To think that home education should mean one parent has no requirement to work under UC?

[Homeeducationproblems]

I home educate but I’m in receipt of carers allowance so I don’t have to worry but many of the parents in the groups we attend have children with difficulties who couldn’t manage school and because they don’t get dla or are waiting for a dla claim (it takes months) they are under extreme pressure.

I know that some people plan to home educate and yes if its a choice for NT dc from age 4 then I can see why they’d be expected to fund that/work alongside but there’s a huge groups of parents struggling to home educate children with difficulties and it seems as if they aren’t recognised and supported ?

AIBU to think that if you’ve had to de register for a child who can’t manage school and you are engaging with your LA home education department (a lot of home educators refuse to engage so there should be something in place where UC have it verified ?) that you should be able to get UC with no requirement to work?

Unfortunately we don't have the Finnish school system, we have the British one, which doesn't offer what you describe. I think your understanding of what proper home education entails is lacking. For one thing, they don't sit at home all day with mum and dad. The classes, clubs and workshops available could fill everyday, if that's what we wanted. My child is also in Scouts and a sports team. She socialises every day and deals with all sorts of people. She had over 50 friends come to her birthday party last week. Friends who she sees regularly. Trust me when I say that home educated children arent all sat at home, being sheltered from the real world. She began her GCSEs in year 5. She is thriving both academically and socially. She's not alone in that. I've never known a happier, kinder and more interesting group of children than the home educated children we know. They find their passion and can talk all day about it, because they are driven to learn about the subjects that interest them.

@LolaSmiles I'm not saying unschooling isn't amazing, it really really is, but as you say, it takes a tremendous amount of work. Lazy parents who read online that leaving your kid to get on with it will reap massive results are deluded and it hurts me to see. It's heartbreaking
Yes I agree with you. It's piggy-backing on something that is difficult to do well and twisting it into something else.

They're kidding themselves if they think their child sitting in their room playing computer games and browsing socials is going to give them the breadth of experiences that children with non-lazy parents give.

@underneaththeash this is exactly what my stepfather did with my sister. Thank god i still got to go to school.

Home education in this country needs a massive overhaul so that all children get their right to an education and regular safeguarding checks.

I think it would open the floodgates.

Every other kid seems to have SEN these days.

Education for this group is important, but I don't think home schooling is the answer.

I know we don't, that's my point- in the context of spending money on establishing this as a system with robust regulation in place (which is what it would need) it is a waste of money and would be better spent reforming the education system that is not inclusive, that is results orientated, that does not necessarily encourage creativity!

Why did you DD begin GCSEs at 11? It seems unnecessary and results orientated. A homeschooled child doesn't have a monopoly on being passionate about a subject, my DS is 16 studying Politics 'A' level, reads around the subject and could chat to you for a very long time on current affairs. There is no way my DC who are 16 and 12 would want me to be their teacher or a facilitator of all their learning needs. My 16 year old wants to be at 6th form college, he wants to be at a place of learning, with teachers who specialise in subjects, with a library where he can get all the books out he needs on his subjects for free, where they have careers' advice, getting in to Oxbridge advisors, extracurricular sports teams and clubs, hanging out with people his own age in the school cafe, all of this is on tap and is part of belonging to something, it is really important for teenage development to have independence and be making your own way and your own decisions.

I would like to see better funding for carers, including for those who are caring for children awaiting a diagnosis of some kind. I think evidence from a medical professional should be required to release this funding but the application process needs to be speeded up so that people don't have to wait for months on end.

I don't think there needs to be specific funding for home educators per se. Unless there is some kind of medical evidence, who would make the judgement about whether a child can function in school or not, and what's to stop a workshy parent from withdrawing their child for all of the wrong reasons?

Separate from any funding questions, I do think there should be proper regulation of home education, for safeguarding reasons and to ensure that children are having their right to an education fully met. I have no idea why there is so much opposition to this idea in the home ed community. If people are doing a good job of educating their kids, I don't see what they have to hide.

People would start having kids to keep them at home and that would produce a very uneducated underclass of children who were denied education by their parents just to not have to work, and the state would have let those children down.

I agree with this. I understand the dilemma for people whose kids are really struggling due to SEND or other factors but I honestly think this would turn into a charter for neglectful parents looking for a get out of jail free. As it is there’s no proper oversight of home schooling. So many adults are desperate for an excuse not to have to work or play any part in society and kids would fall through the gaps.

I'd rather all DC were provided with an education that suits their needs so that parents weren't pushed into home educating out of desperation.

Possibly some funding could be given to home educated children for tuition, alternative school provisions and exams. Receipts would need to be shown, so it couldn't be abused. Although that doesn't give any money towards living costs, it reduces expense. As these children are not costing schools money, I think that would be fair, and the money would have to be spent on them so could not be abused by parents who just don't want to work. It might also cover some of the costs of sending children to alternative provision e.g. part time forest schools or progressive schools, allowing the parent to work.

Yes, I agree and on the back of this I have a good friend who is trying to get her DD in to a special needs school when she turns 11 and it is a complete nightmare. My friend would like to go back to a career of sorts but doesn't have that option when there is no availability or provisions made, by default she can see she may have to home school.

Sorry I'm not funding your desire to stay home with your kids

Schooled children don't have the monopoly on the things you have listed either. Why would you think that home ed children don't have the opportunities to hang out with friends or belong to a community consisting of their peers? Of course they do!
As for being in a place of learning, everywhere is a place of learning and libraries are free to use. My DD began her Spanish GCSE at that age because she loves it and asked to do it. She has every intention of going to University and these institutions look very favourably on home educated children who have gained qualifications and are self motivated.
I have one child in school, as was their choice and one home ed. I more than understand the pros and cons for each. As somebody with real experience of both, I know which one I think is better.

The state secondary schools near me are a nightmare for SEN children, quite possibly NT children too. As well as being noisy and chaotic, there is a culture of vaping, drugs and underage sex. I don't know if many state secondary schools suffer from these issues, but they certainly are not being addressed. Though strangely, they are very quick to issue detentions for homework and uniform issues.

Home education has always been protected as a right under benefits rules, so for example a single parent home educator isn't obliged to look for work during home educating times.

However, the laws are increasingly draconian and home education increasingly a luxury for the rich rather than a right.

I'm pretty sure if a child did have genuine needs and reasons why they couldn't attend school and they were waiting for a DLA award then a Uc work coach does have the discretion to reduce or turn off work search commitments.

No. Not if you are electively home educating. And I say that as someone who has home educated for years.

I've outlined that passion for a subject can be from a conventional setting and is not just the outcome of an alternative education which is what you appeared to be implying.

I don't think all state schools are like that but to some degree you are going to get some children that aren't very well behaved as the school population is so vast. I think it does teach you how to deal with all sorts of people though before you reach adulthood. Living in a bubble where everyone is nice is not reality.

@Goldenbear I see what you are saying about living in a bubble, and I certainly hope other secondaries don't have these problems. To me 11 year olds being taught how to vape, take drugs etc is utterly tragic, and I don't believe they are ready to be exposed to this kind of variety. Learning that not everybody is nice happens quite naturally, from the grumpy neighbours to the child who hits you on every play date, no need to be exposed to drugs to find that out, imo. I may be off topic, but I was just agreeing that schools could considerably improve so that less parents feel forced into home education as their only option.

When teachers are crying out that classrooms are in such a bad state, it's impossible to keep saying that school is best and home ed is a failure. I don't want my DD subjected to the things going on in schools. She is fully integrated into society. Meeting and befriending a variety of people, SEN kids included. But she, at such an impressionable age, does not have to deal with the things that are going on in schools at the moment.
I would read this thread and come back to tell us how home ed kids should be subjected to this if they want to live in society.
www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4903231-inclusion-policies-are-not-working

The main problem is that school funding has been cut to the bone whilst all sorts of costs have gone up. So it costs more to get an educational psychologist assessment etc but the funding available hasn't gone up. There's also a teacher retention and recruitment crisis. CAMHS waiting lists are a few YEARS in many places, which would be a failure for adults but when you think this will be a significant chunk of a child's childhood it's just totally and utterly broken.

Schools just aren't funded to properly support SEND students. And, partly as a result ,more and more parents are homeschooling not really out of choice but out of desperation and out of fear of what will happen to their child if they don't.

I work in an education related field and I've NEVER seen so many parents homeschooling and the increase is largely not among those who ideologically want to, it's parents on their knees after a year or two with a struggling child, trying to get them into school, trying to get them help, and being blamed and fined for non attendance (I know not all schools / Local Authorities do this, but some do). It's really, really sad.

I also know quite a few families who are DESPERATE for help from the LA and just don't get any. One mother said to me she'd called and called and emailed and no-one had got back to her. She was at the end of her tether.

I also hate this idea that life is so utterly crap in this country that children need to 'get used to' things like drug taking and sex when they're 12.

Are we really so beaten down THIS is what we want for our children?

I think this is falling for the right wing press headlines and many children at 12 are not doing any of these things. Life as an older teenager/younger person is sometimes impulsive and risk taking it doesn't mean that young person is beyond redemption, or that they are correspondingly not doing well. I don't think it's the parents right to take that freedom of choice away from teenagers as you are denying a creativity of thought, you are prohibiting that development.

LA cannot afford to set up departments ro monitor home education in the way that would be required for such a system. Many parents would refuse to follow any instructions anyway. Many home educators follow an unschooling approach where there are few expectations if children if any. There are also many patents who would mess around and engage minimally.