Home education

[Chortlesauraus]

Inspired by another thread but......AIBU to think that home schooling is a bit weird and the people that go down that route can sometimes be a little strange themselves?

I can't even really put my finger on why I find it all so odd....but maybe I'm missing something that home schoolers can enlighten me about

I always get the sense that people who home school are cut from the same cloth as Steiner School enthusiasts.....but that's just me casting wild aspersions 😆

I always think that if you’re considering it, you should ask yourself if you’re really as intelligent and informed as an entire school of teachers....

You say weird like it’s a bad thing OP

I have taught many ex home educated students ( a lot of parents stop at secondary and start using the system again) and since moving to primary teaching, seen a lot of children pulled out to home school. There is no one type of home schooler.

In secondary I taught 2 brothers who had been home schooled till year 9 and they were delightful and extremely focused. I also taught several who were more or less feral and just handed back to me "for exams".

I've seen parents take the eminently understandable decision to he their child, usually because that child has needs but does not qualify for the new stupidly high echp criteria. I don't blame them. In a class of 32, a high need child without extra paid for support is not getting what they deserve, and the teacher is probably on their knees.

But I've also seen children pulled out for the simple reason that the parents don't like what they've been told about the child, or to avoid investigation and awkward questions.

My own circle of friends includes a family who he whom I would happily leave my own kids with for a day of teaching, and one whose children still can't read at aged 12 and 9. They can rock climb though, and they know a lot about music.

It's not something it's possible to judge. In my own professional capacity I simply watch out for the vulnerable ones who might be pulled out for the wrong reasons.

I always think that if you’re considering it, you should ask yourself if you’re really as intelligent and informed as an entire school of teachers....;

Why, msgame? Asking parents to be experts - to a certain level - in anything and everything is a bit odd. I’d rather my children learn from someone who teaches, say, maths on a regular basis rather than someone who flicked through a book then night before and has to look up the answers...

One of my SILs was Steiner educated in Holland (think it’s more common there?) and she’s a doctor, her sister is a midwife and her brother is successful in something to do with finance. Clearly it’s doesn't damage your career prospects!

In many areas patents can provide a better education than schools.

I don't home educate and have one child at primary and one at secondary school. I think the above is right for secondary schools especially. My son says there is so much time spent by teachers trying to discipline bad behaviour in lessons that sometimes half of the lesson time is wasted. Combine that with teacher shortages in some subjects and some very poor teaching in some lessons and there is no doubt in my mind that I could teach him more at home in less hours. Luckily for us the poor teaching seems to be in subjects that my son won't be taking GCSE's in but for the kids that do take those subjects, the school will be failing them.

AIBU to think that home schooling is a bit weird and the people that go down that route can sometimes be a little strange themselves?

Yes, obviously. We know several families who home ed - its a popular choice here and on the increase nationally - they're all perfectly nice, normal people with nice kids.

the majority agree with you or schools wouldn't be so popular

People send their kids to school because it's the conventional thing to do and many don't have/want a choice! They don't do it because home educators are 'weird.'

There is so much ignorance about HE. People seem to have a very rigid idea of what it is and what it should be.

I have met more people I’ve thought strange in some way at the school gate than in home ed circles.

Exactly! As if there are no strange people in schools!

My neighbour used to home ed her kids until her (now ex) husband left.
Why? Because he was a controlling bastatd that wouldn't let the family live a normal life. She wasn't allowed out without him, the kids weren't allowed to play with other kids.
She kicked him out, and the kids now go to school, and they are a much happier family without him.
So when i look at home educating families I always think of them. 😔

Actually, I would add that the home educators we know are very conventional types, other than choosing to learn out of school. They're otherwise 'mainstream' types, not 'strange' in the least. The opposite really.

@dinosaursandtea to be fair a lot of teachers aren't experts either. Many don't even have degrees in the subject area they are teaching. A friend's son had an economics teacher who is by all accounts an utter cretin and doesn't seem to know any economic theory beyond 1930. I went to the tip school in my state (expensive private school with well paid teachers) and I would say that a good third of them were what I would call ignorant people. These were supposedly some of the best teachers in the country yet they had almost no knowledge of their subject beyond their lesson plans. I think that our children would stand a better chance with me/my DH/both of us teaching them. If I have learned anything throughout my metrication it is that a proper education can only be provided by a highly intelligent and highly educated person.

I don't think it's weird, but I wouldn't do it. I think it's great for people who have seriously ill children who cannot attend school, but school and isn't only about the lessons- it's also about the social side and you learn lots from that to apply to life... Plus I'm well educated and know I don't know enough to home ed my daughter and based on my job, where I come across a lot of home edders, lots of them don't have half the education. My ex was home educated til 11- he was such a smart guy but his mum totally turned him off school to the point that he didn't achieve his potential and still doesn't value education

Home ed kids get taught in the community too. My son attends practical science sessions and foreign language groups both run by qualified teachers. But I absolutely believe I can teach my son better than his previous teachers who handed me empty workbooks to look through when I attended parents evening and punished him for his vocal tics during quiet time.

Because dinosaur every time there is a discussion on home ed someone comes along and drops this idea about parents needing to be as qualified as trained teachers in order to be able to support their child in becoming educated, as though it's some kind of jewel of brilliance no one ever thought of before. You did that too by ending it with your (incorrect) use of ellipses. It's an opinion that ignores the many accounts of failing school systems that forces people into home education and just shows such a complete ignorance of the different ways in which people/children learn. The most effective way to mass teach large groups of children is arguably, with a bunch of individually qualified teachers who squeeze in some teaching while crowd controlling their thirty plus pupils round a school building. For a parent responsible for a couple of children, for obvious reasons it's entirely different. Just to inform you many home ed families outsource their subjects to suitably qualified people - tutors and the like - or they work cooperatively exchanging skills and knowledge to groups of children. Many are registered with on line, award winning schools, others study with the OU or join a college course at 14. There are just SO many ways to educate outside of a mainstream school environment.

My home ed 15 year old knows how to is ellipses by the way

school and isn't only about the lessons

Nor is HEing.

Just to add, on leaving school his tics disappeared along with his anxiety. I did an hour of maths with my son this morning before we went out to the park. He was able to complete more in a focused hour then he achieved in a day of school with the noise, crowd control and lack of support.

The British state education system is not great. Many of its products struggle with basic English, for starters. Bullying and low aspirations are endemic. My developing world education was vastly superior. If I can't afford to go private then home ed it is.

@Chortlesauraus home educators do get visits from the local authorities and if the parents were crap it seems much more likely they'd just send them to school which as has been pointed out here- doesn't seem to help much in most situations anyway. What's the point of this thread? To point out how dangerous and scary people going against the status quo are? I think people like you are more risky for never ever thinking outside the box you were told you needed to fit into and criticising and bitching about those who do. Also unschooling, autonomous, play based and child- led education is a thing (people getting all worked up about kids being allowed to explore and learn how they want) maybe read some John Holt. And I think it's great because then these kids learn that everything is learning and learning is fun and not what schools teach you (that learning is boring and tedious and to be avoided and things like games you're not learning anything from and you only learn by memorising and writing).

We've been for an interview and visits at a Steiner school, because where we are our daughter may have had to wait another year to go to school (and she would have started in September last year).
At the interview I was amazed how the two teachers genuinely assessed the child in front of them without any assumptions or bias. I can not describe it adequately but i genuinely felt that she was being seen in that moment with clear eyes and rational judgement.
Also th atmosphere at the school was really nice. All the work, especially wood and ceramics was amazing and the nursery was also really really nice.
I've never come across Steiner school until now, though I know of Montessori.
It might not be for everyone but then isn't the point that neither are traditional school methods?

I home school my children. I’m an ex teacher who became so disillusioned with the state system I decided not to put my own children through it. I love home education. I could write pages and pages of the positives. It’s surprising how many teachers left the profession and educate their own children at home.
When I was a child there was definitely a stereotypical home schooled child - usually a hippy type totally against anything deemed mainstream. I went to school but knew children who were home schooled.
These days the people who home educate are such a diverse bunch. There’s many reasons people choose to home educate.
There are people who feel that state education is poor / that there’s too much emphasis on tests / too much stress on children / bigger class sizes etc etc.
There are the traditional hippy, stick two fingers up to the state people.
There are religious families who were unable to get a space in the religious school of their choice or that there weren’t any schools of their religion in the area.
There are families with children with learning difficulties / special needs whose parents felt that the schools were unable to support their children’s needs sufficiently.
I love how diverse we all are. People always say oh what about socialisation? Or assume that home educating families are all the same so there’s no diversity like you’d find in schools.
But it’s the complete opposite. We’ve met all different types of people from all different walks of life that we wouldn’t have met otherwise - rich, poor, different religions and cultures and lifestyles.
We all have something in common though and I’ve found our local home ed community to be friendly, inclusive and accepting of everyone no matter their background.
As for my children, they are happy and achieving well. Both above where they need to be for their age groups. They socialise, get lots of excercise and fresh air as well as being in the books. It’s the best decision I ever made for my family.
So, yes yabu. There are no more weird people than there are in school.