To find the homeschooling fad really braggy

I would say it's better to be exposed to other ideas and taught by your parents about different opinions, fact checking etc, than being brain-washed by parents who claim their truth is the only truth.

It doesn't hurt children to learn to question what is being said. (it doesn't hurt parents to have to learn to justify and explain themselves either 😂, kids keep you young)

it's dangerous

How can you dare denying it? If there's no welfare check, how does anyone knows how the child is living? Why is no one checking that a child can at least read, write and count by the time they are 10 *and gosh I am large, they learn that in KS1. How is no one checking and making sure children ARE not isolated and kept locked in all day?

And such a fine line - mummy and daddy have a business/ a shop.. and children are "helping" to "teach them". Where's the limit? Who is around to stop child labour and child abuse?

It doesn't matter if you are home educating or even a parent, how can anyone pretend there's not something very wrong in the current system?

I'd be concerned about the lack of socialisation when it comes to home schooling, though I think some of the things being taught on and off the curriculum are ridiculous. Some teachers can't disguise their political bias and it reflects in their teaching, so I can see why some people don't want to have their kids exposed to it.

The worst about the smug and braggy "home educators" is that they know EVERYTHING and their way of "home educating" is the only possible way, every body else (including other home educators") is wrong and doing home education WRONG.

They're exhausting (and highly amusing). Or they would be amusing if poor kids didn't have to be put through that.

Of course not all parents are like that, but the vocal and braggy ones are just that.

Maybe if people stopped claiming it was abusive/insular/restrictive/isolating/lazy/reductive yadda yadda yadda people wouldn’t feel the need to be so evangelical

This is what I hope to be. Nothing against people who make the decision to use schools. My sister and my best friend are teachers so I certainly have nothing against teachers who are trying hard to do their job in an almost impossible environment sometimes. I have just made what I feel is the best decision for my child and my family after researching the options, just as someone who chooses to send their child to private school has.
Thankfully no idea on the tik tok front as I have never ventured on there!

Nope. She is 3.5 currently. I feel it’s a good
fit for us and I don’t like a lot of elements of the current education system. I also feel that children in the UK start school too young.
Reception we are definitely not sending her- partly for practical reasons, we aim to move within the next 18m and have no idea where we will be. Then if it’s working for us I would like to home educate until she is 7 then review including taking her opinion in to account at that point too.

Some home educators are braggy and seem to think that the only way they can discuss the benefits of home education is to discussing issues in the school system. They tend to be the louder types online. They equally frustrate many home educators.

Many aren't, including the categories of families already listed as well as those in areas where education has fallen apart.

Quite a few home educators also have school educated kid(s). Last data I saw, most home educators start with their kids in school and withdraw after a series of issues. There is some discussion that since COVID and the rise of some home educating influencers that there is an upswing in more parents withdrawing faster, but still more come from issues with schools.

As John Holt understood clearly (How Children learn) - it's about learning, not teaching. Once a child knows how to learn and given the wonders of the internet they only need resources and occasional help to learn whatever they need.

John Holt died in the 1980s, his arguments have little to do with the internet - but really - given a child the wonders of the internet? The wonders are the internet are just a representation of the wonders of the wider world - and the horrors of it.

John Holt was an ex-teacher turned American conservative libertarian who was against the state being at all involved in nearly anything because he became jaded it could be changed. His entire argument for 'unschooling' was to treat children as adults, it was part of his wider framework on 'children's rights' and ~freeing children from the constraints of childhood~ that included arguing for removing the age of consent and that children's rights included them being able to enter into sexual relationships with adults. I'm sure he'd love the idea of children having free rein to teach themselves on the internet where his kind now love to prowl.

Parents are responsible for their children's education, entirely when we choose to home educate. Putting a child's education all on their shoulders to learn, with or without the wonders of the internet, is to put adult responsibilities on a child. This may line up with Holt's point of view, but his view never had much regard for responsibility.

I'm interested to know how this works from the class teacher's point of view?

Most schools I know hate flexischooling/part time schooling and treat it as a temporary last resort for a child really struggling or has exceptional medical situation.

A few schools I know have leaned into it, but the ones I know are private and/or small schools in areas with declining numbers who have found ways to accommodate it to bring in more numbers. The type doing it online have gravitated to those types of schools because it requires a headteacher's permission.

I had one child who was part-time during his GCSEs for medical reasons. He took a reduced load of GCSEs to account for that. Years on, we agree it was making the best of a bad situation.

Ive never met anyone who brags about homeschooling. The truth of it is that homeschooling isn't as good for the child as being in an education setting with peers. Normally homeschooling is the very last resort after special tuition.

I home educate. I like to think I’m not braggy. I have nothing against schools. Lots are very good and children do well. I just chose what I thought was best for me and my child. Other people make different decisions and that’s fine.

I have met several home edders who are very anti school and that annoys me. They come across as very insecure in their choices when they slag off other choices.

There are a number of fairly recent TikTokers that make being home Ed families their whole personalities and some of them do come across as being insufferably smug.

speaking of smug and judgmental.. 😂

Er yes it is. These are competitive examinations. Our children are competing not only with each other but lso those DCs in Singapore and AI.

I know what you mean about the smug and judgemental types you encounter in certain groups. My DC have SEN and to so many on "support" groups the answer is always home educate. Just stop sending them to school and let them learn by playing out. That's nice if you spend all your days raising chickens on a homestead while your DH earns a fat salary somewhere before coming home and doing bedtime, but if you're a lone parent and have to pay a mortgage (on a tiny house in town) yourself it's not so easy. I'm so tired after work that I couldn't even begin to think about planning and delivering a curriculum for two kids as well. And if the kids are pulled out of school they would still need to be somewhere while I work so not solving the issue of strangers, sensory overwhelm etc at all. I think some (not all) live in their own little bubble and can't comprehend how others have to live and the compromises involved.

Why is it braggy? I have friends who are homeschooling and they are far from wealthy - live in the poorest part of a big city and only afford holidays due to house swaps. The Mum is returning to work now they are all sixth form age and they will finally have some money spare.

Home educators can seem quite prickly as everyone you meet is generally judgey. You never really get criticism in everyday life for sending your kids to school but everyone gives their opinion unsolicited to homeschoolers.

Coming from a person who clearly has no clue about home education and how it works 🙄

@user1471538275 was spot on.

These "homeschooling" threads it's home education actually, do my head in, so much crap spouted from people who have no idea how it works. You carry on with your blinkered, narrow-minded and institutionalised way of thinking 👌

No, I am not offended by people making the choice to home educate their children, I have seen people taking it personally though. My DSis home educated her DC and one or two people seemed to take it very personally. Clearly being offended that she decided school wasn't good enough for her DC 😅

Touched a nerve eh?! 😅

Oh we how we laughed about those people! 😅

I know someone who makes a big deal about how wonderful her home education is and how happy her girls are. She isn’t wealthy at all, relies on benefits but she is very defensive because she’s received quite a lot of criticism for her choices.

I’m the opposite tbh, trying really hard to get a school to take my DC full time, he has SEN and I literally cannot cope with him 24/7. I’d go insane, it wouldn’t be healthy for him either imo but people are so quick to tell me, “just homeschool” like it’s the easiest thing ever.

Having to justify the educational choices made for your own kids is exhausting IME. There is so much thought, effort, worry that goes into choosing the non standard options (or there should be!)
However I do agree that regulation/quality control/audit needs to be in place regardless of chosen setting and no one who actually cares about their child’s educational outcomes should/would kick against it.
Smug, overbearing people exist in all walks of life so better to learn how to manage them

I can't think of anything worst than "home educating" myself 😂 but even so, I still know it's a luxury to be able to make that choice.

You physically cannot hold a full time job to pay the bill AND home educate your child full time AND give them access to all the social groups and activities they need.

Again, 24h in a day, and some of us need to sleep.

It's a privilege. No one is jealous or envious, it's just stating a fact. Parent might have worked hard to have that financial luxury now, who knows, it's not a judgement, just factual.

why are you having a go at me?

I told you, I don't care.

I have noticed the people bragging when they pop up to shout about their homeschooling on groups or subjects that have nothing to do with homeschooling 😂

I am not obsessing, I am mocking them

Why do you want to - has she already started at mainstream school?

I think in most cases (not all) attending school is far better for children than homeschooling.

But then your issue is …that you can’t do it yourself??

You need to decide on your own head - do you really wish you could homeschool?
I know I couldn’t. Fir the reasons you describe - needing my own space, being myself etc etc…..
Because I’m confident it’s the rigut choice for me, I have to say 1- I dint read SM posts on homeschooling and 2- if I stumble in one, they just do nothing fir me? Like a SM post on bike racing does nothing for me either…. Not my thing, not my world 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

So stop liking/watching those people, step back from the bragging parents in RL that flexi school (who would like to be close to people bragging anyway?) and live your life how you see fit

Yeah some of them on TikTok like to subtly imply that they like their children more than parents who send their children to school like theirs.

My daughters class has 3 children in flexi schooling , it’s more common that you realise and some councils actually have policies on it so pretty much anyone can do it . If you are interested research it . I’m yet to see anyone claiming it’s bad in any way or that children are behind but I can’t speak for everyone obviously.