To wonder if home educators would have wanted to be educated at home?

[chocolatestrawberryvanilla]

Genuinely intended. I have noticed lots of home educators due to AMA.

Would you have been happy to have had your parents teach you?

I don't H.ed atm, but have done in the past.
yes, I would have loved my parents to teach me ft, when I was younger.
They tried their best when I got home from school, but there weren't the hours available like during the day at school.
my education was really poor and I left school with no qualifications.
The teachers bullied me and abused me mentally and physically.
So a big resounding yes, from me.

i think id have been a lot happier, but i dont think about it much, as my mum worked full time and was mostly a single parent, so wouldnt have been a sensible option. It took me decades to get over the bullying i got at school, so i think anything would have been better

I home ed and i have never really thought about it to be honest.
I enjoyed school but grew up in an affluent area with excellent schools and opportunities and things were pretty different then, no phonics tests or SATS in primary, no traffic light behaviour system, no staying in at playtime and so on.

I home ed. I was home educated. So, yes.

In answer to your question, I probably would have liked it and had a good education from my parents.

My experience of secondary school was horrible. I ended up getting pregnant at 15 and dropping out, although up until then I had been predicted top grades. I studied for my maths though independently and with a tutor and got an A* so I reckon if I could have done that for all my subjects away from the bullying and with a chance of having some self esteem I could have done well.
Not sure what the reality would have looked like with my dm, but other than that yes.

I would have loved it, it would have suited me down to the ground.

I spent every spare minute reading or watching nature, drawing butterflies, doing hedge surveys, that kind of thing. I was a weirdo at school but there are lots of kids like I was in the HE community.

I'm not a home educator, but I would have preferred absolutely anything compared to going to my secondary school. I'd have stayed home and educated myself if that had been an option (and got a better education in the process).

My parents weren't educated themselves and would have been useless, but I would have been happy to have the chance to read and learn autonomously (as I did anyway) without the pointless treadmill of school. I HE mine because of the awful bullying I experienced at secondary school - the same one the kids would have to go to if they went to school, and with some of the same useless, lazy, spiteful teachers who made my life a misery.

We're going abroad soon and I'll have to work full time, so the kids will go to school. I'm a bit worried about that but don't see an alternative.

I would have loved to be home educated even though I really enjoyed school. I home educate my own children and just can’t picture them being happy in a school environment.

I was a deeply auto didactic child so I would loved to have an 'unschooled' education. I would not have enjoyed school replicates at home.

I would home ed my DC if they request it.

Yes. I was bullied all through school and hated going. My mum was a teacher so confident I would have still received a decent education.

I wish I’d been educated at home. From the age of 13, my attendance was less than 50% so I pretty much educated myself anyway. School was hell. I had ASD and ADHD, both undiagnosed at the time.

I don’t home educate by the way but that’s because I don’t feel I’m knowledgable and capable enough to do so. If I was, I would.

I absolutely hated school but would have hated to be educated at home.

I'd have loved to have been home-ed'd. My sec school years were awful, stuck in a failing comp, going from a straight A student to failing all my GCEs, all due to bullying (verbal and physical), awful teachers who didn't give a toss, etc.

When we had our son, I was prepared to take him out of school and home ed him at the first sign of bullying etc. Luckily, his school is on top of pastoral care, so DS hasn't had any problems and is flourishing.

I'm not a HE-er past or present but thinking back to when my dad tried teaching me to drive, I think it's for the best I went to school! Once you're a teenager your parents know NOTHING

Can I ask why @skaross ?

100% yes. School was horrible due to bullying by both pupils and teachers. I think I'd have been more successful if I could have focused more on what I'm good at (and been able to explore subjects that aren't taught at school - or at least weren't at mine which was very focused on getting everyone to pass a narrow curriculum), too.

I would have loved it.

Oh hell no.

I thank the gods of no internet back then that my mother didn't learn HE existed once my father left and she changed so much from who she used to be.

Cos.. from the get go she'd have been attracted to the not having to cope with the daily rhythms and demands of school (uniform cleaned x 3, getting up early, coping with school correspondence etc.) like a shot. And she is very impulsive. We'd have been de registered before anybody had time to draw breath, let alone plan a way forward.

It would have become radical unschooling all the way as a cover story for releasing herself from all the responsibilities she didn't like, and blaming us for "not choosing to learn knowledge and skills" if we ended up with huge knowledge and skills gaps. Also it would have blown up (to unbearable levels) her self-flattering, internal vision of herself as artistic, free-thinking and avant guard.

We could easily have become emotional hostages for life, drowning in The Hoard alongside her.

I don't hate my (estranged) mum, despite how all that sounds. But she has a lot of issues and employed very effective, horribly damaging, strategies to make us her emotional minions. The idea of us 3 being trapped in that situation full time with no respite via school (which none of us particularly liked) makes my blood run cold. Especially when it comes to my younger sister, who went through a period of school refusing phobia. She has a science PHD and is a massive real world success. But she was a sad and broken little girl, who would never have become what she is today if the Pastoral care team hadn't been so brilliant at handling my mum's constant hyjacking of their strategies.

My daughters are 22 and 19 and both say home education was the best thing I ever did for them. It's nice to hear as you're never quite sure as a parent that you're doing the right thing!

Would love to home ed my eldest - but I don't think I have the patience / skills / creativity. And i would miss work.

But he might be happier than he is now at school...

we home ed our son (who has autism) as his needs were not being met in school. It is the best choice we have made. Perfect for him. However I was very happy in school (for the most part) and was better off there... very much an individual choice...

I was home educated and would love to do the same for my kids. DH is dead against it so we have a compromise that they will go to school but home ed is always there as an option.