I home educate my 3 children

[LilyTuesday]

As the subject title says! I have found myself answering lots of questions over the years, once people find out we home Ed our children… but they are probably being polite and not saying how they really feel about the idea of choosing to never send a child to school…. So AMA if you’ve ever been curious!

OP how many classes a week run by someone teaching are your children attending?

Yes but there isn’t one size fits all so maybe 1/3 of your class will benefit from this method you’ve developed and achieve great results but what about the other 2/3? Because the percentage of your class achieving too marks won’t be 100%? There will be pupils who don’t respond to your methods and won’t achieve high grades. Whereas a home ed parent teaching one to one who knows their child and how they learn best will be able to use the right method for them.
I agree that with your years of experience you will be highly knowledgeable on the subject matter but taking my dd through her exams has taught me that it often isn’t about what you know but how you show the examiner what what you know, hence some bestselling authors taking the current English gcse and failing. Furthermore you’ve kind of proved my point that a teaching degree isn’t what made you able to teach the children.

If they had to do a standardised test, the same which is across all schools, how would they get on?

Whereas a home ed parent teaching one to one who knows their child and how they learn best will be able to use the right method for them

How will your average home schooling parent know what the methods are without any training? Are you suggesting to me that home schooling parents spend their evenings reading research into pedagogy in order to be fully informed as to teaching methodologies? You suggest that unqualified and inexperienced parents are able to assess and analyse best teaching and learning practise for their child and then tailor their teaching methods to them? It's absolute nonsense and I think you know that as an ex teacher.
You described Oak or Twinkl or a stack of past papers as the stuff that everyone uses (I think your actual question was 'what else is there?'- they aren't teaching methods. They are at best resources and at worst the kind of work proper teachers leave as cover for a non-specialist.

I'm glad it's working for you and many others.
Sadly I know of someone who just let their kid do exactly what they wanted, which amounted to doing, in the end absolutely nothing.

A free range teen if you like with no guidance and allowed to stagnate for want of a better word.

I've always thought that this was such a crappy outcome for the parents and the young person.

The parent has to take on a responsibility of accountability for a home ed child/young person. In the situation I know about this role became impossible with the young person refusing to do anything.
Such a thin line in some cases.

My own offspring came out of mainstream and I definitely understood why it doesn't work for everyone.

Luckily they got into college, then university.

Good luck to all the young people on their paths.

Oh and if only 1/3 of my classes did well with my teaching practises my results year on year would be incredibly poor. One size does not fit all, no teacher will say so, which is why we differentiate and scaffold learning. It's why students are in sets and some have TAs. It's why some go to Alternative Provision and some don't. It's why some do GCSEs and some do BTECs. It's why some do Triple Science and some don't. I could go on....

Do they have to go to an exam centre to take GCSEs?
Do home Ed children adapt well to uni if they're not used to learning in large groups?

I had a feeling you were in Essex, hello neighbour! I am also not doing that Iceland trip despite it looking amazing because the cost is insane.

The community across Essex is amazing, I have relocated from South to North Essex recently and am amazed at how it's picked up since I did it the other way around a few years ago!

It's not a challenge to you as a professional teacher to recognise that pretty much any parent is capable of teaching their child. Especially in these times when there are so many resources available.
One of the best things about home ed is it takes so much less time to cover things than it does at school.

You don't need to know 'teaching methodologies' to teach or learn.

The PGCE is a pretty new idea. Adults managed to teach children for thousands of years before it existed.

Thanks for starting this thread OP. It’s something I have considered with my DD for a number of reasons. I am reassured to hear about your experiences & those of other posters.

You don’t have to spend your evenings researching pedagogy to know which methods are going to work for your own child. I’m
pretty sure that unless you were a completely vacant and uninterested parent this is something you would pick up from educating your child for a short amount of time. The research you are referring to is needed for teaching multiple children of differing abilities. It’s not the same when it’s one to one teaching of a child you know very well. If it is absolute nonsense then how do you explain all those home educated teens doing very well with no input from professional teachers?
I didn’t mention oak or twinkl as I haven’t used either but I did talk about course materials from the exam board and past papers as well as YouTube and bbc bitesize. Of course they’re not teaching methods, I didn’t say that. I’m talking about the resources that are available to home educators that I use and that they are more than adequate for delivering gcse classes. Other things we use are documentaries, field trips, attend talks with subject experts etc. I’ll say it again, a child does not need to be taught by someone with a teaching degree, that is utter nonsense.

This is really interesting. I know a few homeschooled folk - now adults. The success cases I would say. I think this is becoming more popular/something people now consider. If done well I think it is far more efficient than a state school. If don’t poorly then it is disastrous. Thank you for your interesting AMA.

Do you think people have a fear of being outside of an institution? Most of us go to school then university or employment where we work for a company (another institution usually)- very structured.

It's not a challenge to you as a professional teacher to recognise that pretty much any parent is capable of teaching their child

I don't feel challenged by this statement but I do entirely disagree with it.

Funnyface36 you seem really triggered about how a stranger educates their children. Why is that?

FWIW, I know many home ed kids who have gone to university (most with, but one or two without prior qualifications) Likewise I know others who have gone straight into work in a field they're passionate about. Perhaps they'll pick up qualifications later, perhaps not. Who says we should all do exactly the same thing at exactly the same time?

how do you explain all those home educated teens doing very well with no input from professional teachers?

Do you have any statistics to support "all those" or a definition of "doing very well"?

One of the most freeing things you can learn is how to teach yourself. And then that you can teach others. I imagine many intelligent and invested parents can do this.

I think it's very hard for people to look outside 'the norm'.
If most people go to school, that surely has to be the best way, right? Even if they themselves hated school, failed academically, experienced bullying - or maybe even if their children did - it's difficult to imagine there are other ways to live.

By ‘doing very well’ I meant specifically in their GCSEs. I don’t have any statistics, it’s based on my dd’s home educated friends who all achieved 8s and 9s unless they had learning difficulties or were neurodivergent (although some of those children still did really well). They also did much better in their exams compared to her schooled friends. I will see if there are any official statistics. What I have seen statistics for though are from schooled children taking GCSEs, which you have to admit are pretty dire considering the people teaching them have teaching degrees and are so called experts 😉

One of the most freeing things you can learn is how to teach yourself. And then that you can teach others. I imagine many intelligent and invested parents can do this

It's interesting that because during lockdown, many many parents that I know struggled massively to support their children to complete the learning which was entirely set and monitored by school staff...

I don’t have any statistics

I'm sure you don't.

Another great thing about home ed in terms of gcses as we’re on the subject, is that there are a lot more subjects available to us than there might be at school. Astronomy, environmental management, photography, travel and tourism, more obscure languages… all easily available. We can also choose which exam boards to use depending on which is more suitable to our child’s style of learning.

I don’t see why you have to be so arsey with me. It’s like you’re taking it as a personal insult that we’re able to educate our children without needing a teaching professional.
I said I’d look for statistics, I don’t even know if there are any out there. I’ve definitely seen news articles about home ed students getting into Oxbridge and having great careers etc. though. I’ll find them and link when I get chance and then you might finally admit that you’re wrong?

Of course they did! It was a really difficult situation and totally different from home educating.

Hi OP, I also home educate my 3dc. You are braver than me starting this thread 😂 I love chatting with people irl about it but mumsnet can be savage!

Shortandpaleandoldandugly Again, you seem very triggered by the way a stranger educates their children. It's very odd. The problem with schools is that thinking becomes institutionalised. That's evident in your replies.

I know a more than any teacher about pedagogy - I do research it but only in relation to my specific children and what benefits a specific method or combination of methods would offer them as individuals. Does a teacher in a class of 30 offer this?

As some PPS have pointed out, home ed can get expensive (tho it can be done on a budget by creative parents). I invest a great deal of time and money in opportunities for my children. How much time do you spend per child, per day in your classroom? What is the annual budget per year, per child for resources? In our local school, affluent area, it's £25 pet child, per year. Yep £25 on resources for A YEAR. Expertise cannot make up for the lack of time or individual attention. The reality of schooling is very sad. To come on and criticise parents for doing better is narrow minded and not a good advert for schooling.