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 .

Just relying to OP.

My first reaction is Why in God's name would you want to do that?

i used to learm german at school. the teacher used to learn it the week before at evening class. that is a 100 percent true story

I think most teachers have got a 'pulled into teaching AS psychology when mrs x went off sick, was one week ahead of the class in the textbook' stories. Doesn't make it right though. And doesn't make it ideal for every subject to be taught by a parent just one week ahead.

my instinctive reaction to hearing a child is home schooled is

the parents are new age lentil weavers

the kids wear mad woolly jumpers and the boys have long hair

they eat loads of veg and tofu shite

the parents arent married, they "co habit"

the kids were breastfed up till 5

dad's a social worker

the family have probably featured in the Viz at some point

(sorry but you did ask )

I think how lovely and feel massively jealous (used to HE, can't now for various reasons and we don't actually have any problems at school but I'm so glad we did it, it has improved DD1s social skills so much to have time in smaller groups)

I might also assume you are a bit if an attachment parenting hippy

kim147 And the staff at the local secondaries tear their hair out about it in September when the new Year 7's turn up.

Tilly, this will be my final post on this thread as I suspect some people are so set in their ways that they are unwilling to even consider acknowledging a different viewpoint.

Sigh.

Where did I say that professional tuition was of no use? I think you'll find I stated that I use professional tutors for subjects where I think my dd will benefit from them.
Neither have I said (or would I ever say) "your baby, your roolz, hun".

So, you carry on trying to demean what I do because of what happened in your own life and I'll go back to giving my all (which is considerable) to enabling my dd to grow into an educated, intelligent, loved young woman.

To quote from Game of Thrones (translated into welsh - just for you) ...ydych yn gwybod dim

Pity for the child. I find it very :(

Nicki I dont think funding is the point though, you can send your child to a state funded school or educate privately, you have chosen to do it privately (in your own home) with the associated costs that brings.

The issue isnt whether they pay for the right to inspect but that every child either home, state or fee paying educated should receive the appropriate level of education and that should be ascertained by a body not connected to the educational establishment concerned. FWIW I dont think OFSTED is the perfect solution but as that is all we have at the moment then they should be able to inspect all edcuational settings including fee paying and HE, not just state schools. There are quite a few sub standard fee paying schools, there was an article a couple of years ago (might have been the Guardian) about it. They need inspecting too!

Many HE parents do a good job and work very hard, but many do not. They may HE for spurious or downright abusive reasons (extreme example but the Duggars, or any family that wish to isolate their children for religious reasons), or they may try very hard and believe they are providing a good education but actually arent through their own limitations. I particularly take issue with parents who choose to allow their children to educate themselves, so the child ends up playing XBox all day! It happens, and I believe that regular inspections of all educators methods and abilites and the childrens achievements in comparison with all of their peers regardless of where they are schooled, is the only way to ensure a good standard of learning for all children.

Oooh - an insult in Welsh. Now there's a first for MN

OP Thaks for starting this thread.

I had no idea there was this much closed mindedness out there. It's been quite an eye-opener

It only says "You know nothing" (Jon Snow)

bogeyface you probably haven't ploughed through the thread and I don't blame you! But I did NOT choose this. The LA were only too happy for me to take my ds off their hands as four different schools had been unable to meet his needs. My ds's school career ended aged 8, with him being restrained by four adults, being covered in bruises and abrasions and having his head banged off a table. He had regressed until he was almost none verbal and was self harming, punching and scratching himself.

That's the point of this thread really, so many people make really negative assumptions but that's mine and ds's reality and I know loads of other parents who are home edding for similar reasons, I can send you links in the press of others going through the same thing.

I suspect some people are so set in their ways that they are unwilling to even consider acknowledging a different viewpoint.

Unfortunately with "you know nothing" you have proved yourself to be the same as the very people you are complaining about!

I personally have no issue with a good quality home based education, but the key word there is quality. Having seen at first hand, children realising that their idyllic childhood left them with no chance of a uni place or a decent job, I do feel that there should be some level of accountability on the part of the educator. That is not saying I disagree with HE, not at all, but it should EDUCATE to the level that allows the child to go seamlessly from home to uni or job.

WeirdCatLady you seem to find any criticism of HE methods exceedingly problematic. Expecting other to accept HE, whatever the type, is basically "your baby, your roolz, hun". I am trying to explain why your blasé attitude that teaching any subject up to GCSE is possible, so long as you have the money to buy books, is problematic.

So far I've had psychobabble, a list of your qualifications and accusations that I have fixed opinions.

You may have lots of qualifications. I have not cast doubt on that. I quibble with the idea that you can teach any subject up to GCSE, even if you don't have an previous knowledge, just by learning along with your child. There's lots of GCSEs, from Astronomy to Russian.

I know what it says - google translate is a wonderful thing. It's an insult nonetheless - unless, of course, "you know nothing" is actually a compliment in Welsh.

They've abandoned my son and were only too happy to do so, if I try and put him back in school we will have to get a solicitor and go to a tribunal to get a suitable school for him, even then we are not guaranteed to "win". I think home edders forced into it by SN and bullying far out way the negative stereotypes listed on this thread and doesn't it make you wonder why the government who are just SO big on inspecting schools and making sure they're up to standard and seeing how they can cut funding are more than happy to leave us HE families to it.

Nicki I did pick up that you were doing not out of choice, but my argument about accountability remains the same. The reasons for HE are neither here nor there, the issue for me is "Is this child getting the best quality education that can be provided?" and if the answer is no then something needs to change. Personally I favour the HE School idea, where several HE work together to provide an all round quality education to all of their children.

I get what you're saying but no one is accountable to my ds and he isn't receiving the education he supposedly has a right to legally and there's absolutely nothing I can do about that apart from put him back in and accept that he will be hurt very day when being restrained.

Regarding the funding thing, I think there are specific funding related issues actually.

My understanding is that there is no funding for GCSEs for HE'd kids. This means that when a child is GCSE age, the parents simply not having the money can be a barrier to them getting qualifications.

In an ideal world, HE'd kids could go to an FE college and do their GCSEs there. But that's not really how it works. Certainly where I am, there's a huge squeeze on secondary places and our adult education places and FE colleges won't take under 16s.

Its a massive generalisation this but I think often the kids who are still HE'd at 16 and who are nevertheless taking GCSEs are very often those for whom the system is difficult. So kids who have unmet SEN, or who have been severely bullied. Autonomous HErs tend to go and do apprenticeships or OU or something and then rely on daddy for a pupilage . Autonomy/unschooling/Minecraft-as-education is disproportionately middle class (eg doctor/lawyer dads) and IMO it works because at the end of the day these kids usually have a massive safety net compared to other kids. They can afford to take big risks and spend their childhoods staring at pixels and so you often hear those parents saying "oh I don't see the point of GCSEs" because for their kids, frankly, the difference is relatively marginal.

Personally, I think if a kid is motivated to study for a GCSE, I'd like to see them able to take them for free somehow, whoever they are. But I think in practice its especially important because families who want their kids to take GCSEs tend to be ones for whom paying a big whack for a bunch of exams will hurt, and also ones for whom taking a kid out of school was often a real last resort.

(and this is a huge generalisation I know that)

I agree that GCSE's should be free for every child at 15/16, regardless of education method.

Nicki I think you and I are discussing different issues! My issue with HE is quality, your is that you shouldnt need to be doing it at all. I totally agree that your son should be able to access state funded education with people who are able and willing to meet his needs, I am disgusted at the treatment he has had. However, given that HE is a necessity and not a choice for many families, that doesnt remove the need for some sort of checks to be made to ensure that a good education is what they are getting. That doesnt mean the child returning to state education but it would mean a better support system for HEers who need assistance to get up to standard, which is yet another political issue!

I agree Sigyn. I think free and easily accessible GCSES would change the face of this countries education system.