to think home education is looking more appealing

[Gisla]

I wish I was brave enough to take my children out of formal education. I feel I'm working my way towards it.

The system appears to be in a mess; teachers are unhappy, ridiculous confusing tests for 6 year olds and now forcing academy status on schools, talk of extending the school day and abolishing QTS.

Aibu to want to shout "will nobody think of the children?"

I don't know the rules of football either & whilst I am definitely proud to be a weirdo, I manage fine in terms of social skills.

It's true that I'm not a huge advocate of HE - I'm also a teacher & think many parents are a bit vague on what we actually do all day; it's not just pointless paperwork & the brutal stifling of creativity & individuality - I think you're coming across as quite rude here jlivingstone.

Which makes it difficult to see you as a reliable arbiter of other people's social skills, tbh.

jlivingstone

You don't seem to either like children or have much respect for individualism.

You also come across as judgemental and, forgive my directness, disappointingly. ignorant of the goals of the education system which you work within.

My son has had the benefit of three absolutely outstanding teachers within mainstream (state) education. They were all highly qualified and had many years of experience but their real ability to make a positive difference came from their attitude and love for supporting the educational development of children as individuals.

You remind me of a fourth teacher though, his first one. She was in it for power trips, the long holidays and didn't give two hoots about treating children with any respect as individuals. She also used derogatory terms like you to describe any child performing outside her strict definition of "average". She also had your vastly over inflated sense of arrogance...."professional opinions" from people like that have zero weight.

Thank goodness that teachers like that are in the minority!

Yanbu. I have always known that I've wanted to home Ed, even if just for the first few years, but the more that happens to education in the country the more I think I definitely have to home Ed. They've slowly but surely been destroying education and it's terrifying.

jivingstone using derogatory language like "weirdos" makes you sound like someone with an axe to grind, not a professional.

The football comment was a bit "WTAF"? I have a 13 year old at an ordinary comprehensive and I am reasonably confident that he doesn't know the rules of football!

Anyway to get back to the OP, I've always been anti-HS but quite honestly I think it's probably becoming a rational solution for many children now. I have a friend with a child in Y6 who is being tested to destruction - and it's all pointless, because secondary schools know that primary schools "game" the tests and don't trust them. As a result, the poor lad got tested again when he visited his new secondary school this week. I wouldn't blame anyone who didn't want that for their child.

As a teacher, I don't know many other teachers who feel as jlivingstone does luckily. Likewise, DH is a university lecturer whose colleagues only have good things to say about HE, especially given two of their top students (thermodynamics) were HE throughout.

We all do what we perceive to be best for our children. As a parent, teacher and governor I believe taking our daughter out was the right decision. That is bourne out daily by the changes we see in her and he increased love of learning. We will decide what we do with our younger child when the time comes as they are individuals...I suspect that he will stay out too.

I appreciate that some approaches to HE are too far removed from traditional schooling for many to get their heads around, that doesn't necessarily mean they are ineffective. Schools are not the most effective way of teaching and learning, merely the most efficient for large numbers of a population. The outcomes may be different but no more desirable.

Indeed Mistigri - one of my jobs is transition from Junior to Senior sections in the same school.

I've just spent a week marking entrance tests, then I'll be collating SATs data before they come to us, then in September we do CEM tests. All of this data is apparently vital.

Personally, I'd just do the setting based on one of these at random, show it to the person in charge of Juniors & ask if anyone is obviously wrongly placed, & then move anyone who is struggling/underchallenged at Xmas.

This 'lacks rigour' apparently, so I have to feed all three results into a spreadsheet, do the sets, & then, er, tweak at Xmas...

witsender beautiful post, I couldn't agree with you more.

jlivingstone as the reason that I hear of people being HE most often is because the previous school failed to meet their needs associated with autism, have you considered the possibility that you are kindly labelling autistic people who are confident enough to interact with you and others, despite their difficulties in social communication associated with their autism, as weirdos and so on?

I'm sorry to find such a judgemental teacher, to be honest. But it does explain why some kids with autism are being so failed by the schools.

I have several friends who are teachers/lecturers and haven't ever heard them describe HE children as weirdos. What a dreadful thing to say. One teacher friend (who was also our senco) has recently quit teaching to become a private tutor to HE children, and has already said she will be considering that path for her own DD.

As an aside, DS1 (10) has Autism. If we were to remove him from school and HE you'd possibly meet him and think "weirdo" (to use your own dreadful turn of phrase). If you were to meet him right now whilst he's in the education system, you'd likely think the exact same thing. Him being eccentric and quirky has nothing to do with education and everything to do with Aspergers. I work in a school and am incredibly surprised to hear someone in your position making such awful judgements.

My 5yo DS thinks football is a waste of time. As do i:) He is, alas, in school, as was I. Mystified as to how you think home ed affects kids' feelings about football, or more importantly why not liking football means you are a weirdo. If that's your professional opinion, I question your professionalism.

I agree with others that jlivingstone seems to be confusing cause and effect. Many children are HE precisely because they don't fit into a box, or the parents early on had the foresight to realise that their dc wouldn't fit into a box. The HE hasn't necessary made them a 'wierdo', they would never have quite fitted anyway. Not saying that is the reason that every child is HE, the ones who aren't 'wierdos' you probably didn't think to ask about school because they didn't fit your stereotype of a HE child and you assumed they were in school.

Fwiw one of my dc didn't fit in the first box we tried to put her in. The teachers didn't really notice or understand why she didn't and said she was stubborn and fussy. Towards the end they did offer to make a slightly fluffier corner of the box, but she would still have to be singled out to go to the fluffy corner.

She moved to a different box where she just fits, different ethos, practice, teachers etc. She doesn't need a fluffy corner because nothing in the school makes her anxious. Other children might hate her new school and love the first. The trouble is that when you decide that you need to move a child you don't always have a choice of where to go, sometimes HE is the best option for that child.

Yanbu. Mine are little at the moment and quite enjoying school, but there are absolutely no decent high schools around us, and I won't be sending them to a shit one, so unless something changes we'll be educating them by alternative means. Probably a mix of whatever private tuition we can afford and igcses

I think home educating is a much bigger thing in people's minds than the reality of it turns out to be. It's like people think something magical happens at school.

If anything magical does happen at school, it's that imposed targets are met enmasse. Much easier to meet targets that are hand picked to appeal to your child for just your child.

jlivingstons posts just come across as not liking difference, or non mainstream thinking. And for someone who made a great deal out of being "professional", the words you use are the least professional I have heard from a teacher.

I am seriously considering HE, the schools round here are awful, the curriculum gets narrower every year, there seems to be no teaching at all of critical thinking/the ability to debate, everything is about tests and results. The latest stuff about acadamies just proves to me that we will end up with company run schools, and I will not be sending my DS to a worker factory, I want him to choose his own path.
The only good secondary here is a catholic one, and I can't stand religious schools (went to one my self) so he won't be going there!

More and more people I know (we are all alternative types anyway, jlivingstone would probably think we are all weirdos!!) are HE.

We are already on one wage, I would happily work in a pub at night to stretch the cash out.

Time.... Private tutor to home ed kids you say? I'd love to do that but I am guessing most people in our community wouldn't afford a tutor and are home ending as they'd do it themselves/skill swap.

I in theory could tutor 11+ with my background but I disagree with intense cramming and the 11+!

I have to say I do hope my child never winds up in a class taught by the likes of jlivingston. Who knew that simply not liking football meant that you were a weird, objectionable person?

DH and I have never met a home schooled child who wasn't a weirdo lacked the social skills of their peers

Absolutely appalling comment. You should be ashamed of your attitude.

I know loads of home ed families. They're nice, normal families who have the sense to realise that school is NOT the only option for happy, well rounded kids. There are loads of groups for kids to be part of and of course sports clubs, Brownies, Beavers etc.

To state that home ed kids are weirdos simply demonstrates plain ignorance, an out-of-touch mindset and an unwillingness to learn.

Ironic, eh?

I am shocked by comments on here. I am a teacher but have no issue with home Ed. weird? Nasty comment. Quirky maybe? But then there are quirky kids in school.
The 'weirdest' ---- family I know fit the stereotype of home ed - hand knit clothes, odd flowery shoes, beard with bells and flowers woven in (the dad!) etc. Actually send their kids to school - both parents and kids are delightful. My very sensible stereotypical yummy mummy friend home educates.
All the children are lovely and benefit from their parents choices

I do know how to use apostrophes

Jivingstone "'football is a waste of time" (I'll never forget hearing the child say that)

Why will you never forget hearing a child say that? I though football was boring and a waste of time, still do now. In fact even more so when you think about the ridiculous wages the players get for running around chasing a ball. Your comment is so bizarre. Oh I went through the complete schooling system and am a teacher by the way.

As for saying all teachers think HE is rubbish I'd strongly challenge that. I think as a teacher I know how ridiculous the school system is and if I could afford to if quit and HE my kids in a flash.

Funny how my post about being a teacher and starting to HE is glossed over... doesn't fit a preconception?

And if we're boasting, when I was in the classroom I was consistently 'Outstanding' and in 6 years of leadership roles I've enjoyed success and respect.

One thing flourishing in my child already is independent thought, thinking outside the box... moving on from narrow preconceptions and generalisations

'Weirdos' go to school too, and I've met many a wonderfully odd child who've I've enjoyed the company of and watched grow into a success. Why be so scared of a loss of conformity if a child is happy, learning and has good prospects. Really... so what? Conform/ don't conform: just as long as they can have a successful life outcome it doesn't matter. Good teaching, socialisation, learning etc are actually what matter, and this can be good or bad in any setting.

For the record I reckon I would have failed the phonics test in mid juniors still, I certainly learned differently-yet I enjoyed success academically. I read by 4, just didn't grasp phonics. I would have been written off by 7 in the new world of assessment.

I will admit though the income loss is a hit, but with the cost of childcare and my ability to tutor it's not actually a massive hit.

His Junior school experience has been very different; he moved up in Y3 and had a hideous year with a teacher who disputed his Aspergers and insisted he was simply naughty. She eventually had a breakdown mid-way through the year and his replacement teacher was better. As he's getting older, his differences are more noticeable and more of a challenge

This makes me furious,really really furious.

How a teacher thinks they are qualified to dispute a formal dx(and it happens loads)boggles me. ive seen parents refered to children's services for fabricated illness as a result, children automatically having high levels (unacceptably high) of PH/TT physical interventions when no other setting has the same issue with the child and children locked in,what to an adult is a cell but called a chill out zone.
The mistreatment of children with disabilities in some schools is shocking and often starts with staff not believing all the HCP's that make the DX.

It's like me thinking I can build a house better than a qualified builder

I work in a school and see both sides. I will almost certainly HE my child until 5/6, maybe longer.

education, DH and I have never met a home schooled child who wasn't a weirdo lacked the social skills of their peers

Due to my paid work I come into contact with huge amounts of schooled children,due to some unpaid work I also come into contact with large numbers of home educated children.

I personally am not a huge fan of home education and I would be unlikely to choose it for any of my own kids, but that's just a bigoted unplesant and inaccurate view.

There is no real difference between the two groups in personality kids are just kids.

A very large proportion of children who are HE are HE due to additional needs and the inability of the usual routes being able to meet their needs, often parents are pushed into it are those kids normal in school and then turn into weirdos when they leave?