To disagree with home ed

Home ed 'worked' for my 2. One through most of primary then went to Grammar. The other most of primary and through secondary..just taking last A level.

And?

I home educate my children - age 7 and 3

They have a great social life between karate, gymnastics, equine therapy group, forest school, beavers, wild crafts, sports meet up and home ed educational trips with their peers (ages ranging from 3 to 14, older children have seperate groups for their needs)

My 7 year old was in school up until last September. When she left school she could barely blend a simple word and spelling was impossible, she reversed her letters a lot (we suspect Dyslexia like her dad)

Since September she has progressed to the point where she now independently reads chapter books and only needs help with the odd word, her spelling has greatly improved and her letters are written correctly.

Her maths is also greatly improved and she has been able to follow her interests - we are currently travelling around looking at a different castle and its related history each week - while not being subject to religious indoctrination (we are in a UK country where all schools have a strong christian focus, even intergrated schools still teach predominatly christian religion with no emphasis on other religions at least in our area - as a non christian family our choices were to remove her from religious education and worship where she was the only child exempt and often left in a class alone, or home educate)

On top of that, we are kept an eye on. They go to the doctor, dentist and optician, they are in groups with other children who attend school as well as their home ed groups, adults in the community see them on a daily basis, the librarian knows each child by name and we have to send yearly reports to the EA who will then ask for clarification or potentially hit you with a school attendance order if they believe you are not educating your child properly. What we dont need to do is replicate school at home, they just need to be recieving an education suited to their abilities and interests and socialising with their peers

It’s not an assumption of wrongdoing it’s a basic system to check on well being. I have gone out of my way NOT to tar everyone with that brush. It’s the outliers that should concern us all. It’s not MY assumption either it’s risk as identified by the NSPCC, they didn't make it up.

I do find it really worrying how hard people are arguing that there shouldn’t be more regulation or checks. Look at the states and the rise of anti-vax, anti- science, creationist, trad wife, hard line Christian rhetoric etc. really grim and often isolationist. And before everyone gets cross I am talking about minorities but potentially significant trends.

I home educate my 5yo. Currently unsure whether there is any SEN need. We didn't choose EHE due to SEN though. We chose EHE because the UK school system is very broken. I can say this with certainty because I am a trained teacher and taught for 14 years.

Our child is reading at 2 years beyond their chronological age and doing Maths work at 12-18 months beyond their chronological age. They can form letters correctly and write in sentences using basic punctuation. Their education includes history, geography, coding, physical exercise, art, science, music, high quality literature, storytelling, nature and more. They go on visits to support their learning. They meet regularly with other home educated children and attend a range of home education groups and meet ups. Their education can also be interest-led. We have a huge range of age appropriate non-fiction and subscriptions to services to support their education, meaning that we are able to adapt their learning according to their interests at any given point. Gaps in understanding can be easily identified and addressed in a way that is absolutely tailored to our child.

DC does not like large groups of people in one place and finds this overwhelming. As a result, whole class birthday parties can be challenging for them. They still want to go and once there, they choose to stay, even if aspects of the party are difficult. That doesn't mean they are isolated or "unable to function in normal social situations", as so bluntly stated by a previous poster. Smaller birthday parties are absolutely fine, for example. Many adults do not enjoy large groups of people either. We do not tell them that they are "unable to function in a normal social situation." We accept that there are many different types of people in the world, with different personalities and temperaments.

I am sure that there are poor examples of home education. I can honestly say that I have not yet come across any. I can also honestly say that there are some incredibly poor examples of mainstream schools and that a very decent proportion of young people are utterly let down by them.

Some people have concerns around EHE that I can understand, if they have witnessed a very poor set up. However, others are simply unable to see beyond the confines of their own experiences and beyond what we have been conditioned to believe is "best" for our children. I don't judge any of you for sending your children into a school. You don't have any right to pronounce your judgement on me as a parent choosing EHE either.

Some yes, not all. And its ridiculous to think that just because a child is home educated they're a safeguarding risk. The children who are at risk will be already known to authorities and the few that aren't should not be the reason tougher legislation is made for home education. You cannot tar everyone with the same brush and assume because a family choose to home educate that they do not have their childs best interests at heart and are a safeguarding risk. Everyone has a responsibility for safeguarding and thats always been the case home educated or not

People always think that children need to go to socialise, which is just not true.

Forced socialising for many children just doesn’t work, and many children are mentally destroyed by school, particularly secondary. Sure some children will thrive and look back on their school days as the best days of their lives, but they are in the minority, and I feel a little sorry for those whose lives peaked before they are even adults.

Very few jobs rely on people being able to socialise in a school-like environment, and as adults we have choices over what we do. Seems bizarre to hold school as the pinnacle of social experiences when so many hated every second of it!

I do not have a PhD but by being HE my son is learning more than he did in 8 years of school being taught by trained educators.

WHEN home ed is badly done which of course sometimes it is, by parents who have for some minor reason got a bee in their bonnet about school being bad, and don't really have the energy for or commitment to educating their child, then yes you are right it doesn't prepare children for the real world.

However my dad 25 years ago, used to be involved with home education families and some children would be getting a much broader education, with much more learning relevant to the real world, than kids in school ever got. I think you can't really make sweeping statements about home education, because the breath of what parents cover, methods they use, how much time they spend, whether they meet with other kids most days or hardly ever, whether they try and follow a curriculum like school, or not etc is huge. And also it will depend how those things fit the child's needs and abilities.

Making a sweeping statement only really shows prejudice as you can't possibly know the outcomes for all HE kids and even less what those outcomes would look like had those kids been in school.

YABU to post yet another HE bashing thread! Just jump on last weeks and you can punch down on there.

I HE because there was no choice, my son is autistic and couldn’t cope.

We are part of quite a large HE community, the vast vast majority of whom are ND and, like us, were basically forced out. The rest are ex teachers who refused to put their children through the system in its current state.

People can criticise HE all they want, but at the end of the day they are wilfully ignoring the structural failures that have led to so many children being unable to access education in mainstream settings, and so many teachers leaving.

My children can be a little different, but that’s the autism, not the HE that was our only option.

You have to admit that there are quite a few home ed parents whose choice to do so is based on the idea that school is brainwashing children.

In the US, where I live, certain loony fringe religious / lentil-knitting-crunchy types tend to home school because they've bought into paranoia about 'the system' and are opposed to secularism/ teaching evolution or some sort of government messaging they think their children will be exposed to. Many of these groups refuse to vaccinate their children too.

People who are anti-homeschooling don’t understand how bad many mainstream schools have become.

I agree that a good school is better than homeschooling, but even average homeschooling is better than a bad school.

I say this as a teacher of 17 years, currently still working as a classroom teacher.

Sorry to hear this. Sounds so, so hard. There are definitely exceptions.

hope you are all ok.

I have a PhD but I wouldn’t dream of thinking I had the skills to teach my children. Also, it’s the social skills and the various tricky scenarios with friends that is just as important as the maternal. Especially now we have AI.

Just opposing it won’t save those children though, in fact just abandoning them because you don’t like some of the methods used or assumptions made seems pretty cruel.
Maybe collaborate with the relevant bodies to put guidelines in place/ help educate?

Some home schooled children are shut away from the world - isn’t that the point - and it’s a growing phenomenon.
Everyone responds to this issue so personally, but really it’s not about the individual it’s about the outliers and some kind of shared social contract to protect vulnerable kids.

As I wrote elsewhere it’s the NSPCC who have looked closely and highlighted the risk. Also it is obvious in that post I was answering a specific point about needing to have some kind of state oversight throughout childhood.

If we assume that the same percentage of children who are homeschooled as at school are at risk as a proportion of the population ( it might be more or less but I don’t have those statistics) then we should all be concerned about the visibility of those children in society. It might be ‘wearing a bit thin’ for you but so what really. More concerned about the kids, ALL kids, being neglected and isolated than about the defensiveness of the home schooling community.
If you’re doing a great job then what’s the problem. Look out for the kids who’s parents aren’t (and it’s pretty clear it’s a growing phenomena)

This sounds a really difficult and upsetting situation for you and your son. I can absolutely see why in this situation why you might have considered home-ed. I hope that you get proper provision sorted for your son to meet his needs as I appreciate how upsetting this must be.

Most families don’t have a social worker overseeing them from birth to five. Health visitors aren’t compulsory, and I’m not sure how often they see a child after age one. There is no requirement to send a child to pre-school or nursery.

Of course I agree that we should concerned about EVERY child, but it does seem that “safeguarding” is shouted out every time home education is mentioned. The risk remains whether the child is aged 5-16 or 0-5, and the implication that home educated children are at more risk because a teacher doesn’t see them every day is wearing a bit thin.

I home educated for 10 years . My children went to forest school, Maths and English groups, French language groups art classes, sports, scouts ,guides etc. If I wouldn't have been able to out source most of it I don't know what I would have done. 2 of my children have scoliosis and total spinal fusion. Mainstream school could not give them the rest breaks needed during the day to be able to be in less pain. They couldn't have sat down most of the day . They needed to be able to get up whenever they felt they needed to. And mainstream with all the bullying and oushing and shoving was too much of a risk to them.They went to college on a 14 to 16 placement at a higher achievement rate than most school pupils their ages and they are still college doing A levels and the like.

As for safeguarding, it is of no more concern than children in a school setting. Home educated children are not shut away from the world fgs. There will be a few but its really not the norm. My children see dentist, doctors, opticians and everyone else they need as well as group leaders and private tutors who all have safeguarding training .

I did register with the LA and only had 1 visit in that time ,the rest of the time examples of work and learning groups were sent in. The LA officers I have dealt with have all been of the opinion that school is only suitable for a minority of children and not the majority, especially at the moment with everything going on.

So no I don't agree with everything that you mentioned, but I can see where you're coming from

Unfortunately sometimes you don’t have a choice.

my eldest couldn’t get into school, she physically became so ill by the thought of it. She has autism and ADHD.

We had a very structured schedule - I have a education degree and I’m an English specialist.

She achieved a 7, 6 and 5 5s.

She is very sociable but still has her struggles.

I am home educating her sister who is 15, hated the social aspect of school so what’s the point of making her ill.

She is taking 3 GCSEs this year, and 4 next year.

Both are on track to go to university - either forensic science or health care based.

So please don’t judge. Anyone wants to visit my house they can - they’ll see two very happy teenagers.

We oppose it because the LA is failing many children in school which has led to the rise in home ed. The LA home ed team often aren't educated on home ed or on the reason some children are home educated. They often overstep their remit and cause damage to children who are recovering from damage caused by schools.

If this was done properly, with correctly trained people who knew what they were doing it would be one thing but can you truly see that being the case.
It will further dilute the resources and means that the LA will be busy targeting safer homes while actual at risk children fly under the radar

Well yes obviously parents should introduce books and read to their children. Ensure opportunities and facilitate

But if a child is at school that has had that early support and hasn't learnt to read while at school

Or

A child who hasn't but goes to school and hasn't learnt to read

Both cases the child in school hasn't learnt to read. How is that any different to a child not reading who is home educated?
It's extremely rare for a home educated person not to learn to read. It may be at a different time to a school pupil but in majority of cases they will learn to read. Just like in majority of cases children in school will learn to read but their is always outliers (both in school and home educated) for varies reasons.

It should be monitored WAY more stringently. There’s a vast difference between delaying a school start due to cultural or other reasons and ensuring children socialise, join clubs, spend their time at museums/ travelling etc to parents who withdraw children when they are older NOT to meet special needs from the children but truthfully because a. Parents don’t like routine and getting out of bed early; b. Parents don’t like “ wasting money” on buying and washing uniform c. Parents fear children talking about lifestyle ( drink, drugs, benefit cheats, physical discipline and / or abuse) at school and being exposed. At the moment the latter category are treated exactly the same as a dedicated, conscientious, academic parent who ensures their child/ children meets up and socialises with other home schoolers and in effect can sometimes have a better childhood ( And still end up with great qualifications/ uni places) than children in school. It’s terrifying the children that currently slip through the net.