to ask if you would consider home education?

[SundayBea]

Have read a lot of articles recently on how the numbers in home education have 'exploded' and it's on the rise by 80% a year apparently. I know of three families I think quite highly of, two of whom are ex-teachers whose children have never been to school and their children seem to be having an exceptional upbringing and education with so many fantastic experiences and opportunities. Also know of two other families who have withdrawn their children from school because of problems with their respective schools and I'm less certain of how successful it is going to be for them. Also know of several colleagues and DH's cousin who have DC under 5 who are debating not registering them when the time comes. Is this a big thing now or is it just coincidence I know of so many families like this? I was just wondering what the general consensus was.. when I mentioned socialisation one of my ex-teacher friends showed me the Facebook group she is in for her local home education community and I was amazed at the plethora of groups, classes, meet ups and outings with hundreds of members.. just for her local county! Have been debating with DP what to do about schooling at private school is unfortunately out of the question on our current salaries.. I'm now feeling like I've discovered a whole new option I hadn't considered? Sorry if this is rambling, only getting a 5 minute lunch break today!

cleaty my ds is bone idle . But he also has ADHD and autism and it's my job to determine what aspect of his lack of motivation is due to his condition and what is him being lazy. Yes, he did struggle with the tedious elements of certain subjects he studied (past tense because he's now in college), but he realised that if he wanted good grades he had to work for them, so he did. I guess the same would apply if he were in school - if you work hard you'll do well, if you don't, you won't.

rose None of the groups and clubs my son went to (and still goes to, in some cases) were my choice, but his. If he had moments when his confidence dipped and he didn't want to continue, I'd persuade him to give it one more go and he could leave after that if he wanted to, but invariably he found his feet again and stuck at it. It's still child-led, but with support and guidance. There are very few home educators who just leave their kids to get on with things on their own - that's not what autonomy is about - and those who do think that's how it works have got it wrong and aren't really HEing, IMO.

The child is 5 is she not? I'd concentrate on "supporting" the child through school at this stage rather than keeping them at home to solely educate. I do get that there are rare cases where this is best for the child/other children they come into contact with.

Not sure why you think I said anything about leaving the child on his/her own Queen? I have stated why I think a school environment is better for most.

There are not rare cases at all. There are many cases of children with additional needs, being utterly failed by the main stream education system, thousands and thousands of them, there are organisations set up to help parents and their children who experience this for example IPSEA. I understand though that if you're not affected and don't know anyone who is you might remain in blissful ignorance of what so many are going through.

I think children and adults can be lazy. Some people seem to have a need to always be on the go, always learning something new. Others are not. I think it is more personality than anything else.

And a trip to the zoo, whilst fun, is surely the kind of thing most parents do?

I am not against HE, but the examples given of learning as you go along, are the kind of things most families whose kids go to school, do anyway.

I considered it seriously for a brief time, but only as my local schools were dire. We eventually found a good school and I am glad: I don't think I would have been very good at it, and dd benefits hugely from the social aspect of school and the facilities on offer.

Did the OP ask about home schooling due to having a child with additional needs?

Leaves thread due to others becoming finger shabby :)

Where has anyone mentioned a trip to the zoo as being he only thing they do? . Why aren't you mentioning any of the other activities, groups, tutoring, cooperative classes etc that home educators have repeatedly talked about on this thread.

There are not rare cases at all. There are many cases of children with additional needs, being utterly failed by the main stream education system, thousands and thousands of them, there are organisations set up to help parents and their children who experience this for example IPSEA.

Hear bloody hear.

No Rose they asked if anyone would home educate, so rather than read the usual post after post of anti HE ill informed tripe I offered perspective on people who might have no choice in the matter so that could be taken into account.

I guess it depends on the child, the adult(s) doing the educating etc.

However, school is meant to educate in the broader sense and that means that pupils learn how to deal with different children from different backgrounds, the ability to compromise, hierarchical structures and how to deal with them etc etc.

Of course, there are some jobs in adulthood where people can pretty much determine their own work, but very very few.

I think that school came into being for a reason and it is VERY hard to get home ed right.

The school day is very short and education does not stop as they leave the classroom, you naturally do much yourself at home but can just do whatever you like knowing that someone else has done the boring bits like where to use an apostrophe.

cleaty

Exactly, most parents do these things anyway, so they can't be bad ideas now, can they?

There are dozens of reasons why parents choose to H.ed their children.
There are dozens of reasons parents choose a school to educate their children, so great that we all get a choice.

If there are people dead set against the idea, well that's fine, they don't have to do it.
If there are people dead set against school, that's fine too, they don't have to do it.
Why bother with what others choose if you have made your own decision anyway.

There are excellent distance learning courses, my daughter did Latin which her school did not teach, for example. There are a lot of skills that you learn by doing it yourself outside school which can be used in later life e.g. Independent learning at uni.

I think there is a lot if crossover actually, those if us who don't HE might be doing exactly that on top of school. So I'm quite supportive of you all.

In some ways I think the more autonomous way of learning via HE may help with lifelong learning and that of uni life.

But some children really struggle to read. If they do not start to learn until they are 10 or older, I would worry these children will never learn.

It doesn't work like that. Look how much more quickly children in countries that don't have formal education until later.

But some children really struggle to read. If they do not start to learn until they are 10 or older, I would worry these children will never learn.

It doesn't work like that. Look how much more quickly children in countries that don't have formal education until later.

On the negative side, I know of one home educating parent who allows the children to wake up and get up when they want. The day begins from that point. So when they wake up at 2pm, she treats it like the morning and they have a full day from that point. Madness.

The other problem is that the lessons often go where the pupil wants them to. This has positives but, in what way does it prepare a student for either a more traditional educational environment (be it school or university) or a workplace?

Of course, if you end up in research, this might be ideal but most people don't, realistically.

If you look further down the thread larry, you'll see a number of HE children who have been accepted to various universities including Oxford, UCL and Cambridge, FE courses and apprenticeships. To have got them in the first place they'll need to have shown discipline and ability.

If you're home educating, your goal is not to prepare for school. It's to help the child learn - and self-directed learning is a wonderful thing. Even school aspires to it, you know! It is more likely that the workplace will benefit from having that child as an employee because self-directed learning helps with motivation, critical thinking, creativity, leadership etc.

Children who have been home educated tend to do well at university, partly because they are used to sharing responsibility for their learning and it is supposed to be self-directed there. So it's not such a jump for them, actually. Some universities actively seek out home educated students for this reason (don't ask me which, I've forgotten).

However. I think what you're concerned about is that they won't have the discipline to do a task that's assigned to them. That would be a parenting fail but most HE parents are extremely diligent and wouldn't let this happen.

I think what this thread is showing is that a lot of the initials concerns about home education spring from a lack of understanding about what a home educated child's day looks like, and an assumption that what's done at school is done because children need to learn that way, rather than because it's the most efficient way to educate a large number of children within a specific cultural context.

ng that someone else has done the boring bits like where to use an apostrophe

If only we could guarantee that all primary school teachers know how to use an apostrophe!

When my son's class teacher introduced semi-colons, she wrote one up on the whiteboard with the comma on the top and the full stop below. Ds politely told her it was the wrong way around and the teacher argued with him, until the TA pointed out that actually he was right.

The point here is that there are excellent teachers, and there are utterly crap ones - and the same goes for home educators. It really isn't possible to say one is better than the other, because there are far too many variables, and crucially no guarantees either.

Nicki,

I don't doubt that some HE children do very well, in the same sense that many who go to selective schools do well; they were very high ability and would do well in virtually any environment. In addition, I am sure some parents are fantastic teachers. However, I have my reservations.

In how many work environments can you choose which colleagues to mix with on a certain day, or rearrange the meeting if you are not in the mood?
Again they do exist but are certainly a small minority of jobs or careers.

I am sure that HE suits some but many will end up reintegrating into a main stream school and that is a painful adjustment process, which I have witnessed more than once.

Let's not assume that all home educated children are taught 1-1 and never get to work in larger groups, having to interact with people they don't know or don't get along with, and all the other 'social' issues that are part of the school day. The vast majority of our children take part in regular workshops of varying sizes and most slot straight into school or college very well indeed, if that's what they choose to do.

As I said upthread, you really can't know what home ed is like in practice until you've been part of it, and seen the range of opportunities and methods of working that are available. It's incredibly broad for most families.