I know its her choice but i feel shes failed them as she had the responsibility to actually teach them and she hasn't. She does very little with them and it's bloody aparent.
She has 4 children that she supposedly "home schools" but yeah the oldest ones 14 and 16 are obviously lacking big time they seem to be more like 10 year olds in the way they act and talk. She pulled them out before secondary school so they have basically no secondary education and the youngest have hardly any basic education. She hands them work while shes cleaning the house etc but they basically just play playstation all day and not much else.
I juat feel like shes failed them by not letting them have a basic state education. Her reason for taking them out was that she didn't like secondary school and didnt want them to go through it 
AIBU?
To think my friend has failed her kids
PinkSlipperQueen · 22/12/2016 14:54
Wndy,
Above you have quoted the first sentence of a recommendation from a serious case review. I think reading the full paragraph better reflects the situation than the 'snippet' that you quote'
'The home education arrangement did not in itself expose Child T to
physical harm or prevent him from being „seen‟ (literally) by
professionals. It did contribute to the overall pattern of neglect and
emotional abuse that he suffered because the quality of education and
stimulation that he received at home was substantially worse than what
was available in either a mainstream or a special school. The choice made by his mother compounded other safeguarding concerns;
protecting ChildT was made more difficult by the very limited powers of the local authority to inspect and regulate home education arrangements.
This was exacerbated by the fact that education service staff who monitored his home education were not always clear how little had been achieved and did not communicate this clearly to social care colleagues. Social care professional had unrealistic expectations about what level of monitoring and inspection could be undertaken by those in education A better understanding of the guidance about home education is required by everyone concerned with safeguarding children.
Apologies for the long quote but this child was murdered by his mentally ill mother. The serious case review (referenced above) is long and complex and references a multitude of contributing factors and failures. HE was one of these factors and as a society we owe it to children not to hide from these cases and but to face them and to learn from them to ensure that we safeguard children - not to repeatedly deny something because it is uncomfortable.
OP - sorry to have hijacked your thread - I'll stop now. I hope that you will do as has been suggested and contact the LA to share your concerns.
It takes a village to raise a child and all that..... 
My now 16 yr old has been out of school since February. He was doing nothing at school (but this was hidden by skewed results), was being bullied, his mental health was suffering.
Since coming out he has done very little academic work (10 years of mainstream school has traumatised him beyond belief) and we have faced accusations of failing him as he is unlikely at this time to take GCSEs.
The thing is, even though he was doing less in school, no-one, but no-one, commented on how the school was failing him every single day, how he would have failed any GCSEs he took(if he managed to be in school at all, as his anxiety was so high), and would probably have ended up suicidal and battling to,get any help with our God-awful mental health system.
He didn't fit school, bottom line, never has, never will. School is not the amazing experience that so many seem to think it is (best days of your life and all that crap).
We've co-operated with the LA who have understood the difficulties (and just to point out that even though he is 16 with the academic capabilities of a 9-10 yr old he is by no means a failure , he can strip an engine down and put it back together, he has an apprenticeship lined up etc) and are happy with what he is doing. Even though some days he does nothing, he's still doing more than he ever did at school.
I have no idea if the mother in the op is doing the right thing or not, but going by the information the op has given it doesn't look like she has enough information to fully judge the situation.
I tend to get defensive about Ds's education status, but only because we are held to account to far higher standards than school ever was, even though arguably our actions will be giving ds a far better chance of future employment.
I replied to the point you made only, london. I'm addressing each new point or question you bring up at a time 
And I'm even filling in the gaps of your knowledge, about current procedure.
Why would EHE having easier access have assisted? EHE remit is not supposed to be welfare, they, rightly, pass on concerns to social services. In the case you mention, social services and other agencies were already heavily involved and visiting the family (with their much greater powers of access EHE doesn't have). The EHE provision was deemed below standard in any case, and more than a year of schooling had been missed entirely unaccounted for. etc etc
Some people who home Ed are crap at it though. I know one very bright woman who home educated her child. The child is now 21 has no qualifications and is virtually unemployable (they've never worked and gave up pretending to do anything other than read aged 18).
I know other people who have done a fab job though. One of their children needed up the best in the country at their interest, because they were able to spend their teenage years doing nothing else. And another friend who was the least likely person ever to home ed is doing a brilliant job much to my amazement but I'm not there to whiteness us. Maybe they actually eat sweets and watch to all day
Lynette That sounds like a few people I know.
Being able to devote time to their specialised interest is an interesting one for me. There's a child in one of the national groups who has achieved very high level (degree level equiv) in piano, other with similar success in academia, and others do elite level dance, ice skating, sport etc with the time commitment needed etc
Somebody mentioned exam specs. We have groups and people devoted to fine discussion of detail of exams (IGCSEs have traditionally been favoured for obvious reasons) for those who need extra support with the changes. They are managing very well indeed.
YANBU! I feel the same about home schooling
The OP didn't say that's how she feels about home ed. in general, to be fair. Try reading the thread properly perhaps, it does help
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