re hiding something".

Exactly this!!

We chose to home educate. DD has never been to school and this was our choice (though now she’s older it’s her choice and I would be happy for her to try school if she wants to see what it’s like, although I’d worry that she wouldn’t be getting as rigorous an education as she’s getting now).

I don’t think you would find our family particularly unusual if you met us irl; most of the families in our local HE community are normal professional families. There are a couple of “odd” folk, but I’m sure the same can be said of schools too and in my experience they are definitely the minority. How many elective home educators have you met in order to confidently make this generalisation?

It feels a bit damned if you do, damned if you don’t: if you show your life home educating then people like the OP think you’re being smug, if you don’t then people assume you’re strange or that you’re hiding something!

ETA Quite where people think the money would come from for local authorities to provide all these visits and assessments of home educated children, god only knows. Most councils are broke.

" I think it's very naive to think that ofsted and the government are currently ensuring that children in state schools get a safe and appropriate education. A huge number of people do not have the ability to choose an appropriate school for their children, families of children with sen as well as many others. Home schooling is growing exponentially for that reason. The u.k. needs to focus on massively reforming state education, not forcing more pupils into it in its current state. There has been a huge rise in violence in schools. When surveyed a third of girls do not feels safe from sexual harassment in schools.One-quarter of them in mixed-sex schools experience unwanted touching, and an estimated 9 in 10 receive unsolicited images or experience sexist name calling."

I agree with this. For every thread full of vitriol towards Home Education, there are at least the same number discussing teacher burnout, teacher shortages, poor behaviours and violence in schools.

With Labour smacking VAT on Private schools, pushing yet more children into already full to bursting state schools, why on earth would anyone wish to make it harder to home educate and try to hold and push yet more children into state? Most of them left because of how awful it is.

The bottom line is, that the UK State Education system, much like the NHS is failing, outdated, oversubscribed and the staff within in it are in despair.

Reform and overhaul of state schooling is what is needed. You need to treat the disease rather than the symptoms of it then perhaps with a decent system, you all might see less "smug home educators".

Not at all. I was responding to someone who said home schooling should be banned as its impossible for it to be inspected. As I said in another post, I think an inspector visiting, taking a look at the childs work and chatting to the child and parents is more than adequate.

You mean the inspections that drove a head teacher to suicide a few years ago? You want that for home ed parents?

Yes, a sect of them are. They're on social media thinking that they're talking down to people. Pontificating about how their kids know about taxes and corruption.

As if you can't teach that stuff in the time they're not in school, and so you should.

But teachers may be qualified but that doesn't mean they're intelligent and it's not really teachers they have an issue with, they work very hard and I've not seen anyone deny that. It's the curriculum, which they deem redundant.

What they fail to realise though is that it's not the content of the curriculum which truly matters. It's just fodder to teach and practise learning. If you can write an essay about WW1 you can write an essay about quantum physics (if you also know about QP obvs). If you can do algebra you can work out change. If you do basic maths and English you can navigate further in the world. That's why you gain a GENERAL certificate in secondary education. Although it should be CGSE.

So why bother writing a curriculum about Elon Musk when we can just teach Hitler, for example.

Homeschooling is more than just a passing trend. When done properly through a reputable online school with all the necessary resources, it can be an extraordinary experience. On another note, bragging is worth discussing. Digital influencers essentially market themselves as products, and if their influence becomes overwhelming, it might be best to disconnect from them or even the internet altogether. Parents also tend to brag online, especially those with children in state schools, spending hours celebrating their excellent institutions. In this country, such behavior is often seen as a mark of extreme privilege. Meanwhile, they harshly criticize families who choose private education, labeling it the ultimate sin of privilege—though their own actions could arguably be worse.

@Marshmallow4545 Here's an article about schools hiding disruptive pupils when ofsted visit. It's from a while ago but I am aware of another school doing something similar fairly recently. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11773130
An inspector doesnt need to personally mark all a home schooled childs work, but they can look through it, and ask the child questions, which is more than happens for individual pupils at a school ofsted inspection.
I do think it's very naive to think that ofsted and the government are currently ensuring that children in state schools get a safe and appropriate education. A huge number of people do not have the ability to choose an appropriate school for their children, families of children with sen as well as many others. Home schooling is growing exponentially for that reason. The u.k. needs to focus on massively reforming state education, not forcing more pupils into it in its current state. There has been a huge rise in violence in schools. When surveyed a third of girls do not feels safe from sexual harassment in schools.One-quarter of them in mixed-sex schools experience unwanted touching, and an estimated 9 in 10 receive unsolicited images or experience sexist name calling.
Anyway, we will have to agree to disagree, thankfully there is no prospect of the government banning home schooling, so its all academic.
www.nasuwt.org.uk/article-listing/teachers-declare-pupil-behaviour-emergency.html
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/understanding-and-tackling-violence-against-girls-in-schools/
https://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/campaign/abouttime/

If they don't want to offer Flexi schooling they just... Don't

I absolutely don't have a naive view of state schools. I went to a below average state school in a rough area myself and my kids have been to state schools that have been rated as Outstanding in great areas and very mixed schools. I think OFSTED do an important job and whilst not perfect, I have broadly agreed with their findings at my children's schools. One school got a lower rating and this absolutely reflected the fact that standards had slipped. I have never experienced children being hidden or heard about it from friends that go to different schools. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but it certainly isn't commonplace in my opinion.

It simply isn't realistic for an inspector to look through a year's work for each individual child (which could be any or no syllabus), grill them on their understanding specifically and get a realistic view of what is happening at home everyday. Especially because unschooling and every other random theory or approach is apparently acceptable if the parents thinks it is. Most worryingly, how would safeguarding concerns be addressed in such a short session and how would it root out concerns around religious extremism or abuse? It's easy to cover up in a one off session but much harder to disguise when a child is amongst trained adults day in day out.

Most parents absolutely do have a choice of several state schools. In fact statistics suggest the majority of parents choose a school that isn't closest to them. The rural cases where there is only one viable school are very much the minority. Of course not everyone has access to the best schools but this doesn't mean that HE is a better alternative than school. HE is extremely risky for the child and we simply don't have the systems and safeguards in place to derisk it.

Who's going to pay for that? Councils are understaffed as it is, I think the priority might be social workers.

oh yes, and we all know how it all works in real life😂

You know a lot about the theory, well done you. Unless you are one of those parents.

I can't afford to home Ed. Even if I could I absolutely wouldn't do it. My teens have autistic traits and have struggled at times at school to fit in, understand and follow the many seemingly pointlesss rules school set. Both were even at risk of being kicked out at one point! which was very stressful.

However they have liked the structure of formal Ed and have gradually overcome some challenges with their social skills and dealing with demands. I am glad they persevered and both doing OK now with the odd wobble.

School is a bit of a one size fits all, but unfortunately so are many work environments. When they go into work the reality is they will need to deal witb demands, cope and adapt even with reasonable adjustments. I don't think home Ed would have set them up in the same way. I do appreciate though there are higher levels of ASD and some kids simply cannot cope with school.

It's almost like these parents are basically announcing their wealth and privilege to the world...and making everyone else feel inadequate

You can only feel inadequate if you think home educating is better/aspirational. You obviously do op but not everyone feels the same.

I don't feel envious of home schooling families at all, from either my own or the dc's perspective. I just feel a bit sorry for the kids in many instances.

It's so weird that you're so confident on talking about stuff that you really just don't know anything about.

The entire point of flexi schooling is that parents DO keep the child caught up on what they're missing when they're not in school. That's what flexi schooling is. So you're getting your knickers in a twist about... Nothing.