to keep longing to home educate my DC's

[ValentinCrimble]

I find school tough...there's always something I am unhappy with or suspicious of...I KNOW the kids are fine...it's a good school...I know that they will get through it all and have an education/friends and all that...but I keep thinking that they would have all that anyway and without my having to support the 6 year old with reams of homework every night and crap reading scheme books.

Is it still thought of as odd or weird to home ed? I sense a bit of a change in people's opinions recently...DC is in a private prep...money is not an issue as we are lucky enough to have a bursary...don't know how I would deal with state as our local one is notoriously bad (I am talking rife with bullies and under special measures) and the others are rammed to the gills with locals on waiting lists.

I'm not unhappy with the school as such but feel that its an awful lot to trust strangers with my DC's education...come on...give me your best for and againsts of home ed?

I don't get why you would use workbooks at home.

Reading this I do wonder why I spent hours this weekend planning lessons for my classes, including my year 13 class of 4 , hardly bulk teaching.

I am probably being very over sensitive.

Anyway I am off upstair to perform a root canal procedure on my dd.

I agree vespasian, as a teacher I avoid any worksheets and workbooks as much as possible, they are boring and limit possibilities. I spend hours planning things that are interesting, imaginative and open ended. At home-with children you know really well- I can't see why you would need to touch them.

Look...I'm not even hoome educating and I asked for opinions...I just can't understand the preoccupation some people have with teaching qualifications. Surely a person with a decent degree or two and an enquiring mind can teach GCSE at any subject? I mean...my brother has a degree in Drama...all he would have to to to teach is take a years crash course...compressed into a couple of months if he chooses...I doubt very much that there's anything I cannot pick up along the way through reading.

I'm sorry to disagree with the passionate and well-meaning home ed parents, but Mum is Mum and teacher is teacher. The responsibilities are different and so is the hierarchy, I wouldn't expect my son's teacher to cuddle him and I wouldn't have the necessary distance as a teacher that would ensure he gets a fair appraisal.
All the activities described above sound just like what children and parents do on holiday or after school and in weekends... Plus, why should a child control the teaching structure, they are to learn and need guidance from somebody with skills.
I teach at university but wouldn't dream of telling my son to train under me and not go to college, it's even more important to get the life skills one hones at school. Coping with being away from your parents is how we grow up, learning to dodge the bullies is what gives you confidence. A child is a person of his or her own, and benefits from time amongst peers without mummy telling him what a good boy (or embarrassingly a bad boy) he is.

Valentin, I certainly DON'T have the expectation that my child will be in a low position professionally!!! Where do you get the idea that having a line manager means that you are in a low position? Unless you are the head of an organisation and decide what you want everyone else to do, then most paid positions will involve SOME level of adhering to the wishes of others, even if you are a partner in a law firm disagreeing with the rest of the partners over something.

What I'm talking about is: In life, your can't have things your own way all the time. Sometimes you DO have to compromise, even if you have to do it through gritted teeth.

I find it rather odd that you want your children to have exactly the same life that you have - ie. to be their own boss. What if they don't want that? What if they want to be a doctor? Or a nurse, or a police inspector, or a lecturer, or nearly every other job which involves SOME kind of hierarchy?

NotAnotherBrick - re "my four children's maths skills are already way above what they would be were they in school"

Err... your children are between 2 and 7 years old. Do you want a medal because the youngest can count to 10 and oldest can do a bit of arithmetic?

I was obviously talking about when they are older and will need to study mathematics, chemistry, biology, etc. Then they will need to sit down and study, because playing at friends' houses and visiting museums will not be enough.

What do you intend to do then?

I love the ramblings of people that don't have a clue.

My DS did chemistry at university-since I dropped it as soon as I was able- I wasn't in the least capable of teaching it and I doubt whether he would have picked it up by reading. Luckily he had a teacher with a degree in the subject and an enthusiasm which his mother didn't! Paying a tutor rather defeats the object-he might as well go to school and get it free with a lab and equipment. I would have been great at history, geography and English but he wasn't interested in those. It boils down to suit the child-not the mother.

"I think Notanotherbrick that some people are VERY uncomfortable with anything that makes them question the Status Quo...it might make them uncomfortable because of insecurities."

I doubt it.

Far more likely that they have simply come to different conclusions about the pros and cons of HE versus school.

I don't think that anyone should assume that their DC wants the same as them. I would hate to be my own boss-I like working and co operating with others-and structure.

I have to take issue with using Mom. I am English and have always called my mom Mom and my son does the same with me. It is probably because we are not as posh as you and my son attends a local state school. We also say Nanny instead of Grandma.
I have not really considered home education but I can see why people might want to. I just hope it is not just because of their own experiences of school.
I have worked in schools and love helping other children learn, but not my own child ! I would not have the patience.
Also I cannot help but think their is something a bit selfish about home education especially if you are a state trained teacher. I don't want to offend anyone it just seems to go against the sense of community. Adults able to work while all the children learn together just seems more sociable.

Valentin: "I mean...my brother has a degree in Drama...all he would have to to to teach is take a years crash course...compressed into a couple of months if he chooses..." And as a result he would be very well qualified to teach the following at secondary level.....drama. And that's all.

Maybe I am just quite crap, but I know that no matter how many books I read I will never be able to teach maths or science. I am sure there are people out there who do a good job at HEing. However it must be hard to beat being taught my someone who lives and breathes their subject, reads up in it at every moment. Someone who has spent years perfecting her craft.

I really do have respect for HE I could never do it myself but I think it is quite rude for someone to say that they could do my job better than me by reading a few books when I have spent years putting my heart and soul into my job.

Vespasian: "it must be hard to beat being taught my someone who lives and breathes their subject, reads up in it at every moment. Someone who has spent years perfecting her craft." Unfortunately, not all teachers are like this. But it sounds like the OP's child IS at a school which has a dedicated, enthusiastic staff. And for that, she should count herself very lucky.

I rather like the idea of HEing, and am pretty confident that between us DH and I could do it effectively. But - my DC love school and are doing really well, so it would be a bit of a selfish whim on my part. So I just teach other people's children instead.

I would be crap at HEing, I freely admit it. We would kill each other.

I do get the joy of teaching your child something, I love watching my dd doing her homework and getting involved. Every holiday we do a project together and I love it. I could not do it day in and day out though.

Ha! I loathe homework. If I HEd it would be nothing like that!

We had a great time following rivers for a project. That was more like it.

I have to admit we set our own hwk ( I suspect I am a wannabe home educator).

We use workbooks for 20 mins - half an hour in the morning. They enjoy it, practice pencil skills (they're still very little) and then the rest of the day is for playing. Why wouldn't I use a resource that they find fun and I can use to be sure that they are making progress?

Teachers generally do the job because they either love their subject or working with DCs or both. A DC isn't lucky to have dedicated, enthusiastic staff-most schools have them! They don't do it for the money and the workload takes away a lot of the holidays. Every teacher that I know will tell you they love being in the classroom but they hate the paperwork.

Each to their own toddlerama-I would find my own way of practising pencil skills and checking progress-not a mass produced publication.

I guess I was talking about teachers at secondary level, piscesmoon. ( I work in a secondary school). I agree with you that most primary teachers do a wonderful job.

I suspect the OP and the other HE'rs have gone off to the HE board to discuss our ignorance.

Sarahinitaly, I'm sorry that school didn't work out for you here. I promise that there are some good ones... (which will probably struggle due to the current evil "reform")

I'm sure you mean practise pencil skills toddlerama!