Why does home schooling appeal ?

[SeptemberFlowers]

I myself would be far to scared to do it with my dc's as I'd be needing to reach for the most weekends of having to teach them curricular that I was shit at at school.

Why does it appeal to so many people ? There are a few children in the next village (live in a rural location) who are HE but only because their mother doesn't trust other adults with her children. I know this an extreme case but the only one I know personally.

How would you know your child is learning all the correct syllabus for different subjects ?

ilovesooty - lots of studies show HE kids are much less likely to be abused or neglected. They are also in general healthier, sleep better and on the whole achieve more than their schooled peers.
Perhaps you should read and research a little

I am quite prepared to accept that this is probably truein the vast majority of caes. I am not trying to make a case against home schooling. I am expressing concerns about how it is regulated, how it is evidenced, why there are no official figures recording the numbers and about the very small number of children who disappear from the system and how that can be addressed. None of those necessitate my reading/researching the benefits of HE - I have not disputed these.

in the vast majority of cases - sorry.

Is no one going to address the kidnapping/forced marriage concern?
Going to school of any kind, doesn’t prevent it. Going to a faith school where it may not be considered an issue definitely doesn’t prevent it. Being registered h.e. doesn’t prevent it. Checking educational progress doesn’t prevent it.
Forcing children from communities most likely to practise it, to be constantly monitored in any educational setting during fixed term times in case it’s their parents intent, will cause uprising.
Insisting all children must be constantly monitored against it during fixed term times in order to avoid appearing racist will cause racism and uproar.
Insisting h.e. children are on a register, has no effect at all.
Checking educational progress is highly unlikely to have any effect.

Yes it’s a concern, but forced non tradition accepting faith schools or state school in term time only just isn’t the solution to it.

it isn't good enough to be relied on as a system

I agree that it isn't infallible: which is why I said it was one method.

We are on the second academic year of H.ed, it is working a treat for us.
We don't particularly follow the NC but find that most subjects or topics she chooses is in there somewhere.
We/she likes the fact that there are no time tables, change of lesson and wasted time like she experienced at school.
She enjoys immersing herself in a subject and not having to stop for play, lunch, hometime etc.
There is no homework which is really good as there wasn't time for school, let alone homework.
Nobody tells you that a certain topic isn't studied in this year, or limits the subjects you can choose to study, which I'm told is really beneficial at GCSE level.
Of course, there are no SATS or preparation, no targets or levels and they can work at their own level and pace.
There is nobody to monitor or assess progress, which is so beneficial.
The most important thing is it has allowed dd to follow her dream, passions and utilise her talents.

My main task for the rest of today is finding a level for her to begin Romeo and Juliet, her next reading of choice. So if anybody has any ideas please, she is 10.

So is it acceptable to say:

"My child's turning 5. I give notice s/he is being HE" - no checks?

"My child's 12. I'm withdrawing him/her from school to HE" - no checks?

Any why are there no official numbers and how can that be justified? Surely it's reasonable that a child should be registered to a place of learning, including at home?

'concerned about ....... the very small number of children who disappear from the system and how that can be addressed.'

I'm interested in how all children can be protected too, but it's not by attempting to smash a tiny nut with a ginourmous hammer and feel happier that we did 'something'. It's going to be a lot more complicated and there will always be some who slide through the net because of the determination of their parents to cause them harm.

ilovesooty that's just not what happens when a child's deregistered.

Is no one going to address the kidnapping/forced marriage concern?
Going to school of any kind, doesn’t prevent it. Going to a faith school where it may not be considered an issue definitely doesn’t prevent it. Being registered h.e. doesn’t prevent it. Checking educational progress doesn’t prevent it.
Forcing children from communities most likely to practise it, to be constantly monitored in any educational setting during fixed term times in case it’s their parents intent, will cause uprising.
Insisting all children must be constantly monitored against it during fixed term times in order to avoid appearing racist will cause racism and uproar.
Insisting h.e. children are on a register, has no effect at all.
Checking educational progress is highly unlikely to have any effect.

Yes forced/co-erced marriage is a concern, (and one close to my heart) but forced non tradition accepting faith school attendance during term time or secular state school during term time only, isn’t the solution to it.

Could you please explain the process to me? And why can't a child be registered to learn at home so that the numbers are recognised and children are accounted for?

Home educated children will still see doctors, dentists, optometrists, health visitors if they have younger siblings (or, like ours, the health visitors have an open policy for home educated children as a gateway to school nurses), and adults in many social situations. They may see more adults, mine certainly do. Children who are kept from these, however educated, are already red flagged by social services - not the local authority.

My children are known to the local authority, their details were passed on by a paediatrician when my oldest was 5. They showed up at the door the first time, we've seen them maybe 2-3 times since then in arranged visits (my eldest is 9/would be Y4). They told me that all they do is put the report I make and any portfolio the kids make in a folder to be kept if social services or others question their education. That's it. If they thought there was a safety issue, they would pass it on to social services - which anyone can already do anyways (and social services would pass education concerns to them). The LA doesn't do safeguarding for home educated children it knows. The two things are very much separate. Getting the LA to take over social services concern wouldn't work and isn't done anyways. I have no issue with out LA's involvement as ours is rather open and friendly and I generally just send loads of paperwork so our meetings are all brief, others often do as the vast majority home educators in the UK are those whose children were withdrawn from schools and have already had conflicts with the LA and the system in general (which makes it very different from the American system where it's more fueled by ideology, the two aren't very comparable). I find it quite understandable to not want to deal with a system that has already failed you if one can avoid it.

Personally, I'm like many parents here where I'm not sure of myself most of the time, I get stressed by things academic and social and in general, and worry about how I'm coping or if I'm doing the right thing. We're all in the middle of an awful illness and I've been calculating the catch-up time while my kids are all crashed out from it. But, my kids will be able to pick-up where they've left off when they're better without worrying about what they missed, the few changes made they can talk about with us rather than constant changes coming from someone who has never tried educating and making ideological changes rather than evidence-based education (I never understand people who talk about trust when the education system is so wrapped up in politician hands and the most recent education chaos in the system has been so damaging for so many) so they get a very consistent system [something I would have loved in school] as well as both an explanation for what's going on and input even at their age, they get time to actively learn emotional and social skills rather than being expected to pick them up just by being in a room with other people (to me, that's like expecting a musician by being in a room with a piano) and we can prioritise relationships. Being able to put their needs rather than the needs of an institution first and wanting to prevent the failures that I and so many I know experienced in the school systems would have to be the main appeal. Part of that being having the time and energy to expose them to far broader range of experiences at a time when history, literature, and so much more is being politically narrowed at the national level.

In terms of right curriculum, that differs a lot even with the research and evidence we have so far in education. I've read the national curriculum of several nations and there are a lot of differences in what is considered "right". Personally, I've found going to experts in those areas and getting their perspective and evidence quite revealing - and not that difficult to get. For example, my children's maths programme comes from the Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching, they have free lesson plans and printable resources and workbooks on their website (though I prefer to buy their books, very good quality at £6 for a primary year, rather than mess with a printer, goes from reception to a-levels, even used in many schools). People passionate about their subject want to get this stuff out there, it's all there to be found and often with evidence to be freely reviewed and questioned.

I also don't see why LAs can't all work in partnership with the parents as bochead mentioned upthread.

ilovesooty

Yes, thats what happens when a child is de registered.
That is what you have done, and are no longer part of the system.

Are parents asked to receive visits from ss during school holidays to check they aren't being abused and are fit and helathy? Of course not, they are trusted unless they cause some type of alert to the authorities.
It is the same with education, it is the responsibility of the parent to provide their dc with an education, some use the school system others don't. Unless you cause concern to the authorities why should you not be trusted just like a parent is with their dc welfare?

ilovesooty - same reason they claim they can't get an idea for primary places: people move, the administration for it just isn't there, not all local authorities keep a formal register, those who either move or never start are not required to register though the vast majority will be by other professionals (though, having had a housemate once that still went a county over to see their old doctor near their parent's house, even adults get around those systems) and the law as it stands is that education is the responsibility of the parent, not the government, and any concerns about abuse, neglect, forced marriage/kidnapping are social services issues, not local authority. And the internet has proven more useful for those, particularly the forced marriage, than the social system.

I'm musing aloud here - as someone with a foot on both sides of the fence, having HEd DS and now being a 'conventional' schoolteacher with 2 conventionally-schooled children.

However, I wonder whether the 'range' of outcomes for HE kids is wider than for schooled kids from the same starting points? When HEing, I met families with children who were WAY ahead of their schooled counterparts, either in 1 area [sometimes these were HEd to free time for one area of exceptional performance] or in many. I met many who were roughly 'in line' with schooled counterparts, though often with spikier profiles due to following particular interests at aparticular times. I also met a number who had made only the very earliest steps in basic education e.g. reading, writing, numbers, and would at that age (7-10) have been well behind schooled counterparts.

It may be, of course, that these evened out in time - that those children who were well behind at 7,8,9,10 when I met them may have learned to read and write very rapidly at a later stage so quickly caught up with their schooled peers. Or that those 'ahead' may have broadened and slowed down over time.

But it did make me wonder whether HE is very much 'hand crafted' education, with a very wide range of outcomes, while schools are much more 'mass produced' - producing outcomes that are of a more similar standard without the peaks and troughs?

*school system

ilovesooty - what exactly are you expecting registration to do except cause expense to already stretched LEA's and interfere in a parents right to educate their child? It would just be another layer of useless bureaucracy with no effect like the dog licence. HE is already better in many ways than the best schooling - virtually all the research shows that. DP was abused unbelievably and apparently had fairly good school attendance - he was seen every day by teachers and Ta's and dinner lady's do you think a one off visit by an EWO will spot real abuse in HE family's? If so you are very naive.

I work in FE. I have come across a number of home educated young adults. All bar one had to start at a lower level than the average starter.

I take the points above on board - but I still don't understand why children aren't formally registered as HE. It doesn't sit right with me that there are no official figures.

Any why are there no official numbers and how can that be justified? Surely it's reasonable that a child should be registered to a place of learning, including at home?

This country rightly upholds the right of every individual to not have to be registered to any domicile etc if they so choose. Why should it be different for children over a place of education?
Because parents can’t be trusted after 5yr’s old and before 16yr’s old and the state needs to take over parental responsibility during that time?

Should someone with a self-managed medical condition be required to be registered with a hospital or Dr if they don’t use them, or don’t use state one’s?

Should a child with learning difference be registered with a child psychologist or psychiatrist if they don’t use them, or state ones?

You can go on and on about all the people who could/should be registered for what, to where, but what you end up with isn’t what makes this country a place worth having.

If the state isn’t required to provide a facility or plan one for the population, then it has no business there, unless there are good reasons to seek to intervene.

How did they do in the long term mama?

"You can follow your individual children's interests and expand on what really gets them enjoying learning rather than some 'one size fits all' which can be seriously lacking for some children."

How do you manage that with a teenager who is not the slightest bit interested in maths?

DD and I have almost come to blows while I go through some maths revision with her. She is not the least bit motivated to learn and I am a crap teacher.

teacherwith2kids - I'm sure there are a few HE kids who come out with few skills but I think as do many universities and employers that a very high proportion of schooled children leave the education system with very poor outcomes ! The research show that overall HE kids on the whole have much better outcomes educationally and socially.
www.nheri.org/research/research-facts-on-homeschooling.html

Sorry, forgot my last paragraph: Thereforem, HE may be very successful for some children - the peaks, if you like. It may also be very successful for those children that a 'mass produced' system finds hardest to deal with, though it tries its very best - those with SEN, those with social difficultiesm, those with extremely spiky profiles or an exceptional gift in one area etc.

However, on the other hand, for some children in some situations the outcome of HE may be less good than school might have been. However, the outcome in terms of 'lifeliong family happiness' is , though not measurable, also vitally important, and in some families that is best ensured through HE, regardless of 'formal educational outcomes'.

Because the law as it currently stands is that education is the responsibility of the parents, not the government. A register would in effect say that it is government's responsibility (which opens them up to a lot of problems in the current chaos).

Children are still registered in many other ways from the birth certificate and NHS numbers onwards - and the vast majority of home educated children in the UK are those that have been withdrawn from school (and whose parents likely have issues with the local authority) so trying to force that relationship is likely to cause more problems, not less.