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?

Fartooexpensive

But you don't have to follow a curriculum that is decided by whichever government thinks it knows best, that's the whole point. So who would decide which activities are appropriate? Also how does showing evidence of an activity prove learning?
I am a teacher and know from teaching in schools for the last 12 years that paperwork does not mean children are necessarily learning.

our but that's exactly my point, it shouldn't have been allowed to pass as homeschooling, someone should have intervened and said that that simply was just not good enough

I have a child applying to university right now ( she's school educated ) and I noticed that all the courses she is applying for give details of alternative entry requirements for kids who are educated abroad, home schooled etc

So the universities don't seem to see it as a problem

YABU. Learning through play at 4 is exactly what children should be doing. Children in other countries (with very successful education systems) sometimes don't start formal schooling until 7.
If it turns out she isn't letting her child mix with other children then you might have a point but she has't even started yet. There are plenty of opportunities for children to mix daily at home ed meet ups etc.
I don't home school btw as I don't think it would suit my family but I can see the plus side of letting children follow their own interests and schedule and be excited about learning rather than it being enforced.
As for check ups according my friend who homeschools most LA's are overzealous and ask parents to provide more evidence than they are actually required to.

WorraLiberty

You asked "Can I just ask because I genuinely have no idea...

Do home educated kids still take the same sort of exams as schooled kids? I mean GCSEs and A.S levels/A levels?

And if so, how do the results compare to the national average of schooled children?

I've tried to find the answer on the internet in the past, but I was just very confused blush grin"

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There are many different ways that kids can qualify.

My own kids went to school or college at 15 or 16 to get their GCSE's. They had not been taught the national curriculum before then. However the three that took that path, have all gone onto university, despite not going down a conventional route.

They also all did English A-Level's alongside their relevant National Diploma's.

Some children, study the GCSE' syllabus at home, and organise for a school/college to allow them to sit the exams. There are many around the country, that allow home educators to sit exams (for a fee), on their premises.

Many (but not all), often go on to A-Levels at another institution, or sit an alternate exam. Many of my Australian friends got into Uni, but sitting the American SAT's exams instead of an Australian equivalent.

There are many different paths to take.

In terms of how they compare, I imagine that depends very much on the child, and the child you are comparing it too.

My own children gained well and truly above what they needed to go onto their chosen University courses.

My DH went to school. He left at 15 unable to read and write. He had undiagnosed dyslexia and suffered years of bullying and anxiety. It left him with zero self esteem and crippling social anxiety into adulthood. His parents had 'ishoos'

Surrounded by professionals and no one cared or noticed.

To quote a pp, It's the children who fall through the gaps that concern me. I know plenty of people who went through school and have problems. I don't blame it all on the school.

Pass exams? Limited to primary? How actually bizarre - you do realise that you might as well give your child up to the government if you want all your rights taken away when it comes to doing what you think is right for your child?!

What you are saying is that someone else knows better for your child than you do. Think that through and consider when that stops? Is your judgement only okay for the first 4yrs? Or the first 11yrs? And then suddenly parents are not acting in their child's best interest - because actually most of the time parents just want what they think is best for their child. That may vary parent to parent but that's okay because we are not robots and there is room for all sorts of people in the world.

Home Education and UCAS

Many degree courses at universities do require qualifications. Applications are made through the UCAS site, usually in the year before the student hopes to start studying at the university. UCAS has a system of ‘points’ which many universities follow, requiring either particular qualifications or a certain number of UCAS points. Typically, three A-levels would be accepted for many courses, but – depending on the course – specific ones may be required, and/or particular grades. Qualifications from other sources – eg from schools in other countries, or those such as BTEC, or Grade 8 music exams – may also be acceptable, depending on the course being studied.

You can find full details of how points are calculated on the ‘tariff’ page of the UCAS site.

Thus it is important for any home educated student considering further education to start looking, by the time he is about thirteen or fourteen, at what different universities may require for his chosen field. A student wanting to study medicine has little choice other than to take three A-levels, including biology and chemistry, although it may be possible to take a foundation degree in science instead. A student wanting to study art should be building up a portfolio of styles, and perhaps aiming to take at least a GCSE in Art. Each university and each course within that university may have different requirements.

The UCAS application does not just ask for qualifications; it also wants the student to describe their interests, their achievements, and why they are applying. The personal statement is probably the most important part, so students should make sure they spend time over this; preparing it in a word processor is best rather than typing it in directly, and it should be checked by a parent or other adult to ensure it includes relevant information without unnecessary padding.

A parent will not be able to provide a reference; if the student has done paid or voluntary work, or has studied for qualifications such as music or drama exams, there may be a teacher or employer who can provide an academic or character reference. A minister or youth group leader may be an other possibility, or – if correspondence courses have been taken – a tutor. It should ideally be someone who is aware of the student’s academic potential and work ethic, and also how well they are likely to interact with other students.

At the moment there is no monitoring if you HE from the start, but there is monitoring if you deregister from school at a later date as the school has to inform the LEA.

Well OP I think your schooling should have been better monitored because you sound quite ignorant.

OhHolyFuck

So why didn't they? Why didn't a family member report them?

All the necessary checks are already in place in this country to enable those who are not receiving a suitable education, to be checked up on.

However, often the wider community, doesn't report things they deem to be a problem, which means, that those of us who are chugging along very nicely, and raising our kids well, are lumped into a basket with those who are not.

AnneEyhtMeyer

"I think if you want to HE you should pass an exam in English, maths, history, geography and science, and it should be limited to primary schooling. I also think you should be required to document and prove the education taking place."

Just to pick up on one thing from your post - why limited to primary? If we're using anecdotes as evidence (like the one homeschooling parent you know) what about the very gifted homeschooler I know who got straight As in all the A Levels she sat and a place at Oxford University? Should she have been forced to start attending a state school at eleven, regardless of whether it was right for her or not?

Cagliostro

That is simply not true. No one has to be monitored, according to the Education Act and according to the Law.

That is just something, naughty LA's are forcing newcomers to believe.

The problem with that is that the person checking would be measuring the kids against the targets that school kids would be doing. Very often, the children would be working at a completely different pace, without the focus on targets that schools have.
And it really doesn't matter if a child of 6 hasn't learnt to read made up words or write down sums. There is a long time before formal learning is needed.

Education is education wherever it happens. School and home education are just two different ways of educating a child. It is hard to tell if one is more successful than the other. School is more cost-effective and easier to monitor and control. But this things don't necessarily make it the best option or every child.

We deregistered at end of y3 and didn't have any monitoring.
An annual review consisted of me responding to a letter asking what we had done, what resources were used.
So it was basically a list of everywhere we'd been that year, what topics dd had chosen to study. They had no reason to question what we were doing so contacted us again the following year.
There was nothing anyone could offer us, as we had deregistered the LA were nothing to do with us anymore. We were fine with this and knew that there were H.ed organisations to contact and support groups should we need help, advice or just to share stories and experiences.

The state of some schools in the UK I wouldn't have much faith in the powers that be to correctly monitor any education. HS is by far the better option for many children who are being failed by the school system.

homeeducationheretic.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/maintaining-illusion-of-widespread.html

Firstly, As others have said, in many countries a 4 yr old would be years away from going to school. Many countries where children start formal education at 6 or 7 have far better attainment levels than UK . I can't see why a four year old not being in school is a matter of any concern to anyone.

Secondly, home education is not school-at-home, it's a whole different approach i.e. it's not school, it's education - they aren't the same thing. "School" is a setting for the delivery of a particular type of education. It has come to be the default for many reasons, mostly the convenient warehousing of children while their parents work.

The only concern I would have, and I have seen a family do this, is where the children are allegedly home educated but no actual education happens, even of the most basic literacy and numeracy. In other words, three children who just played about on a farm all day, with little or no supervision and ended up illiterate. No monitoring or checking, hard luck on them. Basic skills are a must, and there should be some way of measuring that attainment.

I would have home educated DS2, but couldn't as both DH and I needed to work.

Happy2bhomely - sorry to hear that happened to your DH. Sadly all too common.

It doesn't negate my point that sometimes people who homeschool their children are not actually teaching them and it's more that they cannot cope themselves. As I said, I'm not talking about people who actually home school effectively and in a way that also develops a child's social skills.

Ah fair enough ours sorry, I knew there was some variation between LEAs but thought it was basically compulsory. As I said, pretty much all the families round here (that's a lot - huge HE community here) happily go along with it anyway, so not really given much thought to whether we absolutely HAVE to or not. As we just do it anyway. :)

Cagliostro

No worries.

I know people that do, and people that don't.

I personally don't

Thanks to the PPs who answered my question (sorry OP, didn't mean to hijack).

But I guess I'm looking for a way to compare home education exam results, to the national average schooled results.

In other words, is there a way to tell whether HE kids do as well overall as schooled kids?

Do the government/DFE monitor results?

My understanding is that home schooling is banned in Germany, and one of the main reasons for this is the lack of oversight into what children would be learning. This is apparently done to combat extremism. Any Deutschland-based MNers to confirm this?
I lived in a different country for several years where just about everyone I ever met who was home-schooling did so because
a) they were religious loons fundamentalists "my DCs as just aren't learning enough about the Lord God our saviour at school"
b) they were racist and didn't want their kids mixing with the "wrong" sort.
I'm not suggesting for a minute that OP's friend, or anybody else on this thread is racist or extremist, but I want to raise the point to illustrate the fact that if home schooling is not subject to any reviews then the people most in need of a balanced academic and social education can be denied it by parents who genuinely believe they are acting in the best interests of the kids.

Sorry, not just the actual exam results.

But also how many GCSEs/A levels HE kids sit on average, compared to schooled kids, regardless of results.