Insane rise in home schooling?

[whyohwhy246]

Has anyone else noticed a huge increase in home schooling? Someone I follow in IG has just deregistered their child and I just can’t believe how many families are choosing to do this.

Of course it is sometimes the right choice for the child but it seems that more and more children are being allowed to opt out of formal education.

Teenagers need to learn that life is hard and school will throw challenges at them. How they learn to deal with this impacts how they handle things as an adult. What happens when they enter the work place and they can’t just opt out of the difficult things? Where do they learn that resilience?

I have worked in education for 20 years and whilst I agree that some aspects of the system are broken, I don’t think home schooling is the answer to this.

The social aspect alone is impossible to replicate (walking to school together, having your first crush, a detention, school trips I could go on and on…) but I also don’t see how all of these parents can have the skills to teach their children to GCSE. I also find it so insulting to teachers who spend years learning their craft. It’s not just something you can pick up and do effectively.

Has anyone else noticed this?

@Leftrightmiddle
The poster I was replying to did blame the teachers which is why I replied.
I totally agree that SEN children are being massively failed by the system in its current state.

This was in specialist provision - small class sizes and high staff to child ratio. She was disregarded because she has very complex needs and they don’t have a working understanding of developmental trauma. The boy was protected - I have many theories as to why but I don’t actually know. Her fears were dismissed and teachers did indeed find her to be a pain in the arse.

You have no idea of the situation and the circumstances surrounding her school experience. Yes teachers are under increasing pressure, but responding with kindness or compassion should still be an absolute base line. Following safeguarding procedures and ensuring the safety of vulnerable kids in your care is pretty non-negotiable.

I think this answer partly explains the question of “why the insane rise in home education”.

The traditional school model hasn’t really kept pace with society over the past few decades. As progress has happened naturally school is still using a model designed for the industrial era. And in some ways it ‘works’ as it’s free childcare and stability for parents who must both work.

I also think that modern parenting has shifted. Today we place more focus on mental health, neurodivergence, dialogue, collaboration with our kids whereas schools still rely on rules-based discipline and compliance which although is essential in large groups, feels really mismatched to how we parent today.

Yes, but I made the point in relation to a pp who seemed to feel that teachers in schools are all highly specialist in their field. I’d argue there’s a huge difference between one teacher and another. It’s pot luck.

When you home Ed, at least you can hand pick the teachers. That’s what my friend does.

Please could you contact the BBC with your thorough research, to address the inaccuracies in the article you have helpfully responded to and corrected with facts. Thank you for informing the MN community of the actual, heartbreaking situation that dear Sarah was a victim of for so long.
So the BBC did not report as you helpfully have, the tragic, heartbreaking death of Sara Sharif, with all the research you have outlined in your post. Sara Sharif was not home schooled. The BBC headline was misinformed at the least .

Kids will learn more life skills and life lessons in an environment where they don't feel threatened and shrunk.

My ND son is in a mainstream school (yr 7) and the school is failing him so I'm going down the route of applying for an EHCP which I've been told will be a given due to his experiences/situations and then I will battle to get him into an environment where he will thrive.

If I could homeschool him I would as I hate that he goes/I send him into a place that's too overwhelming for him and where he behaves totally out of character however, I have my own sanity to maintain and that's not to full capacity and it would ruin me/us.

I give him the occasional mental health day off and some days I think he will overpower me and not go in at all (5'3 and 11 years old, I'm 5'5).

So I'm aiming to get him into a SEMH school of which there is one locally.

I completely support those who deregister their kids and if I HAVE to then I will.

Is it true that in the bill that's passed recently, it says that the authorities will have authority over the parent in certain circumstances?

Problem is teachers are the first line of support. They don't always want to believe a child is struggling because this increases their workload. T
If the make all the referrals and do the paperwork then they get hassle from senior team because they don't want to address SEN needs. So what parents see is teachers dismissing the child's needs, or not supporting adequately and this causes parental and teacher relationship to become strained.

It's difficult for teachers but for parents it is horrendous

It would be very interesting to see the extent of the link between adults who hated school who then choose to home educate their own children

But not interesting to see the number of adults who liked school who sent their kids to school?

The authorities have authority over parents in certain circumstances now; they can and do order home educated children back to school if a suitable education isn't being provided.

Very very very very high

like I suspect those who had a shit experience at school also chose to home educate on the assumption school would be the same for them.

And do you also suspect those who had a good experience at school chose to send their children to school, or is that decision unworthy of scrutiny?

How many children do you HE @mrssteveharringtonthe1st ?

My one child states they will be home educating their children in the future due to the awful experience they have had. But that is a long way off.

I had a average experience, I definitely didn't have a desire to home ed but my experience wasn't traumatic and definitely had pros and cons.

My other child happily attends school but has seen the impact school had on their sibling so they currently say they would home ed if school didn't work for one of their children.

But both are years away from that decision anyway and who knows what the situation will be then. Hopefully home ed will remain an option but with labour removing and reducing rights and targeting minority groups it may not be

One currently; the other isn't yet school age.

How old is the one you HE whilst other at nursery?

He's twelve.

Has he ever been to school?

how do you balance with a young toddler?

He has.

ok so he tried it, hated it, and you withdrew. Sensible

This. Why are people so keen to believe that home educated children are isolated at home & don't socialise? I'd best tell my children that they're lonely, if I can get a moment in between all their classes, groups & trips!

I wouldn't say he hated it to the extent that many of the children on this thread did; he didn't have any behavioural, social or academic problems. He simply wasn't thriving at school in the way he was being educated at home. He was unchallenged, bored, and fed up of peers disrupting learning.

He was home educated from the start, did all of year 4 and half of year 5, and has been home educated again since.

But you see - you're saying my choice is only valid because he tried school and didn't like it. Do you think the same thing about schooled children who have never tried home education?

Yours might not be but unfortunately there are many who are. Nobody has said that this is the case for all home educated children it’s the worry for the increasing number who are isolated. You probably encounter parents like yourself but the isolated ones won’t be attending groups. Those of us who work in areas where we do encounter these students are seeing a very worrying picture.

TBH with people who are inherently against HE you just can't win; if you talk about how well your children are doing academically, you get "but what about all the social skills school teaches them", and if you talk about how much they socialise it's "well when do they get their learning in then".

Bit like the many isolated and neglected children in schools really.