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.

Yes, I was just pointing out there are other options and the choice isn’t literally EHE or an unsuitable school.

It took me 3 years of undergrad study (in a "Mickey Mouse" subject) and 1 year of PGCE to become qualified. Totally achievable for many, many people.

I was trying to think through the complexities. The fact my youngest did some GCSEs younger, knowing that with another two years of maturity their grades would be higher than the B equivalents they obtained, but feeling like it was worth it for the experience isn't a rare thing.

We have a scarcity of exam centres and people sometimes have to stay overnight to access them.
Exam centres can't accommodate special exam access provisions like school can. The hoops to jump to prove they need that access is harder and comes at a cost.
The cost! Around £260 for a basic 2 paper exam and spiralling up from there means people tend to prioritise what their child needs for further education (though they will generally study more subjects than that).
Because of the difficulties of having to travel between different exam centres it is often necessary to spread them out. I'm about to look for clashes before I book the next ones and one may have to be postponed until the November sitting for that reason.

If the govt wanted to, they could fund 4 GCSEs and then they would have their stats. The fee to the exam board starts at just £55, it's the exam centre fee that makes it a costly endeavour so I'm sure it is within their power to bring the cost down.

As you say, there are outcomes in addition to academics. For example my eldest noticed they were a lot more comfortable approaching their college tutors for help when doing level 3 qualifications than their peers were and I feel this has been particularly useful for obtaining the grades they were aiming for.

Often those options involve extortionate amounts of legal help bevause LA’s have an entire legal team at their disposal abx oarents cant sit aroubd for years on end as the inexcusably slow wheels of justice turn.

often by the time one has spend god kniws how much money and mental energy, years have passed.

Agreed - I meant that how it was said in the LA meeting. I am knowledgeable on options but even then I find it very difficult to argue / dispute things the way they are put across in meetings.

Many families don't have knowledge of rights /options so would likely believe the LA

Gosh, whi know that there aren’t things like: tutors
online courses
online schools
curiculum
people within hom ed with PCGE’s
Flexi schooling
colleges
and likely other avenues - it’s been 10 years

The process and stress often makes parents ill.
I know my health has definitely suffered negatively over the last few years.

Knowing what I know know I would have deregistered years back but hindsight.
I really believe as a professional myself that I could work with the process and get a positive outcome but we're still battling and I've invested so much time now I feel I have to see it through

EHCP appeals don’t have to cost anything. The vast majority of parents do not have/pay for representation. For those on a low income, legal aid is possible. For those who aren’t eligible for legal aid but need independent assessments, there are charities e.g. Parents in Need who can help. It is also possible to ask SENDIST to direct the LA to seek further advice and information. I have helped numerous parents successfully appeal without them spending a penny. Appeals take time, but for those not in full-time school, appeals can be expedited.

For s19 provision (and for things like failing to adhere to EHCP timescales and failure to provide provision in an EHCP), JR proceedings themselves are in the child’s name. Therefore, the child can be eligible for legal aid themselves. This doesn’t cover the pre-action letter, which is in the parent’s name and so legal aid is only possible if the parents themselves are eligible. If the parent can’t afford a pre-action letter but they aren’t eligible for legal aid, they should contact SOSSEN - there is a wait but it is worth it. JR does not take years and one can request interim provision is ordered. Many don’t make it to proceedings themselves.

I'm a qualified teacher and I don't agree that I would need that qualification to home ed. It would make it easier and I'd have a clearer frame of reference for where my child "should" be and misconceptions that could arise.

Learning to teach is all about learning to manage a wide range of abilities and needs, to manage a classroom and understand the data you gather from your students.

Most parents know their children pretty well already and when you are teaching one child you don't need to consider a range of learning styles- you just have to adjust to the one in front of you.

I believe that most educated, dedicated parents with strong organisational skills and motivation are capable of home educating their children.

That's not to say there's not a huge number of children who are NOT being effectively home educated or who are being taught some things really well and other things not at all.

I think you are yet to meet a home educated child . I’m yet to meet a home Ed child who fits your description, they are mostly over articulated and very intelligent in my experience . Mine go to school but my oldest now in his 20s was partly home ed and most parents are ho home ed their children waste an awful amount of time and energy on them , way more than any school parent does . School is the less good and lazy alternative IMO not then other way around .

Yes I can see why families who have spent 250-500 per exam plus travel costs and other expenses may feel they're their results rather than the govts, especially if they already feel let down by the education system.

That is clearly scandalous, my friend who was in a similar situation insisted the LA provide education AT home so their child has tutors visit who are funded by the LA. It took quite a battle though and I can’t imagine it’s sustainable for LA’s if everyone clocked onto this.

Is this directed at me?

Out of interest I just searched home Ed Facebook groups.

First one:-

“Where do I stand with this . I all ready sent a report before summer of the key stage books they do for maths and English and the progeny they was learning a wrighting about the proof of arts and cooking days out . I feel like I am being pressured .”

I should hope they feel pressured tbh!

My husband once had a group of them who were supposed to be coming in to work on a project of their choosing with tutor help once a week. This was the idea of the owner of the tuition company who home edded her own kids.

The majority couldn't make eye contact and barely spoke to him or the other children, had poor manners, refused to wear shoes or socks which was a health and safety risk and after he'd gone to the trouble of preparing resources for each of them based on their project of choice, and designing a structure that enabled the sessions to be as child led as possible and lent itself to exploratory learning, most of them turned up rarely or never until it became clear that it wasn't financially viable as sometimes DH was getting paid to sit in an empty classroom waiting all day.

Reasons given for not coming ranged from "didn't feel like it" to "forgot" and "it was raining" to "felt too anxious to come out today."

I have no idea if they are representative of home ed children or not, but they are certainly not all articulate and intelligent.

A lot of people who went to school from 4-16 still come out barely literate, or with interesting SPaG skills.

The HE children that I've come across are (with the exception of one, but that was when we were both around 6/7) generally very bright, interested and articulate. The ones that have never been to school at all are, on the whole, more confident than those who did attend school at some point. They might not all have GCSEs at 15/16, but there are ways and means of getting those qualifications- alongside others- at a later date. I do, however, seem to live in a fairly active (and growing) HE area, where a lot of the HE teens in further education know each other from forest school activities, gym classes and HE activities.

As an ex-primary school teacher, home education would be my first choice!

@TheeNotoriousPIG “As an ex-primary school teacher, home education would be my first choice!“

Would you encourage all parents to do the same?

I don’t know what group that is on but in any of the decent groups with experienced home educators they would be advised to send a detailed written response and that sending a list of books isn’t adequate.
I know there are a few groups that are not well run or give out poor advice(even if well meaning) and always try to direct people to the better ones.

Home schooled children tend to be, on the whole, home schooled for very good reasons. Most have special needs or learning requirements that can’t be catered for in school. The parents who do it properly tend to be wealthy (beyond a certain wealth point parents still prefer to home school via tutors until 13), produce much more confident, literate and well adjusted children than the private school system. You can’t compare these kids’ attainment to the rubbish state school system many of whom still end up illiterate despite years of schooling.

Are you also aghast at the thousands of children being taught by unqualified teachers, TAs or teachers that aren’t actually teaching their subject all over the country?

I hope they are willing to cough up for EOTAS if they are saying that!

Out of interest

If you were genuinely interested, you could find myriad comments, posts and questions on FB and elsewhere minus the confirmation bias, but where would the fun in that be?

You make an excellent point that I hadn’t considered. The government could fund 4 basic GCSEs , or even the main two, Maths and English. It would offer the opportunity for more engagement, the opportunity to keep track of children and yes, various data available for analysis.

No, because not everyone has the patience, the discipline or the drive to home educate their dearly beloved offspring! Also, some children come from very difficult home lives, and school is probably their safe space.

There is some data from America, but as I can’t verify the methodology, or how self selecting the participants are , I can’t comment on veracity, especially since I can also find data that claims they have poorer outcomes(though not by much).

The academic success of homeschooled students extends into their higher education pursuits. Approximately 74% of homeschooled students go on to attend college, significantly higher than the 44% of public school students who take the same path. Graduation rates further illustrate the trend, with 67% of homeschooled students graduating from college, compared to 59% for their traditionally educated counterparts.