The worst ad ever for Home Ed

[Allthebestnamesareused]

So I just saw this on Facebook

www.comeonengland.org/2017/02/02/mum-homeschools-kids-by-letting-them-play-video-ga/

Each to their own and all that and I assume she is being checked to see that she is really home schooling but AIBU to say she is not doing home educators a massive favour here?

[deblet]

No unschooling is where the children follow their own interests with no formal education

[BarbarianMum]

It's not unschooling it's "autonomous education". In a nutshell, child decides what (if anything) they want to learn about and how and parent facilitates. Held up by some home edders as the pinnacle of the home ed philosophy and generally portrayed in wholly positive terms even if said child does nothing all day every day but play on minecraft.

[deblet]

I home educated my eldest son and quite a lot of the community unschooled. It works for some not so much for others. I didn't because my son was autistic and needed routine and I needed/wanted to measure his progress.

[OneWithTheForce]

Ahh ok, thanks everyone.

[RTKangaMummy]

I didn't think that was what she meant by learning to become a cook/chef

I imagined the daughter was meaning like mini master chef or mini bake off sort of cooking at the very least cooking roast dinners or casserole etc

Not bagel or pizza

I am not surprised the home ed community are annoyed with her putting out her version of home ed

I am sure there are some great home ed families out there but by the sounds of it there are some awful ones too that the children are being failed by

One thing that also puzzles me is what happens if your child wants to become a chemistry teacher (my DH was one before retirement) how do they do GSCE and A level chemistry at home? With the lack of access to equipment and chemicals etc? Or a Doctor or dentist or anything else chemistry A level is required

[ollieplimsoles]

This seems like 'unschooling' to me, when we considered HE for dd, we were disappointed to discover that about 99% of the kids home schooled locally to us were 'unschooled' with no structure. The parents see things like going to the shops to be the main lesson of the day.

We wanted something more structured for dd so we will be sending her to school.

[ollieplimsoles]

With the lack of access to equipment and chemicals etc? that's what worried me a bit when considering home ed, especially at high school they have access to proper science labs and teachers who are (hopefully) passionate about their specialist subject

[LilQueenie]

With the lack of access to equipment and chemicals etc?

Honestly we have loads of book about science for kids complete with expermients for 3 years plus. As they get older a home chemistry kit and microscope are all you need to achieve what they do in high school.

[TurncoatEwok]

We are out and about all the time too, far less screen time since starting HE.

This article was a really bad idea, she must have known it would be twisted like that in a tabloid. That said it'll all be forgotten in a few days I think.

I am lucky that we've really settled into HE (2 year 'anniversary' later this month) and have lots of support, but I know some who aren't in that position and have family and friends who will read this and be even more convinced that home ed is awful and just use it as 'evidence' that it's wrong etc.

[deblet]

ollieplimsoles You don't need a local group to structure do it yourself. I used various sources over the years Kip Mcgrath and Kumon for English and Maths and Science from a private tutor. We did art and history from various local places it is a lovely thing home education when they are young it was harder as he got older but we managed. Don't let some mung bean eating, sheepskin wearing, flip flopping types put you off.

[OneWithTheForce]

ollie why does what other parents do affect how you educate in your own home? You can do structured education even if no-one around you does.

[LovelyBath77]

Don't you have to teach them some stuff so they can decide what they want to learn about in more depth? How can they know if they haven't experienced it? That's what i don't quite get about the homeschooling. As a teacher I know children will often think they aren't interested until they find out more.

[deblet]

Lovelybath77 yes you open them up to lots of things that's why it suited him as curriculums can be very limiting.You don't just leave them to play on a console all day. You can learn a lot from the internet mine do and did then but not just gaming.

[RTKangaMummy]

If think you can do GCSE and A level chemistry with just a home chemistry kit and a microscope then the best of luck with it

I totally see how you can do primary science but anything using dangerous chemicals or specialist apparatus I really don't see that you will be able to get to required level without access to a chemistry lab

Please could you link to the chemistry set and equipment you will be getting so I can show it to DH?

[TurncoatEwok]

It does make it easier though TBF, if some other families around you have a similar approach and there are more children around to learn with. For example we do a geography club and have recently set up a couple of learning co-ops to do different topics, and there are lots of workshops and courses arranged too. That stuff wouldn't really happen if there were no other children who wanted that kind of structure. We could do the same work at home by ourselves or with a private tutor but it wouldn't be the same as meeting up with friends to do it IYSWIM. We are lucky there is a huge and thriving home ed community here, and having small groups of friends to learn with as well as play with has really been what has fully settled us in to home ed. :)

[MuteButtonisOn]

I agree with deblet. You rarely hear about structured or semi-structured in the media unless it's hot-housing, prodigy or snowflake failure on Brightest Kids.

It is very hard work and not the easy option. It can also be very expensive, past primary.

[LovelyBath77]

I asked my DS (11) about how he'd feel if allowed to stay home and play computer games all day and he said, it would be good for a bit, but then it would feel like he'd 'fried his eyes' (he explained, it can feel like that is you spend too long gaming). He said he'd miss education, although thought there was a new Minecraft educational version out now though dad said it was all marketing. Also, he'd miss school, his friends, things like the DT room and all the equipment, food tech, art, the clubs and his tutor time. He'd prefer the refectory lunches like baked potato, beans and flapjack and wouldn't like too much pizza. Kind of glad both of mine love school.

[OneWithTheForce]

My 11 year is much the same lovely. Given the chance he would spend all day on the PS4 but would be a grumpy nightmare after a couple of days. Luckily he thrives in school, has friends and really gets a kick out of achieving well. He is lucky in that he finds the work just the right amount of challenging. My other DS is floundering in school. His self esteem is in his boots because he is not acheiveing anywhere near what his peers are and he thinks he is stupid. He is actually very bright and left to his own devices at home will opt to pick up the tablet and go find a topic that has taken his interest, go and create a 3D model of something etc. He very much wants to learn about things but the class environment just isn't working for him and is damaging his mental health.

[BorrowedHeart]

Would you look at that, two of her kids are overweight. I wonder why 🤔. I don't mind screen time, however to not teach numbers and letters etc and to expect them to get it by themselves off a game is weird? I'd be concerned they weren't learning enough. Games are for fun not to teach, especially the games her kids are playing.

[LovelyBath77]

With the unschooling and following own interests, what about things which might not seem very exciting or interesting, but might be useful? For example things like grammar?

Also, is this approach not teaching them that things need to be exciting / interesting and in later life would cause them to avoid 'boring' things. Life is not always full of excitement or interest and we need to be able to cope with that.

[LovelyBath77]

One to be honest, my son is struggling a bit with the academic side too and is also creative, sounds quite similar. However the school understand (I think) and he is finding the range of subjects, especially the more practical ones, better at secondary than primary. He still likes it though.

[StealthPolarBear]

"Phased" is starting to drive me mad. It's like it's been wrong for so long everyone who remembers how it should be is dying out :)

[roseshippy]

The blog is very unflattering, let alone the newspaper.

"For E it has been exclusively PS4 and the four new maps and DLC (another 3 letter acronym in the mix!) "

"Console gaming seems to suit his personality so much more "

Well yes, my son tries to spend his time gaming all the time, but we stop him because it caused him to get a lot of detentions and fall behind.

"For S it has been more Sims 4 - she is very into it atm juggling the families finances and delving deeper into the many aspects of the game."

Yeah, um, I mean I'm not saying it's 101% mindless, but to characterise it as a financial management game is nonsense. Planning a meal from Tesco for a family for week for £20 is nearer the mark.

"For O it has mostly been Roblox with friend G - they have played Natural disaster survival, Disaster Hotel , Elemental Battleground and Epic Mini Games"

Yeah not too much educational there tbh.

"O wanted a picture with doritos in his MLG glasses - I only bought them for the photo
"

He's 7? MLG is for teenagers at the youngest.

"
S has somehow cheated the tests on Sims 4 and has the characters doing all kind of unexpected things relationship wise."

Hmm.

"Excited for the new DLC on one of his games E woke (me) at 3am"

Um, go back to bed???

They also talk about playing Clash of Clans, which is a terrible game designed to addict children using sophisticated strategies. Literally every blog is about watching TV or playing games, with a token bit of cooking.

I think spending so much time gaming is really toxic.

[RTKangaMummy]

Does anyone know children's names cos calling them E etc is daft if you put their lives online IMHO or their ages?

The DD said her brother played 18+ games but she didn't cos they were not her style she preferred sims

What does the partner or father or whoever is bringing in the money do for a living? Is he mentioned in the blog? Does he "teach" the children anything?



Please could you link to the chemistry sets and apparatus for GCSE or A level students that you are getting? cos DH is genuinely interested

[LovelyBath77]

Is Clash of Clans the one where the kids badger you to pay more for coins to do more stuff in the game? If it is I think that's the one I put a stop to.