Home education- what do I need to know ? Realised I don’t want to send dd to school!

[Olivebreadandespresso]

Can anyone point me in the direction of good sources of info / advice ? My LA website hardly says anything !

dd is a June baby was prem and has SEN. I was unsure about school
anyway as she couldn’t manage nursery at all, we don’t have an EHCP and in all honesty I think she will be happier and healthier at home/ at home Ed groups etc being home educated at her own pace.

I just don’t know where to start !

Thankyou

Im going to look at all the options as we had just got to a point where all 3 of us are exhausted and stressed ! I don’t know what exactly to do for the best but I know she’s not ready for school in September but then I don’t know any more than that ! I need to just have a think.

Howchildren - you also always get people saying ridiculous things like ‘parents always know best’ or people who are doing HE trying to persuade people that is a good solution for parents and kids that they haven’t met and don’t know their circumstances or skills.

Unfortunately some of us have encountered people HE for very wrong reasons and with poor / sad outcomes.

In what way is she not ready? What do her current nursery / pre-school say?

Mumsnet is not the most supportive place for home edders, it can be quite hostile in fact.
Try looking up Sir Ken Robinson's TED talks on YT - absolutely fascinating about schools, how children learn etc.
Home Education is a wonderful option where your daughter could really thrive. Don't be put off by those who have probably never properly looked into it and understand the educational philosophies that underpin it.

I've not read the full thread but I would urge you to get an EHCP even if home schooling.

She'll will need it later on life and it will be harder to get if you've managed for years without one. I'm talking from experience.

I’m home educating my 6 year old (also have a 3 year old) - if you’d like any advice please pop me a message 😊

I can send over all the links to the Facebook groups that I’ve found helpful etc.

LA won’t provide lots of information on it, but you really need to research what home education involves - we sent our daughter to reception (even though I wanted to home school from the start!) as it wasn’t about what was right for us but what was right for her - we deregistered her in May of her reception year and she’s flourished at home.

You really need to think about not only how you’re going to meet her education needs but also her social and emotional needs.

High - you say ‘HE is a wonderful option where your dd could really thrive’. But you don’t know the OP, her situation, skills, the DD or her needs so how can you be so confident? It’s really irresponsible - the idea of HE has only just occurred to OP two weeks before her DD starts school! Presumably she’s already with her uniform, taster visits etc.

She can claim carers’ allowance regardless of whether she home educates, so your reply makes no sense.

I’ve done both school and home ed, and they really don’t learn more in school.

Hi just wanted to say I felt exactly like you did when my DS was due to start school he has ASD and language difficulties amongst other things. We tried lots of different clubs and learning styles and put him first as a mainstream setting didn't feel right. There is lots of help and support out there I think a balanced broad approach can provide a child with the tools to flourish.

I was very much involved in HE when i worked for a LA. We had some brilliant people doing it, but we also had some we had grave concerns about. For a variety of reasons. If you can do it, you can, but I would also suggest starting the Send assessment process. You presumably haven’t applied for a school or applied for a delayed start. Have you visited your school? How do you know HE is better?

A lot about you feeling burned out and stressed by working part time in your posts. I’d defer rather than leaping into a decision now, personally, because it doesn’t sound like you’re in the best place mentally to weigh up a big decision right now.

What utter rubbish. I would be a terrible primary teacher for my child. I'll leave that to the trained professionals thanks.

How much experience do you have in teaching children with SEN, OP?

Home Education For All on Facebook is a lovely and supportive group

I truly wish I had home educated both of my autistic children from the beginning and never started them at school- I didn’t even know it was an option. I also didn’t know they were autistic!

Both of their mental health was destroyed by mainstream school but they are now starting to recover and flourish being at home

Its obviously not the best option for all children but worked out for us 😊

The only thing I'd be wary of is if you home Ed it can be difficult to them get an EHCp. I have two disabled DS- a friend whose DS has very similar needs has been rejected for assessment as 'no evidence' as he has never attended a setting. She was thinking about him starting at a special school. Obviously this is wrong and she is appealing the decision but just something to consider

5 years as a private nanny to families with SEN kids, some homeschooled

With respect I do think the vast majority of parents do know best.

All I’ve stated is HE is a valid and healthy way for a child to be educated. In general.

I’m an ex teacher and now home ed parent and in all my years of teaching and home educating I have met one family who used the idea of ‘home education’ in questionable terms.

Out of the many many HE families I know not one family has been anything but dedicated, devoted, nurturing and loving, usually going the extra mile and some.

So ‘sad outcomes’ are most definitely not anything I’ve encountered. Which is why I stand by my opinion which is that HE is more often than not a healthy, excellent way for children to be educated.

In fact, if the OP can afford not to work, then not working (so no wraparound care needed), but with DD in school (so no home education related costs either) would be more cost effective than home educating.

I agree. This decision shouldn't be about what's best for you, but for your DD.

You could see if any school nurseries have space for her for 15 hours. She may manage 3 hours a day and if you’re at burn out it would give you a break.

I don’t think that people are denigrating HE, but trying to look, as the OP obviously is, at what could offer the best outcomes for her child.

I still think that the chance of a needs assessment and EHCP, would be helpful in identifying the best form of specialist support and type of education needed. Just looking at all options, as OP has said she’s doing.

Your child has a place at school. I would send her and not make any decisions instantly. Her being in school in the short term at least will allow you time to cope with your own stress.

We were told this and so sent our child to school. Child hadn't been able to cope at preschool but was told if sent to school we would get support. Years wasted and we got no where meanwhile child academic progress was awful as they were so stressed and unhappy and lack of appropriate support ment there learning needs were not met.

We had more support from the home ed team at the LA then we ever got at school. Unfortunately, the mental damage caused by school will take some recovery

Request an EHCNA even if you intend to EHE. Then, if you change your mind at a later date, your circumstances change suddenly, or you decide to pursue EOTAS if attending a setting is inappropriate, you already have the EHCP.

EHE'ing or intending to EHE isn’t a lawful reason for refusing to assess or issue an EHCP. While EHE means the LA is no longer responsible for providing the provision in F of an EHCP, the EHCP doesn’t cease just because you EHE and you do not have to provide the provision in F or meet the outcomes in E. What you have to do is meet the needs in B but that can be in a different way to the provision set out in F.

Think about the support, including therapies such as SALT and OT, DD will need and if you have the financial resources to be able to provide the support DD needs. Meeting a child’s needs can be extremely expensive. NHS provision, especially for SIOT, is poor and patchy in comparison to what can be secured via an EHCP (although it may take appealing). And while a minority of LAs in a minority of situations give personal budgets to those EHEing with EHCPs, they don’t have to; is not common or guaranteed, and it often isn’t at the level of what can be secured when you aren’t EHEing.

An EHCP doesn’t have to equal attending school if that isn’t appropriate. Many don’t realise EOTAS/EOTIS is possible. This can be a bespoke package. For some it looks exactly like EHE but funded by the LA. The benefit of EOTAS rather than EHE is EOTAS can provide far more than the vast majority of parents can afford to fund EHE'ing. That is not a criticism of parents who EHE, more a statement of what EOTAS can include.

special schools are wonderful and do so much for the children to support them holistically.

That very much depends on the school. Some are wonderful. Others are far from wonderful. Some are actively harmful.

Hi I was homeschooled. Feel free to PM any questions you have and I will do my best to answer.

Nonsense. Some mothers are generally shit. Some mothers are not set up to home schooling. Some might be fine but the circumstances means it wouldn't be best. The idea that every child should be home educated by their mother is rather "Eutopian"