to homeschool my son for the forseeable future

[chicletteeth]

God, I typed out a long post but it was so boring with so much detail that I've deleted it and have to tried to be more succinct.

The upshot is we are moving into rented accommodation until we find somewhere to buy (our purchase fell through but we've still decided to sell our home for a number of reasons).

We don't actually know which area we will finally end up living (although it's limited to a 15 mile radius of DH workplace) since we will look at houses that meet our spec and assess the suitability of the move based on a number of things including the area,schools, commute to workplace etc...

My DS1 is in year one and he is finishing up the school year but we may not have bought by September so I just figured it would be best to home-school him until we actually make a permanent move.

Problem is, I don't actually know when that will be and it could run into next spring even (although I hope not).

Do you think I should homeschool him in order to prevent the disruption of putting him into another school for what could be a short time (but could be up to a whole year) or should I enroll him in the closest school and let him make some new friends and just hope that potentially attending two schools next academic year won't be too hard on him.

I know people will say you know your own child and I do; he is very clever and loves school and does very well. He is also very sociable and loves physical activity and just generally messing around with his friends. I worry that the lack of all that, will affect him more than changing school mid-way through the year.

Any advice would be welcomed.

Thanks

No zippy you haven't missed something.
But if we rent here, then my husband will still be renting in the area we're moving to (he works there and it's too far to commute daily to our current location; hence the move into where he is currently renting so we can all be together again).

Sorry to drip feed, bottom line is, he will be leaving his school at the end of this year and it's case of putting him a local one until we buy or home-schooling until such time.

I haven't looked at the schools yet.
As I've said, it's more about disruption of moving him between schools.
The area is a nice one and the schools are good (from what I've seen and heard) so it's just a case of finding one with a spot

The social aspect concerned me too. Making sure my son has an active, varied, consistently available and significantly full social life was more time consuming and fraught than getting to grips with the actual home ed.

Based on my experience I would say my initial errors were assuming that a sports\arts activity would provide ample social interaction for him. They didn't. They left him feeling that he was doing stuff with kids, but that wasn't as good as having the chance to play with other kids.

Have a look into options that give the opportunity for free play around your area as well as the activities that are more structured and be prepared to move out of your comfort zone if needs be.

I had to get over my "oh no...church based" reaction to the local youth club, glad i did, because he gets 15-20 hours of "playground-esque" interaction a week there and absolutely loves it.

I am absolutely not trying to put you off by not saying "it's easy peasy and don't worry about it". I am somebody who chose HE out of grudging necessity who has come to appreciate it in its own right. But I think there is a tendency in some support groups to gloss over how it is not always that easy to provide peer based social interaction for a child that thrives on it and would wilt without it. It can be done, but I do think it is one area where you might find you have to put your back into it if your area does not have obvious and easily accessible free play\group play opportunities for the local kids.

Have a look to see if there are HE groups that will allow the kids to spend time together, but also check out additional and alternative non HE options just in case. My son point blank refused to return to our HE group after a single outing. It just wasn't his cup of tea.

What kind of kid is he ? Does he love spending loads of time free playing with other kids ? Does he have a preference for one on one play opportunities, or is he a "pack animal" ? Does he prefer having a adult setting out the activities and managing the interaction, or is he the kind of kid who will end up going off task in an attempt to get the sort of social interaction he wants ?

I'd say thinking about those questions and then checking out in the area you are going to be in is the first step, and then take it from there.

Home-educated kids have SO much more opportunity for socialisation and for running around outside than schoolkids! If the main argument for sending him to school is to give him a chance to play with other kids then I really think you should spend a bit of time exploring what home ed groups are around in your area.

We're home educators, and while I don't want to fall into the trap of telling you everything about home education is perfect, the socialisation aspect has been, for us, by far the easiest part. I don't want to start a fight here, but anyone telling you that home education is about you and your child, stuck inside, going stir-crazy doing maths at the kitchen table for hours on end, really doesn't know what they're talking about. Why don't you sign up to some home ed forums, and perhaps go along to a group or two and meet a few home educators before making a decision? The Education Otherwise website is a really good place to start.

Massive cross-posting with fastweb!

tortu I am very very jealous.

A few years ago my DH was offered a temp position in the carribean. I had it all mapped out. The DC and I would swim, sail, snorkle etc during the moring and then do indoors activities when it got too hot...it would have been an adventure, I think.

Then DH changed his mind. Sigh.

Thank you mewant and fastweb.

Do you have any links to HE forums, sites that would be useful

I don't think it would do ANY harm at all...he's so young. As you probably know, in the USA, Australia and much of Europe, kids don't begin full time school till' 6 and in some cases 7 or 8!

That's because (in my opinion) they are still extremely maleable...they adjust very quickly (do anyway up until high school age)

So you can look at it 2 ways.....sending him to 2 schools won't scar him at this early age....and keeping him home won't either.

HS if it seems better to you...it ceranly seems "neater"...in that there's no messing around with athorities until you are settled.

He can join Beavers and a football club....it will be fine imo.

Check out the HE-UK yahoo group, I'd say that would be a good place to start if you are looking for info regarding local groups and the legal side of things. groups.yahoo.com/group/HE-UK/

I'd also suggest you look at "secular homeschoolers" too, it is not a UK based forum so is not much help with the legal side of things, but there is a wide range of HE styles represented there, so no one flavour of HE dictates the topics or input. It is a good place to find your sea legs as to how to set up a form of HE that appeals to you. It is not anti religion, many of the people on the forum have a faith, but the focus is on an education that is not overly shaped around the family's religious beliefs. www.secularhomeschool.com/forum.php

If you are planning on doing this short term "a little bit of structure" is a good place to join if a priority is making sure that academically your son is best placed to re-enter the classroom at a similar level to the other kids. alittlebitofstructure.webs.com/

He can join Beavers and a football club....it will be fine imo.

This is very common advice, so common that I think it need to be reiterated that it is not always the simple solution it is presented as.

It very much depends on the child, and if yours is one who thrives on free play in a larger scale group setting and wilts without it, it will be nothing more than lip service to their needs.

My child may be highly unusual, but I found that I had to work very much harder to find the sort of non structured social opportunities that he needs.

It is worthwhile advising people to take a long hard look at the sort of social interaction their child tends to favour and to make sure they are in a position to provide similar (with enough quality\quantity to suit the child) once school is taken out of the equation.

It gives people the chance to avoid feeling the unanticipated pressure of trying to find alternatives to their original "social aspect" plans, at break neck speed and with some rising panic, in order to alleviate their child's evident unhappiness at a time when the family is already having to come to grips with the sometimes choppy waters of adapting to HE.

I have 3 kids close in age who have been HE for the last year. They were fine at school socially (not the reason we decided to HE). They were never very keen on big social events though - liked playing with friends at home, but not keen on clubs etc.

So socially they enjoy not being swamped by the social interraction of school and masses of after school clubs. Mine get enough interaction from each other, and playing with friends after school or at weekends some times. They now go to cubs (because I think they ought to get some "socialisation") but to be honest one hates it, one would happy to take it or leave it, and one quite likes it but would not miss it particularly.

So on the social side it is horses for courses - some need a lot, some don't, and both can be satistfied (or not) within HE or in school.

It may be that the OP's kids would get on well on their own for a few months, with the chance to explore their new area (find the playgrounds etc) while everyone else is at school. Only the OP will know that. But I think the person who said both options would be ok at that age is right.

I think send him to school, it will keep him busy and socialised and he sounds like a resiliant little chap. I dont think home schooling ius always fair on the child

YANBU

I've personally never found finding social activities for my home ed daughter an issue - if anything it's having too many (sometimes we have to go out to avoid the children in the street!) that's the problem.

But we do live in a city with a nice sized home ed 'community' so we have lots of options, so I know it's not the same for everyone.

Fastweb the child is 5. He'l be fine. The OP doesn't need to worry about his long term social development because he might be HS for a while. Even if he DIDN'T go to Beaver and football he'd be fine.

You said

It is worthwhile advising people to take a long hard look at the sort of social interaction their child tends to favour and to make sure they are in a position to provide similar

Yes...if the OP were thinking of HS for a long period....but she's not...she said her son is outgoing...and sociable and active. Beavers and football would be perfect.

I don't think changing schools will be a drastic disruption at this age. But I think you have to be wholly committed to HE rather than treating it as a useful stop-gap. I'm not suggesting that you couldn't do a very good job at home education but given the fact you will be moving around, sending your ds to school could be a settling influence on a rather unsettled time. If he's a sociable, active little boy he'll do just fine even if he does attend more than one school in a year.

Ok. I'll start off by saying I home ed my boys.

The posts regarding the need for socialisation and prospect of going stir crazy made me snort. As others have stated there are plenty of opportunities to socialise in home education and sometimes it can feel as if you are never in.

That said in your circumstances I'm not sure it is the answer to your dilemma.

Yes you can join groups (home ed and other organised groups such as beavers) but when you move you are just as likely to have to leave and disrupt these as you are school. Certainly assuming you plan on put him into school after you move you are most likely to lose touch with any home ed friends you make. So from a friendship point of view I don't think dipping into and out of home ed is any less disruptive than changing schools. From an academic stand point you will probably find that there is little difference in what schools cover (indeed is the point of the National Curriculum) and it will probably be less disruptive to keep to a daily routine of going to school, rather than adjusting into and out of a whole different style of learning.

thanks again everyone.
It is really nice to get other people's differing opinions.
There are several issues I hadn't yet considered and now moving forward, at least I've got a bit of direction and some other things to consider.
So tru itsstillgood about adjusting into and out of a different style of learning.
That said my boy does a lot at home with me already; I'm teaching him French, he is a fairly competent cook (with supervision) for a 6 year old, he asks me to set him maths problems which he likes doing, he is always reading by his own choice and pestering me to play chess. So my thoughts are if out of school for a short enough period of time (say one term which it could well be) I don't think he'll feel it too much.

Once again, thanks very much

Glad you are coming to some peace of mind. I think the main thing is that you are happy with whatever choice you make....then you can enjoy it whatever it is.

MumblingRagDoll

My son is outgoing...and sociable and active. I thought (something similar to) Beavers and football would be perfect.

He was not fine.

I didn't chose HE with a view to making my son unhappy and I was not prepared to leave him wilting rather than thriving.

Not even in the short term.

Had HE been a temporary measure for us, I think it is probable that I would have sent him to school again very quickly, as a knee jerk reaction to the gaping chasm between the advice I kept reading and our reality. An experience of that nature may well have permanently coloured my opinion of HE and given me an overly negative vision of its limitations, an opinion I might have been prepared to share when others asked for advice when considering HE themselves.