To think that Home Educated children should be inspected every year?

[jennymanara]

I think home education can work. I know a fair number of parents who are home educating from some who teach their kids to those who are unschoolers.
But I also think there are parents who home educate who are not up to the job and claim to be unschooling, but are in fact just educationally neglecting their children.
There should be an annual inspection of all kids being home schooled. This should check that children are actually getting some form of education, and not just left for example to play minesweeper all day, as one single mother I knew did with her teenage son.

Nothing like generalizing from the particular.

As with everything there are bound to be occasional parents who aren't doing he 'right' thing, but I know quite a few home schooled DC and they're nothing short of spectacular.

Knowing one person who allowed their DC to play minesweeper (and surely this was in the 90's because there are far better games to play now than minesweeper) means you just know one person who isn't homeschooling the way you think they ought. It doesn't represent the whole home ed community any more than me having blonde hair represents blondes across the world.

Do I think agencies ( not sure who ) should see a child at some point .

However there are many children homeschhooled. As the schools cannot cope with sen’s . Children who are waiting on an appropriate school .

So it is far more complicated than it seems

*s

@FudgeBrownie2019 It was 2 years ago. And I think I have the name of the game wrong? Its not that ancient computer one.

the schools cannot cope with sen. Children who are waiting on an appropriate school

This is a valid point. DS1 has ASD and does well in his mainstream school. He had a point several years ago where we were very close to removing him for his mental health and allowing him to be homeschooled because his former school simply wasn't handling him with any kind of support or kindness. Parents of children with SEN are often stuck in a situation where they're forced to remove their child from mainstream school because of lack of funding/support/diagnosis and left to almost sink or swim. This isn't something parents would do lightly, but having seen first hand how badly (and quickly) a child's mental health can deteriorate with mishandling at school, I'm not surprised parents are forced to remove children so often.

This is not a post against home education. I am saying that HE can be done well or done spectacularly badly. I have seen both. At the moment these parents in most areas are just left to get on with it without any over sight, and those who do it spectacularly badly fail their children. Nobody is doing anything at all to look out for these children.

Minecraft?

Yes that is it, where you build things.

God could you imagine playing minesweeper for hours on end!

I think there should quite possibly be one check per key stage. Then it should be a bit like Ofsted, if they are doing fine, no concerns leave them alone for a few years.
I also think that people should have to register that they are homeschooling. At the moment I think (is this right?) that if they never enter education at all they can fly under the radar? That strikes me as a massive safeguarding risk. (NB Not because home-schoolers are more of a risk, but because someone who is more of a risk is maybe more likely to home school.)

Totally. If they don't see a GP or health visitor, they can disappear too easily. Plus as you say, there's no way of gauging that they are receiving an education that will set them up for a happy and successful life.

I agree, all children deserve a good education and that includes homeschooled children. I don't think that they should be put under the scrutiny that schools are though, with lesson plans etc, but I think there should be checks to ensure that what the child is receiving isn't putting them at a disadvantage.

I am not suggesting an OFSTED type regime. Just a visit to meet the kids, check that their education has actually progressed since the last year, and ask the parent about the type of education being provided.

Totally agree. As a parent who has homeschooled we were never checked in the 3 years we were doing it so had no indication as to whether my ds was getting the education he needed.

My Ofsted-like was wrt frequency and hands off if doing fine.
Not to do with what they look for.

All children should be fed a healthy balanced diet. Some kids don't get fed properly, and some are even starved to death. Therefore should every family with a baby or older child have their menu plans checked over for nutritional balance and their eating schedules scrutinised?

No, of course not. That would be disproportionate and an invasion of family life. So are enforced educational checks. Some children would be distressed and traumatised by this, especially those who have been damaged by their school experience.

I homeschooled my son for 3 years and we were inspected by the LEA every six months...I thought that was normal?

Nope because too many children are off-rolled by their school, or are removed due to unsupported SEN/mental health, or are waiting for a suitable school placement.

Their parents didn't chose to home educate - they had no choice.

In these situations the LA should be held to account for their failure to provide an education for these children, not the parents.

YANBU
I know that some people can homeschool perfectly well. But if the parent isn't educated past GCSE or they hated school themselves (which is a motivator for many I've met) or just has no control over their kid or is too lazy to get up on time every day (yes I've met the worst of the genre being a social worker!) then they should get inspected and barred from doing it.

YANBU. I’d say the checks should be more than yearly, funded by the parents and formal controlled assessments done at the end of each academic year to ensure the child is on track for the end of year standards to ensure the education meets standards.

Most NT Home Ed children are above and beyond their peers OP. Spectacular as a previous poster said, is accurate for most.

They are already regularly assessed if the local councils deem them to require it. Most Home Ed parents are also happy to let this happen. Anything more is a total invasion of privacy and family life, rightly so.

The current system works fine. Just like other systems, some lazy/religious nut arseholes abuse the loopholes.

I'd be more concerned why you seem so threatened by the concept, rather than the faux concern you have for children not being educated in the (rather poor) mainstream education system.

And can we not first do something about the massive numbers of children that are failed by the school system? That is a much bigger and more serious problem.

@FrenchyQ No it is not normal. In fact it is so abnormal I know the area you must live in. Most places do not do any checks on HE children.

And can we not first do something about the massive numbers of children that are failed by the school system? That is a much bigger and more serious problem

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