A wave of illiterate “home schooled” children

[RedSkyatNight25]

Prepared to get torn apart, and I know many homeschool because the school environment isn’t right for their children (SEN, sensory issues - whatever else) and their needs aren’t met by school with a chronic lack of SEN placements and too much demand etc. I’m not naive to that. I also know some parents with adequate resource will ensure their children have a rounded education whilst being homeschooled.

But there seems to be a movement to homeschooling by people who are simply anti establishment with a point to prove. Their grammar and communication on social media tells me they’re not equipped to homeschool a child. Not least I think the socialisation and soft skills school provides are hugely important too. I suspect most of these parents either haven’t considered the benefits of school or hugely underestimated it, especially past primary are parents really equipped to teach ALL the subjects with sufficient skill if they lack the knowledge themselves? Are they not underestimating the skills and expertise of qualified teachers?

AIBU to think it’s really concerning? These are the next generation of our workforce and infrastructure. I personally think we are hugely privileged to live in a country with free education - I know it’s not perfect but I’m not convinced homeschooling is better for a vast majority.

I was never asked for anything, not offered a visit or any contact. I was always prepared to show what she was doing but never asked. I did think that was negligent

I have a friend who has made an excellent job of homeschooling her children. Even so, I recall hearing that one of the children regretted not attending school and not being in a school environment made it harder to access certain qualifications.

As a (now retired) secondary school middle manager, I became aware of several families where the boys were 'home schooled', but actually working with their fathers. The fathers and sons are functionally illiterate.

The LA is well aware of what is really happening, but it's easier for the LA to solve an attendance issue by letting the families tick a box and go on like this. There was a specific liaison officer for the group, but she was rather naive in many respects.

Prior to leaving school, the boys were previously frequently absent although the girls stayed in school until 16.

I recall that we had one lad (from a very different background) who came to us in S6. He had no formal qualifications at all but needed some in order to attend a particular college course. His twin wasn't going to college, so stayed at home.

He wasn't in my department: the father didn't want him anywhere near it, for fear of what the boy might encounter - the father was a pastor of some description.

I'm not sure how the boy managed in the end. He was taking only science qualifications: I recall that he came equipped with his own textbook which claimed that the Earth was only six thousand years old.

I home schooled my 4 children..the eldest three for primary age and the youngest untill year 7 .
But mine were very structured and all main subjects every day ..
When they joined a school they were immediately put in on gifted and talented schemes
Two have a maths degree 1 st class ,one has a degree in criminology and is high up in the police force.
I met many home ed families many times ...we were completely in the minority because we Welcomed the LEA for yearly aessment ,plus we were very structured,and most parents were free thinkers and had feral kids running around with no shoes on ..
We never fitted in . mainly because we were structured and followed the national curriculum..

" But it's not like you can rock up with a GCSE in PE and teach science" no but when you haven't got any qualified Physics teachers in the school then you grab any teacher you can get to teach those classes.

My mum home educated all my siblings (I was the only one who went to school out of 10 siblings) she didn’t take them anywhere, made out she was ridiculously smart while having no qualifications- she couldn’t even spell properly but thought she could teach them multiple languages she didn’t even speak…now all of those children are either adults in their mid 20s or late teens, none of them have any qualifications or job prospects, they don’t have friends, they are very ‘odd’ and I say that as their sister, they all still live at home and are very insulated. The system failed them by letting my mother do that! (I don’t have contact now)

I believe it works for some but it’s so unregulated and honestly believe the current system is failing children…

My younger half siblings was home educated from the age of 4. It was educational neglect by mad abusive people who were educated to nvq level and whatever GCSEs used to be called (o levels i think?). There was one visit in all those years to check on her welfare/education. One. Absolutely disgraceful.

Academics aside what about the benefits of being in a classroom with other children , structure , Team work, Communications skills , friendships ? Interacting with children from different backgrounds?
would love to hear the input of actual educators and researchers.
It’s really difficult to get a balanced unbiased opinion when it comes to home schooling children.

@LEWWW it's interesting to hear from someone else who had an education at school whilst their sibling/s were home educated (or rather not educated). I feel like a study on outcomes for families like ours would be really fascinating. I'm educated to post grad level, work in publishing, and have a good circle of friends. Hbu?

The exception that proves the rule.

One of my mum friends is in the process of pulling her child out of school to home educate (child is in year 1). She’s a gentle parenting type and the child rules the roost and is actually stressed and angry, having regular meltdowns and no idea how to behave in a socially appropriate way - she came round for a play date and when I tried to help her with a drawing and got it wrong, she started screaming and ripping all the paper and pens off the table.

She’s convinced herself it’s not a problem with her child but a ‘society problem’ because schools are trying to turn children into zombified slaves ready to be fed into the corporate grinder

Talking to her is like talking to a brick wall.

This is the problem. I know of two families where the children are bright and articulate but have difficulty making their way in the world because of a lack of qualifications. The parents relied on the vague notion of "They can do the Open University..."

My son (14) goes to cadets, library club, home education groups, youth Council and a youth club, so he has plenty of opportunities to socialise and get involved in team work etc. He also hangs out with some of his old school friends.

However, a home educating parent does have to put this effort in to make sure children do have these opportunities.

Agree, and little children doing a 10 hour day is a whole other subject.
I don't sense a forward looking slightly " cookie" family here. Rather a desire to be away from and different from . Sad.

Oh and there will be no "joining" of clubs either.

I home educate my son who has significant additional needs. It wasn't what we wanted but it has been the best decision we could have made for him. In the end it was the only decision.

What concerns me is the lack of monitoring. I do the right thing and my son receives a good education and the therapies he needs at my expensive. This isn't the case for all children. We haven't had any contact from the EHE team at our local authority in 3 years nor has his ehcp been reviewed in that time.

All of those can be developed through friendships, extra curricular activities, everyday life. At no other point in your life will your social circle consist of thirty children with whom all you have in common is being born in the same September to August cycle. School isn't realistic socialisation.

I only know one person who home schools her child. She’s a lone parent with a full time agricultural job. The child (he’s now 13, but this has been a few years now so would have been 10/11 when they started) either just stays home alone while she’s at work or he comes to work with her and does her work while she’s sits on her phone.

Bless him, he’s actually a lovely kid, but I can’t imagine he’s getting much out of being home by himself all day. And I cringe sometimes seeing him do jobs around the farm because some of them are quite dangerous and if he was injured, it would be really bad for everyone. I can’t imagine the farmer is insured for having children working there. I always just think, gosh, his life should be so much more enriching than this. Getting out and seeing the world and learning things and meeting people, not moving manure trailers around. He has his whole life to be working. Childhood should be for play and exploration.

I don’t get it at all either. I have a university education to doctoral level and still had to buy books to understand how to help my primary school age child with phonics. I am 100% sure I am not qualified to teach all the things my kid learns at school. I suppose I would have to significantly upskill if I was to homeschool, and I find it really odd that homeschooling parents don’t have to be appropriately trained and follow a curriculum when formal education teachers absolutely do. Of course there are many who are very invested and have learned the content themselves or employed tutors, but it’s odd that it’s not a requirement.

I think schooling provision in the UK forces people into making binary choices around home schooling in some instances. My teenage DD (ASD) simply can’t cope with a full time school timetable - the social side exhausts her. She could cope with a part time timetable though and that would be excellent. I’d love schooling where lessons were routinely recorded for those who can’t be in the classroom so she could do a couple of days online a week. We have such flexible remote options in the workplace and the technology exists. But flexi schooling isn’t an option that I’ve managed to find and attendance requirements make full time mainstream unsustainable for some ND children.

I’ve had to enrol her in an online school and supplement it with a lot of external activities to keep up the social interactions. I get very frustrated when I’m judged for my choices to move to an online school as it’s actually not my preference. However, without viable alternatives to her being full time in a physical building, I’m left with little other choice.

I do think home schooling should be regulated. I’d love to give feedback as to what I believe other alternatives could be to our LEA. I’d love to see a commitment to systemic change. But when you’re trying to navigate a system that doesn’t fit, it feels like the choice is that either you have to adapt to the system or go it alone.

@Hubblebubble post grad and work in web development now with a good circle of friends and a lovely family - no thanks to my mother of course, lots of ups and downs throughout education as there was no support from her or anyone else and I honestly do wonder what I would have achieved had I had a mum who cared.

I hope by rules, you don't mean forcing children to use preferred pronouns and not allowing them to have toilet breaks in the middle of class.

Glad to hear you're doing well too! Yes, it is a question I have too. What would I have achieved if it wasn't all off my own steam? If I'd had someone to check/encourage homework and revision, perhaps I'd have done even better.

Exactly. This person said that her son might want to be a vet as he loves animals. I said that he would have to get A's and A stars and the only way that would happen is if HE GOES TO SCHOOL as currently, he was nearly seven before the authority's copped onto his absence and he is way behind. He is bright as a button, don't get me wrong but she is letting him down as she doesn't actually 'school' him as such. The kid needs structure but it's not just that, kids benefit tremendously by going to school in ways outside of the classroom. I hated school. Genuinely hated it. I struggled in every respect but I'm glad my parents didn't pull me out because I would have been lost entirely. Once I found a job I fancied doing, it gave me the impetus to pass exams as a 'fuck you' to my teachers. I became good at it and got a qualification in it and I was on my way and became a useful tax paying adult.

There needs to be an assessment and some legislation to stop the adults around these kids from letting them down comprehensively. There might be that already, I don't know but education in this country is already poor. This is another nail in that coffin from where I'm standing.

My impression of those who are home schooled, is that many struggle to adjust to being employed in a regular work environment, and they're more likely to be self-employed or doing odd jobs because of that.

I wonder how much same-age socialisation he's getting.

What makes you think a home educated child can’t get A’s and A*? Just asking as my own son is on track to achieve those grades having never been to school or had a tutor. At 7 I wouldn’t have known what grades he was on track to achieve in later life as we were not structured at that stage.

Edited to add, sorry on rereading your post I realise that the child isn’t 7 now, I misread.