Stop homeschooling your children.

[pentagonisapentagon]

I run an educational consultancy and exam company. We produce books that most parents in our area of education will purchase. Home educating your children makes us money.

However. STOP. Now I don’t mean those that have children with severe issues (this is a small %, everyone likes to diagnose their children with some form of disorder and it isn’t those I’m talking about) who would benefit out the classroom / often awaiting a better school option.

I mean the parents who are tired with the education system - lots of moans that they can’t take their children for a holiday, annoyed about not being allowed make up, the rules being too hard. You can barely spell, stop trying to teach your children yourself. These children are being FAILED by their parents.

By all means, if you have the relationship, time, ability and means to provide a solid home education system (inc money for tutors which will be needed) - go ahead. Just ensure you’re covering the social aspect.

I am seeing the advice to home school EVERYWHERE. Mumsnet and Facebook filled with the poor advice. It’s detrimental to all parties involved.

I’d love to know others thoughts on this.

Exactly this. My youngest has 1:1 in mainstream school because he was SEN (and we can’t get a place in a specialist school for love nor money). He’s not disruptive, he’d just sit and stare into space if he didn’t have 1:1. But I’ve heard a lot of veiled comments from other parents about how much ‘extra’ he gets compared to other kids and the unfairness of it. People don’t want kids with SEN in their child’s class.

I think it must be really difficult to home school. Im a teacher and I know I’m not capable of it. Also my children became kind of limp and lethargic during lockdown and are much more energised by school life. That is character dependent I suppose. They thrive from the challenge and social aspect of school. But wouldn’t judge anyone who chose to homeschool as many state schools are places where none thrive and barely any learn. What’s the point in just trying to survive school?

It’s a myth of the highest order that HE is anything like lockdown home-learning.

Im an ex teacher and you most definitely could HE but you’d have to do a lot of ‘deschooling’ yourself to do 😁 As i did.

As a teacher, I'm torn over this.

On one hand, teachers are underfunded and overstretched, which means some children are inevitably left behind because teachers and support staff can't adequately help them. Mainstream schools are not the setting for some students, but in the name of inclusion, all students must attend mainstream, which makes life harder for both the students not suited for mainstream, and the ones that are.

On the other hand, so many parents are seeing a rose-tinted view of home schooling that they see through Instagram and social media. It's not all going to farms, baking cakes and painting nice pictures. Teachers are specifically qualified to help your child, and being yelled at by parents who think they could do better does not help.

I think it's the same as everything - works for some, not for others.

But it's offensive and disingenuous to say that homeschooling is the same as teaching by a qualified teacher.

It isn’t ‘the same’ as teaching by a qualified teacher, but that doesn’t have any bearing on whether it’s effective teaching.

I'd be interested to hear in what you class as 'effective' teaching?

But it’s offensive and disingenuous to say that homeschooling is the same as teaching by a qualified teacher.

No one is remotely saying that though.
As a teacher turned HE parent I can tell you you don’t ‘teach’.

My children don’t learn 8 or 9 discreet subjects. They learn in an organic natural way through life. We don’t replicate school at home so we don’t need a teacher-pupil dynamic.

What do you meant that I 'don't teach'? What am I doing standing in front of 5 classes of 30 children for 5 hours a day??

Teaching that is effective? . That is, teaching that fulfils its purpose.

The problem with the LA/the state is that they are offering nothing.

If parents were offered safe, effective schools staffed by lots of enthusiastic teachers so children could get a great education then there would be a lot less home educating.
If parents were offered resources and support to home educate effectively then there would be a lot more engagement with the LA.

But when you get neither of those things, what possible benefit is there in letting the LA 'interfere'?
The Home Ed officers aren't teachers, they've never educated anyone at school or home, they can't give me anything - why should I engage more than legally necessary?

Of course it's not the same. No qualified teacher could possibly be expected to teach the number of subjects, let alone the range, mine are choosing, in a classroom based timetabled day with all that involves alongside 29 others.
It has no bearing on their teaching abilities vs our facilitating abilities.

It is comparing apples and oranges, they are both fruit, and there's other dualities, like you can make preserves from both, but there it ends, and it would be foolish to suggest one was an automatic better choice for all situations than the other.

Home education is nothing like being in a class of 30 with a qualified teacher standing in front of them for 5 hours a day And no one would suggest it is!

I think she means as a home educator who was a teacher, she doesn't 'teach.'

@Thepeopleversuswork
Hands up; I don't use Facebook, so never seen it in person.
But aren't these the same sort of hardcore parents who when their children get detentions, are excluded, forced managed moved, expelled, placed in secure units, convicted of crimes,sent to YOU's etc, refuse to accept their child may have done anything to have deserved any of it and are outraged about their rights, and see school, LA and courts as being the man, and they aint dealing with the feds?
Most seem to be previously school educated parents who have come out ill educated and angry with what failed them in life.

I agree a fuck you approach is generally detrimental. But I'd also say many of those parents are detrimental in many other ways, full stop and you can't control their attitudes other than (sometimes) in the court room.
They are the mass written off by society.

We used to expect schools and authorities to do something with their kids in school, to give them chances despite their backgrounds. Poorer arrears had to take them. The rest of us fought to not have our Dc's go to those schools with them, many of us lost. Their kids coasted through ill educated, ours suffered at their hands.

Then schools were stripped of power, and resources but were expected to now use proof of progress measures, fines, no term holidays, SS, etc instead of forging relationships keeping bad parents onside.

I'm not sure what 'calling out' achieves, if we have nothing to offer them...

I would say though, I do know with one (religion based) group, is they have a general chat page and an education page. The tone on each is very different, the chat page being pretty volatile (mainly about prejudice) and the education page is mainly sedate and practical.

@TeacherAnonymous123

On the other hand, so many parents are seeing a rose-tinted view of home schooling that they see through Instagram and social media. It's not all going to farms, baking cakes and painting nice pictures. Teachers are specifically qualified to help your child, and being yelled at by parents who think they could do better does not help.

No teacher should be yelled at by parents.

But, you do have to wonder where those that do, and those 'so many parents' who buy into rose tinted views of anything on social media, got their education, and just how effective that education appears to have been, if they left education lacking critical thinking and communication skills.

I mean me. I don’t teach my children. ‘You don’t teach’ as in you don’t teach when you HE!

But Lockdown wasn't a representation of Home Education. We don't insist our DC stay at home except an hour of exercise a day! DC are energised by Home Education in the same way they are by school.

No one says Home Education is the same as being taught by a teacher (putting aside time spent in various classes.) It is completely different. The parent is more in the role of facilitator a lot of the time. Other times they may be like a 1:1 tutor. They are also able to tailor things to the individual DC. The teacher has 30 DC, has to manage behaviour, disruptions, general 'herding' of the DC round the building. They have to educate the DC completely differently due to the situation.

For something to be effective it has to achieve the goals aimed for. So a couple of very simple examples, you want your DC to learn to read - if they manage to learn to read then the education was effective. They want to get a 7 in their Maths GCSE - they do that - their education was effective.

Completely appreciate your response, however I would argue that critical thinking and communication skills start from birth and are a parenting responsibility...

OMG! She clearly said she doesn't teach as a home educator! 😂

My 12 Yr old asd, adhd chikd is not naughty in class, she is extremely bright and in top set. She's the perfect student but she gets bullied

Don't label all sen children like this,,
I actually fin its the kids who are neglected that portray the worst behaviours

I’m on the fence. I love education and I love learning & teaching.

School suits my DC perfectly - they thrive on it. But the headteacher is very down to Earth and supports the school in a “school is an unnatural environment for children” motto - so whenever it isn’t raining the children are outside playing and learning. It’s a great school but it’s a rare sort of school. (Previous school was awful!)

I have however, watched my cousin go from being a confident and clever little boy to having no self esteem and becoming very mentally unwell. My auntie took him out of school and home educated him until he recovered. He gained his GCSEs at home, and went to college and university as per normal. He’s a well rounded, awesome human. A good result for a mentally broken 8 year old.

again, OTOH there is a homeschooling family at Scouts. They clearly go to Scouts for their weekly 90 minutes socialising. The parents have no interest in society - don’t believe in working, don’t believe in education and they believe in many conspiracy theories relating to the economy, society and the government. it’s difficult to navigate this family as they clearly live in their own very remote bubble. The children are suffering and it’s clear to see.

So it all depends on how, what, when and why! But it can work well and it can also be disastrous :/

I'd agree with you, but schools a long time ago both set themselves up and were 'set up' to both pick up what parents had failed in, and to enhance what existed or parents had succeeded with, as part of their remit to educate.

We start early with communication skills in class, requiring children to raise their hand to communicate with their teacher, not just shout out.
Regardless of how good or bad their parenting is, children are taught in school about what is socially acceptable communication or not and always where. (if with draconian methods!)

Both my adult teaching Dc's expect to teach critical thinking skills as part of their remit.

What?