To ask what is your instinctive response to hearing a child is Home Educated?

[NickiFury]

I am really interested to hear general opinions from everyone and hoping for some from professionals such as teachers etc. I really want to know what people think because in the main in RL, the response is overwhelmingly negative. I've had people threaten to call SS on me because ds isn't in school, been told it's "weird" and seen this face a lot.

Now to me home education is a totally normal thing but I suspect this is only because we are immersed in this world and know lots of other HE families (you'd be surprised how many are out there).

What has made me think about this was a friend telling me today that people in our community know of me and ds without ever having met us because we are notorious as that woman who doesn't send her kid to school .

Btw I also have a child who does go to school and is doing well but no one seems to gossip about that.

So what would YOU think if you someone told you their child is home educated?

Thanks .

I don't have patience either!

I haven't read the whole thread but wanted to throw my thoughts in.
If you'd asked me four years ago, I'd have said home edders were lentil munching, sandal wearing, tree hugging hippies.

However, since my DD developed health issues which meant that she was unable to cope with the school day, we started home edding.

Yes, there are rabid loons home edding, just as there are rabid loons with kids in school. Yes, there are normal, fab home edders, doing the best for their kids, just as there are fab school-using families, doing the best for their kids.

We are lucky in that my DH earns a decent wage so I can stay home and we are able to provide a varied, interesting education for our DD, we have tutors for the subjects that I don't feel confident to teach. For us, home ed has been a wonderful thing, that has enabled us to experience a wide variety of things.

honestly? my gut reaction is some level of concern for the child in case they are socially isolated, and dont get the benefits their peers get

I do however fully support people that do it becuase child has SN, child was traumatised etc

But when people do it becuase of "their view" rather than a childs need I might be a bit

Tbh before we started I would have said "no way!" But when no one is able or willing to provide your child with an education then the only person left is YOU and you just have to get in with it.

My parents home educated me and my 5 siblings, and I see it (generally) in a pretty positive light. They decided to HE me because I could read at age 2 and was assessed three years ahead when it came to start school, and they didn't feel confident in the school's ability to cater to my needs. It was originally going to be for a year, but they just kept going.

My parents didn't really do any formal teaching besides basic maths and English, I did GCSEs and A-Levels by distance learning, and we all went to college/university early. One of my sisters went to school for two years to do her exams, but hated it. Now we're all adults - I'm an actor with a Masters degree, my sisters are a retail manager and a final year fashion design student, and of my brothers, one is an electrical and audio engineer who tours the world with bands and big shows, one is a graphic design student, and one is a final year art student. Home education did us pretty well. Having said that, I haven't home educated my own children, as DP and I both work.

My first reaction would be to assume their child had been miserable at school (just because most of the home edders I know have ended up home edding for that reason).Ds2 was miserable at school for a while, luckily sorted by a change of school (from primary to secondary) but I knew we couldn't do much more of the tears every morning, and the outbursts on returning so had he carried on being that miserable we would have home edded. I'd do internet school though if I ever home ed for ds2 or ds3 because we'd just fight if I was doing that actual teaching.

Luckily ds2 loves secondary school. Is really happy there. DS3's turn soon, and internet school in in the mix as a potential option amongst other more mainstream choices.

I think my gut reaction would be to assume they child either didn't 'fit' into a school environment for whatever reason, or that the parents were stereotypical 'hippies'.

But then I only know one HE family and all they ever appear to do, is go on trips to the beach/forest/museums/castles etc...the sort of thing other kids do after a day at school or during the weekends/school holidays.

I'd really like to see some sort of documentary series about HE families, to dispel some of the myths and stereotyping.

Like Educating Essex/Yorkshire but at home.

"I came to the conclusion that she did it as she wanted to carry on her lovely social life with the HE groups. ( bit like toddler group)"

Sorry, your post reminded me. I'm not going to be popular saying this, but some of us (from different areas) grumble now and then about the fact that some of our home ed. meets and workshops are dominated by pre schoolers, the majority of whom never go on the home educate on the child reaching five years. They use them as an 'alternative' toddler group it would seem.

wasn't there a columnist in one of the national papers (telegraph or times?) who used to write about her amazing he experience? and her child was 3

It's definitely true that it can be harder to find the older child and their groups. Groups with pre school age are irritatingly easy to come by

My perception is of sheltered kids, who are above their peers academically because of 1 on 1 teaching. The only homeschooled kids I met were this, very sweet well mannered kids, old fashioned parents, very sheltered.

I'm an ex-teacher so maybe biased.

2 experiences of HE to date - one a traveller family who used the 11 year old as childcare for younger siblings. Neither parent literate. Daughter taken out to 'HE'. Her days were housework and childcare. Somebody made the point up-thread about Kyra Ishaq and that is always at the forefront of my mind when I see a child has been taken out of school.

2nd experience - next-door neighbor fit every hippy, lentil weaving stereotype going and then some. 3 kids didn't do school, college or uni. All mid-twenties, none have ever had a job.

Very much agree with the post that said (somewhere) most schools are good for most kids. Some schools are dire, some schools fail SEN, some kids don't fit the school environment. But in the main I do think kids learn a lot more than just the NC. Certainly mine have had access to a variety of cultures, religions and languages that I would not have been able to give them. They are I hope much more open-minded for the experience.

Nicki it feels like you want posters to validate your position as a home edder. Why would people necessarily know about HE? Or be particularly interested in it?

How on earth can you (as a child) learn easily about chemistry, physics, more unusual languages when being home schooled unless you search out and pay for all those subjects?

I struggle to see how a pupil could gain enough varied GCSEs really.

I was private tutored for last 6 months of education (French, Maths and English) as I'd been badly bullied and also my mum took me out of private school (strict convent). I wish now I'd stayed at school. It wasn't the same as home schooling but almost the same if you see that my mum got a private tutor to teach me - she was a teacher but didn't have time or qualifications to teach me at those levels - only primary.

I've known a few home schooled types, some do well, some don't. I think school (provided no bullies or dealt with) is better for a more rounded individual.

"Why would people necessarily know about HE?"

They shouldn't but it doesn't mean I shouldn't ask what they think does it? Maybe posters will go away from this thread knowing more. Hope so anyway. I was interested to see whether reactions on here were similar to RL.

Why would anyone be interested in it? Well why wouldn't they be? Surely the same as any other subject posted about here on MN, also 400 plus responses indicates that there is a certain amount of interest I would say.

As for validation. I certainly don't need that because we don't have any other choice. It was forced upon us. It is what it is.

I haven't found difficulty in teaching any subject to GCSE level, even those I hadn't myself studied (with the exception of one language, and modern history which DH teaches far better than I could) With maths we had a tutor my DC could contact by telephone or email for any help, but she usually asked us as it was easier, apparently!

Aargh! I'll say that people certainly do seem to be interested in it.

My DC have the same experience, and are asked about it constantly by their school children friends.

I just think WOW, I wonder how the parents manage, they must be amazing.

Actually, to be fair, kim, one of the things I learnt from GCSE and A-level sciences was that I learn nothing from practical application, and it gets in the way of reading the textbook on how the experiment should have worked if I hadn't messed it up if situational variables hadn't mysteriously interfered.

Chemistry experiments are a terrible waste of chemistry time!

Yes, and it is possible to dissect a sheep's eye at home! As we did for biology

And I think some people have watched the instructional videos where they have been unable to carry out the experiment (for whatever reason).

zzzzz What equipment is typically supplied in these kits, and are refills easily available?

I'm running my mental eye over the procedures and materials that should be covered by the present GCSE Chem spec, and I don't think I've seen anything like that in Argos. Although I haven't checked recently.

I buy from educational suppliers. You can get (almost) everything you need online. E.g. rapid online

Ah, I'd forgotten about the school catalogues. My mother could never afford anything from them!