My children are home educated AMA

[NotBackToSchool]

With all the talk about rising numbers of home educated children and increasing pressures on attendance with fines for parents, I thought there might be interest in a typical day for children who haven't gone back to school this week.

My kids as KS1 and KS2 age.

We started this morning with my younger child getting in to bed with me to read her current book - a ladybird 'read it yourself' version of Heidi.
My older child read the 4th Harry Potter book in their own bed.

After breakfast they both did a maths video lesson before I started work as a childminder.

We're using the book 'The Tiny Seed' this week to learn about seed dispersal and made seed collages.

They mostly played with their friends all day and we went to the park.

This afternoon one of them has a dance class, and later we'll be finishing off the Lucy Worsley Six Wives series on iplayer (SIX the musical obsession!)

Everyday is a bit different generally but today was pretty typical! If anyone wants to know more then just ask.

@NotBackToSchool

I misjudged your first few posts and misunderstood what you meant when you said you weren’t home ‘schooling’. I thought this meant that there is no plan to ensure they are learning. However it sounds like you are following a curriculum for maths and English, and you are providing an education across a variety of subject areas. I can see how that could work very well for the right children, provided you are able to benchmark them fairly regularly to ensure they are keeping pace with their ‘schooled’ peers (and it sounds like you are). I apologise because I was too quick to judge.

so why this is the model of school that kids and teens have to put up with in this country? I have never felt crammed neither in my own primary or secondary, or uni un my country

Of course, sometimes they drive me nuts but overall I enjoy being with them. My partner is an equal parent so I get plenty of time alone too.

I'm really glad that worked for your family. Mine definitely prefer not to spend all those hours in school so they have more time to play with their friends and follow their interests.

Most local home ed groups seem to be on facebook, if you search for your town/area plus home education you will probably find them.

How many school aged kids do you mind in total. How many hours a week are you minding?

God knows. With rising mental illness amongst school children and increasing attendance issues you’d really think the government would be on it to try to sort the shitshow out!

We are planning to HE for atleast the first couple of years. How would you sum up the pros and cons for you?
Also how do you respond to extended family members who are not happy about the idea?

...and how many hours a week are your children being educated

Were you a childminder before you started home educating or did you become one to facilitate home educating?

Do you find you have a good community of other parents around you? And do you ever miss having other adults in your kids' lives who can advise on behaviour/development etc?I think I'd miss these aspects of traditional schooling.
You sound like you're doing a great job OP.

You’re brave op! Home ed is very misunderstood on MN (& in general) but I’m glad you’re open to tackling the stereotypes. I’m an ex teacher and now unschooling parent. You couldn’t pay me to put myself or my DC back into the school system.

I see the usual classics have already been trotted out about doing school at home, about ‘socialization’ and about you not being a teacher.

My question is do you think school is a healthy form of socialization?

I'd be interested to hear about the financial side of things. Do you pay for resources/outings related to the curriculum to enhance their education and if so how much do you think you spend on average?

I wish I could afford to HE my children but we couldn't survive on one income and my job can't be done from home.

Do you have terms and holidays? (Or is it a more relaxed way of learning all the time?)

I feel like there's a bit of a panic/pressure among school parents or maybe society in general that children must have 9 GCSEs by the age of 16 or their lives are over.
That's such a lot of pressure on children, isn't it? And what does it mean for the thousands of school children who don't pass their GCSEs every year, are they worthless and failures at 16??

But then on the other hand I seem to know lots of adults who didn't do well at school and yet are out there living their lives, quite happily, sometimes very financially successful, maybe having done GCSEs at college a year or two (or a few years) later, or having changed career, or done an Access course, Open university.

Realistically I think my children are likely to take their GCSEs at more or less the normal time. I believe the best preparation for them will be that they have a strong foundation in maths and literacy, are self-motivated, independent and have a love of learning.
GCSE courses themselves are quite short, about 120 hours of study, and are standalone courses so I know plenty of home educated children who studied for a GCSE in a year when they have wanted or needed to.
Whether my children choose to do GCSEs online, at college, at another provider or self study at home will be a decision we will make at the time.

Can I ask if either of your children have additional needs?

Pros - happy children enjoying their childhood is the main one for me. Being able to tailor their education to them and take them to lots of interesting places and workshops.
Cons - you definitely have a lot less child-free time than you would if they were at school. No free school meals! And you definitely have to make work/financial decisions to facilitate it.

Family members - I don't argue about it. I just say this is working for us.

You’re brave op. There was an AMA home ed thread last year (or maybe the year before) where some really nasty posters came on and tore the home educating posters to shreds. Got quite nasty.
I home educated mine for a bit but they’re now in school. Honestly the amount of substitute teachers they have, the amount of ‘educational’ tv they watch etc, I think educationally they were better off at home. But they did miss out socially when they were home ed, only because our area doesn’t have a very big home ed scene. I have friends who home educate in other areas who have loads and loads going on so their kids are thriving.
Sorry, no questions but wanted to wish you luck on this thread!

We are lucky that although we are in quite a small town, there's a really friendly and down to earth (and growing every year!) community here. So we get to see the same kids really regularly and my kids get to have play dates and sleepovers and that kind of thing.
I didn't find teachers very helpful for advice on behaviour or development anyway so would go to friends and family for that.

Hi I'm definitely HE curious and can see us having to give this serious consideration post primary. I guess my questions are around how do you enable the freedom for children to make their own social connections. Possibly because I only know of friends who home educate younger children, I see the social interactions are very parent led and enabled as the young people tend to be with parents during the day and then attend HE events with their parents etc. A key development stage for teens is the social separation from parents so just keen to understand how people who home education older children/teens support this. For example if I was only able to socialise with my Mum's friends' kids then I would have missed out on some important relationships (both positive and negative) that helped me develop as a person. And yes I know about after school clubs but that's not the same as being away from parents for 6 + hours a day. Thanks

One thing I can definitely agree with you on is that it is none of your family's business!

School socialisation works for some but not for others. Personally I loved school as a child but then lots of people have absolute horror stories about school and the effects of the social side of school has really ruined their lives.
School socialisation really damages a lot of people well into adulthood.

I don't think the school model is very reflective of real life though.

Most children would prefer not to go to school and have more time with their friends - but they don't get to call the shots! Weekends and holidays, and after school when time permits are the perfect time for kids to follow their interests.

My university cohort had 4 home-schooled people and they were all quite bitter about it, and resented their parents for it. Hopefully that won't be the case for your kids though. You say they can go back to school whenever they want, but realistically what kid would go voluntarily, especially as their biggest role model (you) is not keen on it.

Honestly something I’m considering. Do you plan to use tutors in the future for any subjects? What resources do you use? Apps, websites etc? Also any online forums that would be great for someone planning to start homeschooling? Thank you!

Are you unschooling? I love the concept but it also terrifies me and I’m not sure I can hack the responsibility altough may have to if autistic child doesn’t cope in mainstream