To think home schooling should be better monitored?

[Mollymoo78]

One of my FB friends from my toddler group days has announced on FB that she's home schooling her four year old. She was always very very attached to him and never had a moment away from him ie a night out. She breast fed him well into his fourth year and carried him in a sling when he got tired. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm genuinely wondering if her decision to home school has more to do with her being reluctant to let him go.

Her comments on FB are "well I have no precise plans as to what I'm going to do but they learn through play at this age anyway so it doesn't matter". I just felt quite uncomfortable reading that. It all sounds very vague. My dd has started school recently and loves it - the socialisation with her peers and older children, the physical activity, getting independence and rewards for her achievements. She's playing yes but she's also being taught to read and write. But what if this boy isn't given these things - who is going to be checking up on the education he's being given?

I don't mean to put a downer on homeschooling - I've no doubt it's the perfect option for those whose children don't gel with school but shouldn't you at least try school first? Am I wrong to question this in my mind?

I would love my child to be in a school that allowed him to access mainstream education, would be my ideal outcome. I could study myself, work myself, there's nothing I would like more.

I actually shaking my head at the idea that I should accept mandatory monitoring and inspection by a system that completely and utterly failed my son and were only to happy to see the back of him. I think many home ed families who have been failed must feel this way.

This new attitude of not doing well at school mucks up life chances seems to be another factor in kids revelling against attending. My children do like school and are doing well but the pressure they are under is ludicrous

I tell mine every day, you do your best and if it doesn't work out the first time you do it again or do something else, school is not the big deal they like to make out they are they certainly do not improve my children's life chances at all.

I actually shaking my head at the idea that I should accept mandatory monitoring and inspection by a system that completely and utterly failed my son and were only to happy to see the back of him. I think many home ed families who have been failed must feel this way.

I agree, Nicki. Seems a lot of posters on this thread would like to see a government official perched on your couch, monitoring your daily activities.

I'd be homeschooling my children if I weren't lucky enough to have them both at excellent schools, I simply couldn't accept a mediocre education. I'm sure my patience would be tested in ways I can't imagine, but I'd do it.

In the US, home educated children outperform their school-educated counterparts by a sizeable margin if you control for the religious zealots who are trying to shield their children from evolution.

Pissssed there's a world of difference between getting 10 Bs at GCSE instead of 14 A*s which in the overall scheme of things doesn't really matter and having no qualifications and not being able to read or write properly.

would like to see a government official perched on your couch, monitoring your daily activities.

Said no one on this thread ever. Resorting to absurd strawman arguments will get you nowhere.

Tell me, how would you ensure kids out there who are ostensibly home schooled but receive no meaningful education are protected? Or do you see them falling though the cracks as a price worth paying?

So tell me how d

What about the huge number of children falling through the cracks when they're attending school? My dc was one of those. The school flat out told me they didn't have the funding to work with him separately or the time to differentiate his work as there were 29 other students in the class. And with that, they gave up on him. He was 5yo at the time.

This is a fascinating thread!
YABU for being v judgy about your friend your comments about breastfeeding prove that. However the debate about monitoring is very worthwhile!
I have been a SENCo in several different schools including academies and inner cities. I am not anti home school at all and have seen it done very well. Sadly what I have also seen is parents being pressured to home school children so schools/academies can take under performing or persistantly absent pupils off roll! I even turned whistle blower when I returned from maternity leave to find my SEN register greatly reduced with pupils who's parents had suddenly decided home school was for them! The clue was a letter requesting home schoolling "written" by a parent who I knew was illiterate herself. So whilst many/most home schoolled children might not need to be monitored there should be some sort of check that the parent knows what they are doing - I don't mean in terms of can they teach but have they understood the long term implications e.g. that if after a bit they decided the want the child to return to school they won't definetly have a place.

It is the American site I linked to that says that HE children on average are better at English and worse at maths, when compared to school educated children.
It criticises other HE studies as being self selecting. So HE parents volunteer, and those who volunteer tend to be those who HE well. The English and maths one selected at random.

Museum - nobody wants to see any officials on your couch. Regular inspections as schools have would suffice. Home schooled children deserve to have the same attention paid to the standard of their education as other children do. How else can you possibly guarantee that every home schooled child is being educated to a good standard? Most will be but some won't and that's why I started this thread - not to have a go at home schoolers, particularly those who made the decision after the school system failed them.

Tell me, how would you ensure kids out there who are ostensibly home schooled but receive no meaningful education are protected? Or do you see them falling though the cracks as a price worth paying?

Well, Ginger beat me to it. Until the government can demonstrate that home-schooled children are actually opting out of a high-quality education, it seems that their mission is to confirm an extremely low baseline. I'm sure a yearly exam would suffice.

As for safeguarding issues, this is the remit of SS. If a family is on their radar, let them sort it out.

There are a certain number of children who will fall through the cracks because of poor parenting. This is the logical outcome of reproductive freedom and a liberal democracy. It's not nice, but we don't have viable alternatives.

Ginger ivy- he was not taking 4 years because intellectually he needed it- it was simply the fact that he had to do his GCSE course (1year) then three years to build up the A levels needed for uni- he's now studying at Exeter- Cornwall campus in Geological engineering and desperate to go abroad with the oil industry. He stated quite openly that he is desperate to see the world!

He was tested with us for a range of educational issues- slow processing/writing speeds; cognitive issues/dyslexia- he did not have any learning issues. We don't test for Asperger spectrum here but we have an incredible LS department (15 staff) so I trust their judgement. I just felt his homeschooling had not given him what he had needed and allowed 'fantasy development' the runes/leather was from computer games- he had had limited outside family contact so had almost got caught up in the make believe. Like I said I am not against HS in any way, I have met many students every year and like I said, many are lovely well rounded people.
I just wonder if a yearly inspection would be the best option for HS families- all teachers have to have inspections and go through safeguarding training. If the parent is able to provide variety and safety I can't see why they would have a problem? I'd doesn't need to involve daily big brother style observation! I just wonder if it would have prevented what had happened to this student and the extremist one?

I'll go out on a limb and state that if the government (and LAs and NHS) became more proactive and supportive of children with SEN, including putting more support in place without parents having to fight all the way to tribunal for every little thing, including GPs not fobbing parents off for years refusing to refer without the school's agreement when the school won't agree as it will cost them money to provide support. So much time wasted, when it's well known that the earlier the support is put into place, the better the outcome for the child.

Instead, years of their development are wasted while the parents fight the system to get support. By the time they finally get the support, the damage is done, and the child's outcomes are always in a downward spiral in many cases.

I totally agree there is a world of difference, I do know what you're saying likedylan. My son is going private next year I think because I can't take the time off work to HE and frankly I can't have another year go by where he can't read properly after 2 years of state education. I wish I could pay another home edder the £10,000 to solve the problem for me

BumpPower I agree it's been a fascinating debate. I apologise if I came across as judgy - it wasn't meant as a criticism of individual parenting styles. It was my clumsy way of saying that in this particular instance I felt the mother often comes across as unable to separate from her child. I don't think this is true of all home schoolers or all late breast feeders.

I just felt his homeschooling had not given him what he had needed and allowed 'fantasy development' the runes/leather was from computer games- he had had limited outside family contact so had almost got caught up in the make believe.

YOU felt? YOU? Gosh, that makes the judgement okay then.

Very interesting discussion! I don't see how home schooling could be monitored though, doesn't seem possible. While it surely has many good points for those with dedicated parents, there is also scope for some children to get a poor education this way. Does the government provide any help for these parents in the form of suggested topics/syllabus etc? I would think that the best use of government resources.

It was my clumsy way of saying that in this particular instance I felt the mother often comes across as unable to separate from her child.

I had this from a (former) friend. What it boiled down to was that SHE wouldn't do it, so she couldn't understand why anyone else would. And of course then I wasn't available to go shopping or have coffee with her, so obviously she jumped to the conclusion that I was unable to separate from my child.

Not your child, not your decision. Most parents do not just jump into the decision to home educate. They take ages to decide, as they research, consider, discuss and agonise over the decision first.

Does the government provide any help for these parents in the form of suggested topics/syllabus etc?

That's what National Curriculum is available for. Many parents (like us for example) have a copy of it and follow it - either closely or loosely. Others do not. It's not required, but it certainly is there for the information for anyone that needs it.

Well, Ginger beat me to it. Until the government can demonstrate that home-schooled children are actually opting out of a high-quality education, it seems that their mission is to confirm an extremely low baseline.

I can't help but think you're dodging the question. Chuck out a bit of invective about the alleged short comings of the state education system rather than address the question.

There are a certain number of children who will fall through the cracks because of poor parenting. This is the logical outcome of reproductive freedom and a liberal democracy. It's not nice, but we don't have viable alternatives

You don't have complete autonomy over your children's lives. They have rights independent of you and quite rightly there are mechanisms that exist to ensure their rights are upheld. I think we can and should be more rigourous about ensuring that children's right to an education is upheld.

I think what I've taken from this thread is that there are an awful lot of children being failed by the system to such an extent that parents are having to take matters into their own hands. I guess I'm lucky that none of the children in my family have had these problems so j didn't realise how bad the situation is for some people.

I can't help but think you're dodging the question. Chuck out a bit of invective about the alleged short comings of the state education system rather than address the question.

If the state is coming in to ensure some level of quality, isn't the quality of what's being opted out of of some relevance? How am I dodging the question?

I think we can and should be more rigourous about ensuring that children's right to an education is upheld.

Really? Great. You can get the government's arse in gear to improve support for children with SEN that get little to no support across the board in the school system (without literally years of fighting by the parents and even then is abysmal), which results in them not getting the education to which they have a right.

Brilliant. That will help a lot. Thanks.

GingerIvy I appreciate your points. The home schooling decision is not why I think she struggles with separation - it's lots of other things prior to that. I understand it's not a decision anyone takes lightly and never wanted to imply it was. She was merely the catalyst for me asking the question because I genuinely wonder if it should be monitored to some degree. If we accept that all children deserve the same standard of education surely home educating has to be monitored to some degree.