To think home education will surge in popularity after this?

[Julyalready2020]

I realise lots of people aren’t able to home ed- or wouldn’t want to in a million years! - but for those who’ve considered it, AIBU to think there will now be a rise in them taking the plunge?

Time off school - without the school run, stress of homework/bullying, tests etc... kids able to pursue their own interests and lead a more relaxed life - maybe this will appeal to some?

For context, I don’t home educate (beyond lockdown!), but have considered it in the past and will again if the return to school doesn’t go well... I do also think school (esp in its present form) doesn’t suit all kids.

@stoptheride sorry to hear your DS had such a hard time

So pleased to hear he is happier now!

Having watched with horror as various parents I know have acted as though they have zero responsibility for their child's education

There is a massive difference between home-schooling because you have chosen to do it and have arranged your lifestyle to suit, and being forced to do some sort of home education (for different aged children) because schools are closed while trying to work at the same time.

However, I do think that there should be some inspection regime for home educators, because some parents just don't want their kids in school for religious, cultural and other reasons.

I've really enjoyed lockdown learning (one primary age child) and we are in the minority who have been doing full school days in uniform, completed an Arts Award over the half term etc etc - but I wouldn't choose to carry on over going back to school because 1) the child needs to interact with other children the same age and of diverse backgrounds and 2) I spent a long time getting into a competitive field at work so am not prepared to take an extended break that might see me lose access to it.

God no.

Most people need and want to work, and have now seen first hand what it's like trying to educate your own children, without the advantages of an unrelated teacher & structured school environment that encourages discipline. I think if anything people who wondered if home ed would be workable will have been thoroughly put off.

The only people I know who have tried home ed & stuck with it have got rather specific reasons why it works better for their child. One has a child with ASD not well served by the state education system. One has two children who were struggling academically but are in that category of not quite enough to warrant ECHP/extra help. One has a very bright child with a time consuming hobby which is helped by the flexibility. The last is a couple who have very strong views about a lot of things & have basically opted out of mainstream society entirely (isnt it nice when you have a trust fund and don't need to work....).

Notwithstanding most people need to work, I also think for the vast majority of children, school is the best thing for them, socially and academically, and most people know that.

I don't know. I think some of the people who previously thought that homeschooling would be a piece of cake have now realised how difficult it actually is and probably can't wait for their kids to go back to school full time.

Homeschooling in lockdown, and the way homeschooling should be done in normal situations are completely different.

I think a few will decide to home Ed but not a huge number. I have seen plenty of people saying they will pull their children out if they have to go back in September but when it comes to it I don’t think they will actually do it. Those who started out doing fancy timetables and activities and posted it all over social media soon stopped!
Home educating long term is a massive commitment and I think people have been spoilt with the huge amount of free resources that have appeared and many have been supported with work sent from schools too. Home ed is not usually like that plus we are usually really busy outside the home which has of course stopped! It might well prove difficult for new home educators to meet local people for a while because in our area we are looking at creating our own small meets with people we know.

No way. This time has made me realise that it's good to keep parent and teacher as separate roles. I also need to work.

@Thesearmsofmine I did a timetable, we stuck to it. We still do .. even in the 'holidays' we carried on mon-fri. Makes me sad to think the current HE groups are planning to stick to their bubbles and not welcome us new found HE into the fold. That said, I'm sure I'll find many likeminded people also embracing the new way of education around me.

Can the average parent home school to a high enough standard?

I think totally the opposite. I think for the vast majority of us we have realised its far ,far harder/more stressful & more patience/organisation requiring for both us and kids than we could have imagined.

To have the time, patience, energy levels, dedication, resources, ability, skills to home school a child at the same level they get in school I think is not possible for the vast majority. Not to mention the extreme importance of gaining social skills, interaction with peers and the freedom of having a playground/different setting to explore other than home each day. No way!

We got on fairly well with all this but it’s only because schools have been sending work home and my dc have done it.
I’m a big believer in learning off curriculum anyway so I’m glad we’ve had more chances to do that but I’ll be very happy when my dc can go back to school.
I don’t think we’d have done well without external structured resources.
Plus my dc love spending time with friends and taking part in school clubs with friends. I don’t have the energy to facilitate all that social stuff more regularly than the occasional play date.

@Julyalready2020 - a couple of things. Currently the government has watered down the legal rights of children with send. Basically they used to have the right to an education now its just 'best endeavours' with little known about what counts as best endevour. Sadly many of us with children with send have to use those rights to ensure our children get support that is set out for them in a legal document called an ehcp Without that legal backup, there is less liklihood essential things will be provided. It was difficult enough before as a lot of us find LAs very obstructive due to ethos and resources and now they have even less incentive.
Secondly the behaviour guidelines so far dont really look 'trauma informed'. There seems to be some vague nod to ehcps. But, not every child with needs is on the radar or achieves any sort of diagnosis. So a child being abused at home may struggle more with these guidelines and end up excluded and back home again. Our school has said any child that shouts out of turn gets removed to the ER room unless they are diagnosed with adhd. Many children take years to get a diagnosis. They claim its to reduce virus transmission but they havent banned shouting out when it is your turn.

I home Ed my own children and now my Grandchildren are HE so years of experience.

Current situation is nothing like normal HE as people have said all the clubs are shut down and little access to events etc but we enjoyed it to begin with - the relaxed pace etc. We decided to reduce the amount of work for a while and see what the children were drawn to naturally - to see if we could see where their key interests lay.

Our regular week consists of two days at home with 'work' for a couple of hours and then free time to play and the other days out at classes and groups - plus evening activities like scouts etc.

I think if you are trying to replicate school at home it would be incredibly difficult and stressful but most HE parents tend to have a much more fluid relaxed view - key skills like reading and maths are perhaps approached with more structure but everything else tends to be more child led and following their interests.

HE really is easy - there are simply so many resources and classes out there that anything you are not confident in is freely available to access - our main reason for HE is that we want our children to be able to access a far wider curriculum than available at school to be able to study things at a much greater depth and to have far more varied social interactions and settings to explore - this has not really been available in the same way during lockdown but in normal circumstances is simple to achieve.

I certainly won't! I have 4 DC and it's just not possible to give enough time to each. One takes a disproportionate amount of my time because he hates doing work at home - has always been the same with homework. I have also been really struck at the transformation in my preschooler, who was perfectly happy at home during lockdown, and wasn't particularly fussed about returning to preschool, but has had a new lease of life since getting there.

Others may, but I think it merits very careful consideration, particularly when former classmates return to school and move on together.

@wagtailred thanks for your reply that’s shocking! I didn’t know the law had changed in this way.

@Basecamp65 - that’s what I often hear from people who home ed - that’s it’s nothing like ‘school at home’ and definitely not ‘school at home in lockdown’ - it’s a different approach to education and doesn’t usually involve such rigid boundaries between learning and the rest of life... the part that seems difficult to me is how to transition with a child who is very used to the school set up - I’ve heard of ‘deschooling’ but am not really sure how it works.

StopTheRide, your situation is exactly what I was referring to and I'm glad your son is doing so much better ♥️

if you have near unlimited funds, why not. I have researched how it works in our home ed community:

If you don't need to work yourself, can spend hours every week planning the course work that is needed (whatever curriculum you chose they do need to learn something relevant)
if you can afford the private tutors to top it up
if you can afford all the clubs and activities that give your children their much needed daily social life

if you have children who react well on being taught by parents instead of a stranger they might find more accessible

The pro-argument was that the saving from holidays and days out during term times balance the actual cost of home ed, so that might work.

The schooling system works well for my family, because it saves me from the pressure of researching the basics, they are learning different views and opinion and we can concentrate on teaching things at home I think are overlooked or not taught enough.
The main thing is that we do need 2 full-time salaries at home, so we are all happy for the kids to go back.

I used to want too, but absolutely NOT!

DS enjoys school and has strong friendships there. As an only child I find it important that he has time away from me to make friends of his own and to learn to negotiate with his peers.

That said I have really enjoyed spending the past 3 months with him. He seems happier and less stressed most of the time. At 9 he's a really good age to be around. He's got enough knowledge and ability to get on with his school work with minimal interference from me.

I've loved not being in a constant rush to do the school run and get to clubs and activities.

I'd love some kind of middle ground. Part time schooling (3 or 4 days a week) would suit us very well.

@Bionical89 I have spoken with the Head and he's in total agreement. Is happy to support our transition to HE and back this up with the LA. My son will have a tutor and we are planning to convert our old out building into a learning zone. Money we will need to find and planning underway. Fortunate we have space and time to do this! My only regret is I continued to send him into to school as long as I did.. one size doesn't fit all.

Couple of people worrying about access to resources after lockdown if you keep home edding...we have so much available to us and outside of a pandemic a whole wealth of groups and activities! If that’s all that’s holding you back then I would say go for it! We love home Ed

The thing I would worry about and would be interested to hear from people who HE, is if a child decided (for whatever reason) that they wanted to go to mainstream school at a later stage for higher education, or even to persue a subject at gcse that the parent was not able to teach, would it be really hard to transition to a more formal structure when HE seems more relaxed in style and not a "classroom" type environment, in the main?

@MotherMorph yes I wonder this too...

Would love to read a ‘I home educate AMA’ if anyone fancies doing one!

My daughter has managed to access several GCSEs already and isn’t yet year 10. There are so many options. Online courses, working through syllabus yourself, home Ed groups running courses, tutors, functional skills courses at colleges. We are finding our options broader than schools really as we aren’t tied to whatever the school chooses to offer.

Woodmarsh
Of course they can but a little Google would tell you that some thing my child would look up from age 7 or 8 herself.

Home schooling and replicating school at home is not home education.. What people are doing currently is not home education. It rarely looks like that with no museums, park visits, days out, social activities groups and no lessons,/ activities /social clubs ranging from science club, forest school, art, drama, dance, tennis, maths, cookery and a 100 other subjects, there was even a home ed pottery class near me before. Even just having your child's homed friends over for playmates or doing some learning activity together at home is gone.

All that has gone with lockdown so what people are doing now is not home ed.

Also lots are working off sheets and videos and zoom from teachers is a form of home ed, but not home ed as you usually do most yourself or buy help in.

Obviously every group and activity is a learning situation but a teacher planning the lesson is unusual unless you do online school or are in some sort of cooperative.

I hope home ed does increase for those who realise their children were harmed by school and some are. School is not suitable for everyone, some children are just not school shaped.

I can't wait to get back to my normal home ed routine, I didn't think I would miss it but I have have and my home ed child desperately needs it.

School will not be an option ever for us, as she is year 7 in Sept and I can't square how I could send a child to secondary school when they have never even stepped foot in a primary school.

Those getting work from school and their child doing zoom lessons are not experiencing home ed in any way shape or form but simply school done at home. That's totally different and people are really misunderstanding the distinction.

And of course a parent can teach, they have done so for centuries before formal education was extended to those who were not rich or privileged. A teacher learns as much how to control 30 - 40 children with different needs and personalities as they do the actual subject.

A parent does not need to do that. They need to teach and facilitate learning. That can be done in many different ways and with one of many of different educational perspectives and ways like unschooling, structured, unstructured, outdoor and forest, montessori, steiner etc. Or like us, use them all as a buffet and pick and choose from everything to do what suits the child.

I can't wait till kids get back to school so all the threads about it disappear from mumsnet.