To think Home Education should be made illegal

[Viviennemary]

I would like to see a ban on HE except perhaps in a very very few cases and with good reason and under strict supervision.

Home bus driving sounds fun.

lol

My (formerly) home educated son is very sociable and has lots of friends, as well as being academically ahead.

I mean there is an argument to be made that sticking thirty kids of the same age in a classroom for 5 days a week isn't a particularly natural form of socialisation, but that's a whole other thread really.

About 400 people would need to be employed to see 100000 childen each month - an hours visit, travel and documentation

Assuming 2 teachers per 30 kids then the monitoring squad is about a tenth of the teacher needed

Tell me you have 'typical' children without telling me you have 'typical' children. It must be lovely to be so utterly clueless about the lack of provision for SEN kids. Perhaps educate yourself before you make more utterly ridiculous statements.

Never heard of this. Thought unschooling sounded like not educating.
Thanks for the clarity 😀

This is certainly not the experience I’ve had of my younger children’s schools. I’ve got one year 1 and one in. Year 6 and I don’t recognise that description of their school days. They do some fantastic, fun learning. Both my younger children are very clever and they have both had work tailored to them. This is a school that was failing until a few years ago in a deprived area, nothing fancy. They aren’t crammed in either, usually classes are ability split into smaller groups.

It also wasn’t the case when my home educated son went to school in year 8 either. Yes, secondary school is far more structured, but it wasn’t like a prison.

Schools are far from perfect, but so much drivel is spouted by people who are unhappy with their experience, or who home ed and feel like they have to justify it bashing schools.

My (formerly) home educated son is very sociable and has lots of friends, as well as being academically ahead.

Great. So what did Home Ed do for him? He would obviously have thrived in school. Home Ed by choice rather than necessity seems to be based on the feelings and needs of the parents not the interests of the child. If you can afford to homeschool you can probably afford to send a child to private school with smaller class sizes and a broader curriculum.

It’s understandable that emotions are high today with the sentencing but calling for a ban on all home Ed won’t solve abuse.

check the Human Rights of a child. Homeschooling is narrow and dangerous.

Wow, my daughter has thrived in every area of her life since becoming home-educated!

I'm sure he'd have been fine in school, but at the time he was immuno compromised and I didn't want him exposed to covid, and then he was getting on so well that we just carried on. Now he's at school I've been quite shocked by how narrow (and boring) the curriculum is.

It's not about being "property" (which is a term that doesn't belong with people), but who, in the majority of cases, is likely to take into consideration their individual needs and therefore, what is in best interest of the child. And a one size fits all box isn't it.

And actually I don't think he'd be doing as well academically if he'd been at school. Even the brightest children in the class don't seem to really read for pleasure. All the boys seem to want to do is play computer games and football.

I do think it needs to be regulated in some way so it safeguards children. No children are not peppery of the state, but sometimes parents do not keep their own children safe, and that is the issue. People cannot be trusted.

I do worry that HE isolated children from the wider world. What do they do for qualifications? Looking for a degree? Getting into the workplace? A school environment is largely designed to set children up for real life once they become adults, and HE does not offer a lot of this.

I also hate the fact that so many SN children are systematically swept under the carpet, and parents have to pick up the pieces. Every child should have access to safe, inclusive education outside of the home.

I don't think you meant that

Home education didn’t kill that poor child

her father and step mother did.

the systems in place didn’t question them - the reasons for that need to be asked and honestly answered.

School, local authority and neighbours all need to reflect on why they didn’t speak up against a known violent person.

so a teacher studies for 4 years to become qualified and a mum can just do it like that? !

I agree with this in the main. A lot of homeschooling is done for the good of the parents and not the needs of the child. Eventually children will need to face the big wide world. But now with the advent of working from home. Maybe they won't. It's not a good move IMHO.

I voted YABU although can understand why you have said this OP especially in light of recent events but it shouldn't be banned.

However I do think it needs to be much more heavily regulated and home schooled children should be visited regularly. There are alot of ND or bullied children that do not thrive in main stream schools and need to be removed for their well being and safety.

I would probably have put YANBU if you said children under SS investigation or care for neglect, domestic or sexual violence should not be allowed to be home schooled though. In fact I think that should be 100% ruled out and a safe/stable learning environment should be proven before allowing a child to be homeschooled.

Greater checks. Bit horrified on news that once a year. I was thinking more like a monthly check but goodness knows who they would get to do it with social workers in short supply

Too many posters on here don’t understand what home-ed offerings can be. Increased time with peers, better access to clubs and ability to take qualifications earlier/spread them out.

I don't think it should be banned but I do think all children should be able to benefit from gaining qualifications. So home ed children can get GCSE's or other qualifications without having to pay for them. I home ed 1 out of 3 of my children and I teach children who can't be in school. The majority love learning and want to succeed given the right environment to do so, unfortunately for many schools are not the right place for them.

Home educated children do face the big wide world.

They're not shut in cupboards all day.

Sticking to your group of 20 like minded home ed familes isn’t particularly natural either though, and I saw a lot of that throughout my home ed years.

My children at school are friends with children of all ages in the school, there’s 90 in each year for a start, lots of potential friends to chose from. I always find the forced school socialisation argument a weak one. I’ve seen some very lonely home ed kids whose parents will have you believe all is fine because a 12 year old loves being mates with a 6 year old, when the reality it, that’s the only option in their home ed community.