I home educate by choice, AMA

[Spiderplantwidow]

My DS is 6 and would be in Y1. He attended reception at a state primary for a term before we withdrew him to home educate (a couple of months before covid hit). AMA!

Hi OP, I home ed my 3dc(they’ve never been to school). Hope the thread goes well for you.

How do you decide what topics you're going to cover on a daily/weekly/monthly basis?

I plan roughly a month ahead. Broadly we stick to the national curriculum (or use it as a guide anyway), but then we do other things like nature study, French, ancient history.

Were you already a SAHM or did you have to leave work in order to HE?

No, I was never a SAHM - I went back to work when he was a year old and he was at nursery 3 days a week. I had one salaried (PT) job and a few freelance clients. Once we decided to home ed I dropped the salaried job but kept my freelance work, which I do early mornings, lunchtimes, evenings and when he is at the childminder.

How do you make it work financially? I'm assuming you don't work? Do you know any less well off families that home educate?

I work freelance - couldn't make it work without that and my husband has a wage coming in also.

What do you do to ensure you're confident he's not missing crucial parts of the curriculum?

It depends what you view as crucial. You may or may not know that home educated families are under no obligation to follow the national curriculum. However, we do use it as a broad guide because for me I feel it is sensible to keep a check on what he is currently working on vs his schooled peers. But it also gives us the freedom to do other things that aren't covered at school.

How do you distinguish between learning/ school and the rest of the day?

Our sit down "learning time" is done of a morning, then we do outings, craft projects or more in depth learning projects in the afternoon. I don't think he really sees any of it as "school" per se.

Would you ever decide to send him back to school even if he didn't want to? For example if you needed to go back to work or had another child, and couldn't continue to home educate.

If I absolutely had to then I would have to, but I have no plans for another DC and we are pretty financially secure (even if my DH were to leave or lose his job).

I realise I forgot to say - yes, I do know others who home educate who are a lot less well off (usually because one parent has given up work). They make a lot of other sacrifices in order to do it.

It's very important to me that my son doesn't just mix with other home educated children, hence attending groups with schooled children.

Sounds good to me op!
I would hate to home educate my kids long term, thanks to lockdown I have had that brief experience!
It sounds like you're providing a lovely education and experience for your son. Glad it's going well.

IdblowJonSnow

Thank you! Luckily home education is really nothing like lockdown "school at home*

Why would you want to teach a child to persevere at things he doesn't want to do?

because that's life? there are plenty if things I have to do which I hate. including things at my work which I otherwise love. but I have to do them or I would face dire consequences.

There's your answer then! It's life. Like adults, kids live life. There are naturally going to be plenty of times when they have to do things they don't like. We don't have to send them to a special institution for the purpose of subjecting them to additional unpleasant experiences just to be sure they aren't missing out.

Here are a few things my kid has done recently which she didn't like:

Tune a guitar which has a tuning peg that keeps slipping.
Work through the frustrating part of a video game in order to reach the next level.
Sand the walls ready for painting.
Go out at 5:00 on a sleety morning to take a coach to London for a hospital appointment.
Scrub a pan which had rice burnt to it.
Walk a pet in the rain.

How much per year does it cost (in normal times), including the home ed activities you would want to do?

How much per year does it cost (in normal times), including the home ed activities you would want to do?

Tbh I don't know as I haven't added it all up but the groups we do plus his childminder amount to about £300 a month. Then resources/days out/extra food etc on top of that.

We save a fairly significant amount on holidays because of course we can go in term time.

It sounds like its going really well! I think its great you are open to your ds going to school or continuing HE.

I'm definitely open to both, depending on how he feels and how everything is going.

How do you get any housework done?
If the mornings are structured learning, afternoons are extra activities...how do you do everything needed to keep on top of shopping cooking cleaning ironing laundry admin bills...

How are you planning to teach your child to read? Are you knowledgeable about phonics? I am a teacher and can see lots of benefits to home-education. However, I do wonder if children are best taught by qualified teachers as we have a deeper knowledge of how young children learn and know the best strategies to use etc. ?

@becca3210 I find that an odd question, phonics is relatively recent as a mainstream teaching model so generations of children have learned to read without knowing what they are.

I am surprised you find it an odd question. It wasn't meant critically. I am just interested in how the OP is planning to teach reading skills as I know from school that the parents see the current research-backed methods as quite different from what they know.

How are you planning to teach your child to read? Are you knowledgeable about phonics?

He can already read. He could read before he started reception.

He learned to read by being read to. We read all the time. Our house is chock full of books.

How do you get any housework done?
If the mornings are structured learning, afternoons are extra activities...how do you do everything needed to keep on top of shopping cooking cleaning ironing laundry admin bills...

I suppose the same way a working parent who was working outside the home all day would?! In the evenings, at weekends, here and there during the day? I don't find these things onerous.

We cook together for the most part, and we meal plan together too. Shopping I do online, and do that in the evening. We all do a deep clean together on a Saturday morning with top ups throughout the week. Laundry - I chuck a wash on in the morning, I hang it out?!

And my husband also does housework!

@becca3210

How are you planning to teach your child to read? Are you knowledgeable about phonics? I am a teacher and can see lots of benefits to home-education. However, I do wonder if children are best taught by qualified teachers as we have a deeper knowledge of how young children learn and know the best strategies to use etc. ?

I hope OP doesn’t mine me jumping in here.

I posted earlier in the thread, I home ed 3 dc and for me a benefit to home ed is that my children have been able to learn to read in the way at at the time that was right for them.
My eldest started reading simple words before he turned 3 and it went from there, he just picked it up naturally, I never really taught him. My middle dc had no interest in learning to read until gone 6(he loved being read too), he then started to show an interest and we used a book called Teach Your Child to Read in 100 easy lessons to get him going, the daily short ‘lessons’ with lots of repetition is a style that worked for him, once that was completed he had the basics and we carried on from there. My youngest is reception age and with him we are using phonics as he was trying to sound out words himself so I decided to carry on with that route and he is doing well.

@Spiderplantwidow

How are you planning to teach your child to read? Are you knowledgeable about phonics?

He can already read. He could read before he started reception.

He learned to read by being read to. We read all the time. Our house is chock full of books.

That's fantastic. Sounds like you have a great routine which works for you all. Thanks for the interesting thread.

Plenty of home educators do use the phonics system though. Others just wait for their kids to pick it up and ensure free access to books.

@becca3210
On the subject of learning to read, you may be interested in Peter Gray's observations of how home educated kids often learn to read without being taught: www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/201002/children-teach-themselves-read

I know a number of home ed kids who have learned this way, including one of my own. She learned to read at an age which would be considered alarmingly late to those who are used to school education, but that didn't interfere with her education. Until she was ready to read, she learned in other ways. When the time was right, she found learning to read a quick and easy process.

In another blog post, Gray discusses why these methods cannot be transferred into the classroom. I suppose this is why spontaneous reading hasn't attracted greater interest from educators: it is not generally possible for schoolchildren to be educated in this way, because the school environment precludes it.

Are you concerned about your child opting out of situations that feel challenging in the future?

Are you concerned about your child opting out of situations that feel challenging in the future?

I don't see how this relates to home education.