I home educate - my DS has never been to school - AMA

[OvertheUnicornRainbow]

My DS is almost 13, always been home-educated and is thriving. Ask me anything

Hi op, sorry haven't had time to read through the thread yet, just wanted to quickly say that 3 of my children ( now 19-23) were home educated, currently dd1 us doing her BA at drama school, ds1 is a firefighter, and ds2 is making a fine income trading Forex ( self taught). Dd2 (3) and new baby will also be home edded.
I hope to read the thread very soon!

@56marshmallow - I can't think of a single other one that has served a purpose in real life except to get me into 6th form, Uni and a job. All of which asked for 5 GCSEs grade A-C including English and Maths

Well, that might have been true years ago but times have changed!

Today dd's sixth form college wants 6s in both maths and English plus 48 points across the board from her best 8 GCSEs. So taking 5 just would not work.

My children are autistic. My daughter doesn't cope very well with the noise of a class of 30 kids. She's missed 25% of her school year due to anxiety. Even before that, her progress has not been at the rate that it was before she went to school.

By the time she was 3 years old, she could understand the concept of basic fractions, read simple reading scheme books and work with numbers up to 100.

Her recent SATS results now show that she is only just average. Plus her self esteem has nose dived compared to the self esteem that she started school with.

Yeah, school's been great for her!

I think its a shame for many to learn GCSEs online when you could have the stimulation of a subject specialist and the class environment. I much preferred my real life degree than my OU degree for this reason, but especially at secondary I was a sponge and loved absorbibg from those enthused by their subjects!

I do realise I had a fab school and not everyone works like me! I loved reading and learning for pleasure but also loved the school at gcse stage.

I still cant type though 🤦‍♀️

I completely understand when a child cant access school, bit so wish we could make the school system more accessible. Many families really can't afford to not work.

@tenlittlecygnets - they've not changed that much! English is still English and Maths still Maths! I'm amazed by the amount of people that find GCSEs beyond them.

How will he be behind? If he was to go to college at 14 to study GCSEs - how will he be behind. If he did do this he would probably have already completed one or more so more than likely ahead!

I don't need to be qualified as I'm not a teacher. But able to support him in GCSE work - I'm managing just fine.

@HugoAvril - thanks for sharing

@tenlittlecygnets - obviously requirements vary at different colleges.

@56Marshmallow - so sorry to hear that!

@SquashedFlyBiscuit - I think different things suit different learners. My DS is lucky to have some great teachers - but easier for us as we could handpick!

@tenlittlecygnets - and Science can be studied as a combined subject rather than all 3 seperate.

@PointeShoesandTutus

I got into uni with 5 GCSEs. I did rather well on my BA and now I’m doing an MA :-)

I work in a scientific company. Studying just science rather than physics, chemistry and biology put you at a big disadvantage if you want a scientific career.

@elena - well done you!

@janemaster - I managed without but thanks for the advice.

Anyone can do a degree with little or few qualifications. Usual route is a foundation course/access course or a OU degree.

@tenlittlecygnets
I’m a grammar specialist (teacher) and have a BA English and almost MA Writing. I also proof read so grammar errors stand out a mile off to me. The OP hasn’t made any glaring mistakes so get off your high horse. You’re talking out of your arse... (+ you’ve made a few mistakes yourself.)

@OvertheUnicornRainbow I am interested to know how? What kind of scientific job do you have and how did you get it?

@elenacampana - thank you

@janemaster - I'm a nurse. I got a Bsc. But seriously thanks for the advice - I will pass it onto my DS. He is leaning towards a BA right now but that might change! I went to a grammar but we were actually only offered a combined Science GCSE!

Sorry but a nurse is not a scientist. You can get a BSC in dietitics or computer science. I am talking about actual scientists involved in scientific research. Where I work there is a lot of lab work.

If you want to go down a proper scientific route, you severely limit your options by doing a combined science qualification. You need the 3 separate sciences. I am not saying you cannot get a job at all, but you limit severely the types of jobs you can get.

And I support a mandatory inspection of all HE.

@janemaster - I didn't say I was a scientist. I just read scientific career as a career requiring scientific study. But yep, take your point. Out of interest - what was the reason you were home-educated?

Okay misunderstanding by scientific career I meant a job involving the application of actual science on a daily basis. Not always called actual scientists, there are a variety of job titles.

The reason I was HE? I suspect my parents would give a very different answer to that than I would.

@janemaster - hmm..nursing does require the application of 'actual science' on a daily basis. We have to use evidence-based practice.

I don't know how to spell it out any more clearly. I used scientist in the first instance as an umbrella term for what the public would see as a scientist. But in reality there are a variety of job titles.

Many professions use evidence based practice. Therapists use evidence based practice. Undertakers use evidence based practice in preparing bodies.

But I think you understand the type of jobs I am talking about. There is no reason a nurse needs a good grounding in the 3 sciences, She needs a good understanding of human biology and anatomy. But not physics for example, and not lab work. And the human biology and anatomy will presumably be taught as part of a nursing degree.

But you just seem to be arguing for the sake of it. Because I think you do know what I mean very well.

@janemaster you are chatting rubbish. A lot of state schools don't offer separate sciences. They don't have the capacity. This doesn't mean no scientists come from state schools. You need a degree to do most scientific careers, therefore A level choices are far more important.

OP your attitude towards inspection is a bit conspiracy theory/the state is after us. This is a shame because the rest of your posts are well balanced.

I disagree that museums at the weekend aren't the same as in the week. The content is still the same!

Again you avoid my question. You do not give to give a comprehensive answer, a partial one will do. Give an answer in respect to one subject in one time frame. Also, the answer doesn’t vary depending on whether you have one child or 750, in fact the answer for one will be a lot simpler than for many. It’s odd you think others haven’t taught one person, all research students in Higher education are taught individually in most subjects.

Look at your superficial answer on teaching critical research skills. Telling a student to look at good sources achieves nothing. You need a teaching plan that teaches different philosophy of science ideas, e.g. verification, falsification, paradigm shifts, etc. as well as introducing aspects on the psychology of learning, e.g. biases, etc.