To homeschool my highly intelligent child when I’m not very intelligent?

[FFSAnotherProblemToSolve]

Thinking taking DC (Yr8) out of secondary school and homeschooling. They are not happy to go to school, struggling to fit in despite being well liked, have a recently diagnosed medical condition which flares up at school due to stress, attendance this year has been below 60% due to side effects from medical condition.

Much happier at home and medical condition stable. Has friends but not interested in socialising outside of school as says they’re immature. Older adult siblings at home.

DC is very advanced and complains of being bored at school as well.

I have no doubt they could take GCSEs next year independently via online learning and progress onto A Levels well before age 16.

Homework is always done to a high level with no chasing from me, even when off school, consistently gets top marks in class tests despite low attendance. They have also done some GCSE test papers for fun and got A equivalent passes.

Plan is to include going to the gym 3/4 times a week and an evening activity with peers like Cadets or martial arts although this will be under duress probably.

I will be working part time remotely so at home.

Never did I ever think I’d be leaning to this and certainly wouldn’t have with my older DC.

Concerned DC may not as well as he would with a qualified teacher on hand though as I only have GCSEs so wouldn’t be much help (although I don’t think DC will need it).

What could go wrong?

It’s definitely the right choice for some children so YANBU. However if you’re unsure if it’ll work for you and your dc then rather than remove them from school would it be possible to ask the school to temporarily take them out of school to trial it or is it possible for your dc to wait until the summer holiday and trial it then?

You could join a local Home Ed group. There will be others of the same age and quite probably some group tutoring etc available. they can also steer you through sitting GCSEs.
There is a Home Ed board on MN too.

I have no doubt they could take GCSEs next year independently via online learning and progress onto A Levels well before age 16.

What’s the plan after that, though? It’s all very well taking exams early but they’d either need to wait for their peer group to take A levels or go to university early (and be a bit out of step with most of the other students)

I went to a university that had a lot of Scottish students who at the time tended to go a year or two earlier than English students (don’t know if that’s still the case). There was (obviously) a noticeable difference in maturity between the just turned 16 year olds and the 20 year olds who had taken a gap year and some of the social events weren’t completely accessible to the 16 and 17 year olds - imagine it’s worse these days with Think25.

Not saying don’t do it, and others will have better insight I’m sure, but just something to think about.

I would check out the cost of entering each GCSE as a home learner…

It sounds like your son is very academically able but there is quite a big jump from GCSE to A Level which might be hard to navigate without tuition. I think a PP's question regarding what the future plan is quite important. Is the medical condition likely to get better or worse? Also you say its triggered by school stress, if your son is doing well academically what are these stresses? It may be worth looking into these.

Unfortunately just being academic isn't really enough to make someone successful and happy in adult life, cultivating friendships and human interaction is really important for independence.

I did this with my year 9 DD. Never looked back, it was genuinely one of the best decisions we’ve made. It’s a lot of work but there are loads of groups out there. She’s got far more friends now than when she was at school. Her people skills are better than ever as she’s confident, happy and around different adults and young people in multiple settings.

Her academic achievements are through the roof as well. She completes maths and english via an online school (there’s quite a few out there). It’s not cheap but she’s achieving very highly and can fit in her studies around her other clubs, groups and classes.

My other DC are in school and thriving but she really struggled to settle in school. The school setting is great for some kids and terrible for others. Hope you find a solution that suits you both.

Feel free to PM me.

I would encourage you to look at an online school.

KS3 would be absolutely fine especially if your child is a motivated learner. There are curriculums you can use like White Rose Maths and video lessons either pre-recorded like Oak Academy or live on £2 Tuition Hub that are free or low cost.

GCSEs may be more tricky, it's expensive especially if you need a tutor. Some colleges do pre-16 GCSE courses though where you can do 2 or 3 a year part time with other home ed kids.

I agree with PP that you definitely need to consider the non-academic aspect of this too. If home schooling is a way for your child to opt out of interacting with peers (bar an hour or so a week) then is there a plan in place for ensuring they build up the vital skills needed for the rest of their life in terms of being able to interact with people and navigate relationships?

I think one peer activity a week is no were near enough.

My dd hates socialising with her peers and is now home educated. We don’t do groups as I’m not going to force her into uncomfortable situations. She socialises with adults so she’s not isolated and we’ve taken the pressure off totally.
Im life as an adult you rarely just socialise with your school cohort so forcing it feels wrong when dd detests it that much

My concern is that if you don't consider yourself "intelligent" and only have GCSEs that you won't be able to help your child and neither of you will know what he is missing. Already commenting that he is top of the class is interesting - how do you know?

I'd talk to the school too. Would they consider a pt timetable due to medical comdition so access to teachers and subjects but could complete some work at home and online?

Some parents with sen children or medical issues have successfully got inter high online funded by lea through statment/ehcp or whatever term is now. Might also be a consideration same with private school funding

I think you might be doing them a disservice by taking away the element of peer support and the personal growth created by being around other higher learners.

exposure to other cultures, experiences and encouraging curiosity etc will be lost.

For example even a basic school trip to the natural history museum or similar. Unless you can offer the same richness of education a teacher can, what’s the point. If you can pay for a tour guide or walk around saying mmm yes another stuff animal…

all the benefits of schooling lost on a child who could really use them for their own personal and intellectual stimulation. It would make their world very small.

How will you challenge them, create goals etc if they already surpass you? It’s shortsighted I think. Take more advice from here, from the school or look for another one, or a tutor.

Have you considered requesting an EHCNA and pursuing EOTAS?

If DD can’t attend school full time the LA must provide arrangements to ensure DD can access a suitable full time education (or as near to full time as her medical condition allows). For example, this could be online or home tuition.

Quite the opposite really with a museum trip ! Teachers are having to manage multiple children and give a brief oversight in little detail of certain things whereas a home educating parent can really focus 1-1 on the child and the child can choose what area they investigate at the museum and spend as long as they want at each particular exhibit so it’s far far superior to a rushed school trip in many areas

Are you competent to teach maths, physics, chemistry, French, geography, history etc to GCSE standard is the question.

I don’t think so with a museum trip. Multiple teachers are likely to have a lot of individual information, tid bits, education in specialist areas that enrich a museum trip that OP won’t have from just reading the card.

even just chatting about the day encourages intellectual curiosity

Personally I would look for a home school group or a series of tutors.

I think you are letting them opt out of the things that are difficult for them- the socialising, the working as part of a group just because they are academic. If your child wants to succeed in life they need to face their own challenges and learn to overcome them. Academic success is only part of learning life skills. They will end up becoming isolated as it often becomes harder to make a teenager go to clubs etc at the best of times even if they love it.

Or if you can afford private there are good tutorial colleges for kids that don’t fit into mainstream schooling.

If they’re very able I would just make sure they are getting enough specialist input for whatever is outside of your specialisms (maths, French etc).

You don't sound unintelligent to me. You sound like an astute and empathetic person who can look further down the road and is prepared to try new things for the benefit of their child.

Speaking as a homeschooled kid, I really think this would be worth a try, especially as your child sounds very self-motivated.

You don't need to be an expert in every subject area to homeschool effectively. It's more like being a 'steward of learning,' ensuring the child is put in touch with the people and resources they need to feel appropriately challenged.