Neighbours homeschooled kids play out ALL day. AIBU?

[EdwinaMonsoon]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Looking for a bit of advice if possible.

We live in terraced housing in a family area, so since Summer holidays started most of our neighbours kids have been out playing in their gardens during the day, which is absolutely fine, it's Summer holidays so that's to be expected. But even when the new term starts next week, the children who live next door to us will STILL be playing out.

The family moved here in March(?), they have 2 children who I assumed weren't old enough for school yet, but in a recent chat with the parents we found out they are, in fact, homeschooled.

They're out in the garden from about 10am-8pm every single day. They're not the type of children who scream and shriek, which I appreciate, but it's the constant chattering/playing noises for 10 hours every day, and not having a moments peace in my own garden (or when my windows are open, for that matter!). They have breaks in-between, which I assume is for food, but then come straight back out again. This has been ongoing since the day they moved in.

It's the fact that this is going to be an all-year round thing, not just school breaks/holidays that's bothering me. I understand they are entitled to use their garden as they please, but aren't we (and the rest of our neighbours) entitled to some peace every now and then?

We're not particularly familiar with the parents, we've only chatted with them in passing a handful of times, so my husband and I haven't raised this with them. And we don't know if this is even an issue we're entitled to raise.

If we did mention this to them, what could we say without coming across as offensive to their kids?

Ah I feel really sorry for them, even if they have nothing to hide a visit from the council will still be stressful. The kids are being well behaved so it would be shitty of you to report it.

I hope they move to a house with a bigger garden and nicer neighbours. I hope you get new neighbours with really big speakers.

Ur

Bullying and harassing? I haven't said a word to them, nor do I plan to.

But you aren’t concerned about their curriculum. You don’t have a clue what they do - presumably you’ve barely even seen them if you mistook a 7 year old for a preschooler. You don’t know how or in what way they learn. So please don’t dress up your malicious complaint as concern. You just don’t want them to make any noise. But unfortunately it’s a garden, not a library reading room. But good luck with a complaint that goes ‘my neighbours, who I don’t know, homeschool their kids (who I don’t know) but I don’t like them making noise so could you look into their curriculum?’

You'd have this problem if they weren't of school age, so it's only since you found out they're home schooled you think you should say something? Considering it sounds like they play quite nicely, I think you need to just accept it as a fact of life. Or move somewhere with no neighbours.

"Bullying and harassing? I haven't said a word to them, nor do I plan to."

But you suggested reporting them to the council. Do you not think that comes across as just a little bit like harassment? Do you not think that will get back to your neighbour? And how do you think that will work for neighbour relations?

Hope they're less petty than me, if I was homeschooling my children and the council told me my neighbour had expressed concern about how many lessons the kids were actually doing, I would take up very loud daily hourlong music lessons in the garden especially for you. Their quiet chitchattering may be preferable to 6 hours of garden based school lessons with none stop talking from their parents.

Urgh. I had some sympathy with you until you started talking about reporting them to the council. Home / unschooling is a perfectly valid way of educating children. At that age, they may well not yet have started following any curriculum, but might do this coming year.

Most European countries don't start formal education until 6 or 7, so it's really not late at all to be starting an education.

I'd advise you to stop the curtain twitching and let them get on with raising their kids - sounds as if they parents highly invested in their children.

I was going to scroll on by, but this is unnecessarily bitchy. How and when they teach their kids is absolutely none of your business.

The children aren't necessarily 'quiet' by the way, they're not little mice. I just said they don't scream and screech.

They don’t need to be ‘quiet.’ It’s a garden. Haven’t you heard of indoor voices? The garden is exactly the place for outdoor voices! If they’re not screaming and screeching but just playing then they’re making appropriate noises for the garden. Yes it is annoying - same as a dog barking or neighbour playing music. But that’s part of living with others.

Still not.illegal. they are allowed to exist.

Was an adult out there with them during term time? Unless they are out there on their own with no adult input at all I don’t think you have any valid reason to approach the council about the ‘curriculum’, the reason many parents choose to homeschool is exactly so that they can foster learning through play and outdoor explanation and other naturally occurring experiences and not through following a curriculum or subscribing to indoor sit-down type learning. A lot of educational approaches which many home educators subscribe to (Eg: Montessori, Steiner) don’t support any formal lesson type learning until at least 7 so lots of play doesn’t seem unusual given the children’s ages.

I would also assume that come the colder months the children will be out less often, a lot of homeschool approaches lean towards following and using the different seasons to influence the daily rhythms and natural focus of learning activities across the year. You might find that they are using the warm weather to focus on introducing ideas and concepts the children can learn through outdoor play but that come the colder weather they focus on more indoor activities to support their learning.

I know. I was referring to the poster who said "they're just quietly chit-chatting", when that's not the case most of the time.

Your story is changing to suit your agenda.

How do you know it’s going to be an all year round thing? It’s still summer.

Good lord what is the world coming to. If the kids were inside all day you'd be calling the police to do a welfare check because you've had neither sight nor sound of them.

Where do people like you come from?! What goes on inside your brain for you to think 'I need to call the council because the neighbour's kids are enjoying their garden during the summer'?

Don't like the noise? Find a house with on neighbours.

It irritates you. The onus is on you to find a solution. The neighbours aren't doing anything wrong.

It's kind of annoying when someone starts an aibu and then it's like a webchat with then about why they're not u at all

Op, yabu.

Get some noise cancelling headphones.

YABU you could have way worse neighbours

They are using their garden as is their right. Not overly noisy, not at unreasonable times. Get over it or move and do not live in a terrace row. You are being petty and vindictive because you cannot cope with normal daily noise. Home schooled lids need much fewer hours learning than kids in a large classroom and that learning does not have to be at a desk. By all means ring the education officer but be prepared to fall out with tour neighbours and make yourself even more unpopular as i suspect by your attitude you probably already are.

No, you're not 'entitled to peace'.

People can be in their own gardens as much as they like.

Just be glad you don't live next door to a childminder.

It's irrelevant that they're home educated. Even if you complain to the council, they can't do anything.

Buy some earplugs.

There is nothing you can do honestly.

And you know as well as anyone that calling the council and reporting them, pretending it’s because you are concerned about their education, is nasty in the extreme. presumably you created this thread in the hope that someone would make you feel better about it.

Even if you did it, it wouldn’t do any good, they’ll be following some kind of learning throw play curriculum.

“Get some noise cancelling headphones.“

This

From your description it sounds like they are meeting a lot of the eyfs goals. Language focus, tick. Motor skills, tick.
Sounds like sound provision to me.
You'll look stupid if you attempt to shop them.
They're not even required to follow a curriculum but this raises no safeguarding concerns so no one will be interested.

I home ed one of my children, and at KS1 age we did an hour a day of 'formal' learning at most.