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?

I never said anything of the sort; I'm sure there are plenty of home educating parents failing their children who are depending on them for an education just as there are plenty of schools failing the children who are depending on them to provide an education.

I was merely saying that I don't know any home educating parents teaching their children all 12 (or however many) GCSEs themselves.

Which again, isn't a ringing indictment for the school system giving that, statistically, most parents like that will have attended school.

I can understand it when it comes to reading as the phonics systems seems to overcomplicate things. I can understand some parents being scared to get it wrong and confuse their children more.

Children with certain neurodiversities often struggle with phonics based reading as well - another piece of evidence that one size fits all simply doesn't work.

I'm sure there are plenty of home educating parents failing their children who are depending on them for an education just as there are plenty of schools failing the children who are depending on them to provide an education.

We agree!! loads thriving, loads languishing. On both sides. So, that’s that really!

For dd she was reasonably happy in Primary, her siblings had loved school and myself and her father had also been happy in school. She left a very inclusine primary able and confident as the academics came easily.
Secondary was another matter, she felt the lack of what she felt was care quite badly. She had enjoyed good relationships with staff in primary so it was a shock to her. She still had her friendship group and it grew so she saw them as a buffer against the staff who scared her. She managed year 7, year 8 and there were more rules brought in and harsh (I agreed with her on that) consequences for things that when I and my older ones were in school wouldn't have been an issue.
One that shook her was a friend had worn black socks as per the uniform rules but they had coloured heel and toe and a teacher had spotted a tiny bit of colour above the back of the shoe as she was leaving a class and went ballistic (probably dd's interpretation but her friend was shaken as well) and had to do detention/reset. Dd's anxiety started to soar, she was so worried about breaking rules that learning became secondary.
Rules got stricter, dd never broke one but she struggled with harsh treatment of others and threats of punishments. She would say, "I'm not scared of any of the kids, even the ones who play up, it's the teachers who scare me because they can do whatever they want to you". She had days off to recover, i negotiated a morning and an afternoon off each week studying at home to get her through. Soon that wasn't enough so she missed more and more days. Once GCSE courses started with more demands and even more rules thrown into the mix it was the beginning of the end and she stopped going altogether before the October half term.
She was very ill, CAMHS signed her off and visited her at home fortnightly, I feared for her life and I promised she wouldn't go back. She did whatever she felt like doing, no demands and no teaching but she decided she would teach herself Japanese, she did Art and crafts and read.
I went to SENDIST and secured an out of County independent specialist school the very antithesis of the school she left. It was small, no uniform, they used all staff's first names and rather than rules they had mutually agreed directives that they negotiated in their class at the start of the year and she thrived.

We did it so we could visit family abroad for an extended period without being fined. They were home educated (by teachers) while we were away, had some mind broadening experiences and made memories and connections that will last a lifetime.

I totally agree. I hope authorities check to ensure these kids get a decent education otherwise their life is ruined! I mean how many parents are actually able to teach all the subjects and don’t they have to work??? I don’t think it should be allowed. There have got to be other options for children who struggle. Unless a parent is a qualified teacher how can they provide a suitable education ? Do home educated children have to sit exams? What about social interactions? Learning to take turns, share, listen to other opinions, be better or worse than someone, succeed and fail, resolve disagreements, hang out with peers, these are all important parts of life and wherever possible parents should not remove children from the realities of life. Kids need more resilience not helicopter parenting and being removed when things get difficult. The system needs to improve too so parents don’t feel that’s the last resort. It’s really sad.

Did you read any of the previous replies on the other 34 pages?

I'm pretty sure the tutors who teach dd are perfectly capable as before teaching dd 1 to 1 they were teaching classes themselves. My input is more making them a coffee and letting them in. I don't know any home ed child who is taught at home solely by a parent tbf

You obviously haven't read the majority of replies here, but just wanted to point out that you don't actually have to be a qualified teacher to teach in a school either....

I hope authorities check on the poor children whose life is being made a misery in school and who aren’t getting a good quality education due to enormous failures in the system, and will not achieve their full potential.

The misunderstandings and misinformation on this thread is staggering. Do people really think the majority of home educated children don’t see other children, don’t learn social skills, learn resilience, learn to problem solve, have to do things they don’t really want to, sit behind a screen all day, get no fresh air or exercise? They do go to things often with other kids and have the same, if not more, opportunity to learn these things!

If you went to school and your children are in school, you likely think that it is the best option. You wouldn’t say your kids are in school but you think home ed is better. But well educated people should surely be able to understand that there are merits to both systems for different children?

Socialising
School has minutes at lunch in a queue and “you’re here to learn not socialise, sit in silence”
EHE has groups, teamwork on activities, social events, ‘after school’ groups we also join.

Academic progress
School has average of 30 kids to 1 teacher and maybe a TA, many kids unwilling to learn and disruptive, or not prepared to learn and disruptive. Meanwhile quiet Johnny in the corner isn’t getting any learning or teacher input.
EHE has small groups, parental teaching (largely not difficult content, especially in the primary years, and for most of us, GCSEs aren’t that hard either especially if school worked so well for us!), tuition, online resources.

Study
School spoon feeds and directs children specifically, little room for exploration and nothing beyond the spec due to time. Exam focussed. Learning specific times.
EHE has self directed study, learning is everywhere and anytime so isn’t a chore, it’s a way of life, problems are there to be thought about and solved and wide curriculum can be provided, with qualifications gained. Organised and prepared parents will provide every opportunity for learning.

And yes, we work! I just work around my husbands shift patterns instead of the day.

There are lots more points to compare, but my post is very much long enough.

School benefits some, the quiet directed knowledge works for some students. Others, it’s an inefficient waste of time.

I appreciate some kids won’t receive a great home education and that’s terrible. Don’t put us all in the same box! (I was a teacher and my child can’t attend school currently due to medical issues that they would not support us with at all and would easily lead to further illness). But equally some kids don’t receive a great school education too - will that be acknowledged by parents or school attenders who think school is great and EHE should be banned?

@mrssteveharringtonthe1st
Similarly HE parents refuse to accept the fact that there are many ‘HE’ children are being failed massively by their parents or acknowledge that potential future consequences of this. Personally I think it’s a bit arrogant and somewhat deluded to claim that as a parent you can provide the same standard of education a child would get from a number of subject experts in a school as well as the socialisation skills essential for their future career.

What are the other options? Do tell.

In addition, plenty of schools don’t provide a qualified teacher and they don’t have to. There’s a reason the term “unqualified teacher” exists. Never mind the hundreds of TA’s up and down the country regularly covering lessons.

The curriculum is so outdated, and many are not bothered by the kids who are middle of the road so just fall behind. From my daughters year (9), half have dropped out of her school are are now home schooling because it’s just an awful place to be.

The curriculum is so outdated, and many are not bothered by the kids who are middle of the road so just fall behind. From my daughters year (9), half have dropped out of her school are are now home schooling because it’s just an awful place to be.

I absolutely haven't refused to accept that fact so I assume you must be referring to someone else on this thread. I merely pointed out that there are plenty of children also being failed IN school.

As for your second point, as I've already pointed out, my son is academically miles ahead of his schooled peers so 🤷

But again, as I've already said, I've no intention of claiming I can teach him all subjects to GCSE level. I won't be doing that. I can't imagine any home educating parents would, qualified teachers or not.

Did you learn your reading comprehension skills from school, as they appear to be lacking.

Yes, but the key difference is that people don't judge parents who send their children to school, or harangue them about the potential effects on their future, do they?

Let’s just focus on that we agree on something 🥳 😆

I took my son out of school in year 12 because he was crying every day not wanting to go in due to bullying and anxiety. It turns out he has Autism and ADHD but the school said there was nothing wrong. He absolutely flourished while we home educated, was able to make friends and play with kids who were younger than him (which you can't do in school), we went to multiple home ed groups, I am lucky to be self employed so he came everywhere with me as I couldn't leave him. He taught himself things he was interested in rather than all the stuff that school thinks is necessary, managed to pass a Classical Civilisation GCSE as he was interested in that (would never have that chance at school) Best 3 years of his life. Then he managed to do college for 2 years and with extra help passed GCSE English and Maths and a BTec. He tried Uni but it brought on massive anxiety and suicidal thoughts as some of the students implied that he was using his ND as an excuse, amongst other issues. Anyway the point is school was the cause of his anxiety in the first place and Home Ed really helped him get over that. So glad I didn't make him stay there and cope with it as OP would suggest, I doubt he'd be with us now if I had.

A lot of children will benefit greatly from being properly home educated. Unfortunately I think a lot of children will also receive little or no education at all.

This is my view too. I think the best home education is probably better than the best school can deliver, but that the worst home education is worse than even the worst schools.

Again, a bit like a lot of kids at school, right?

The other option is the wait for the LA to provide accessible education. We waited years during which time child received no education from the LA.
I think home education in worse case scenario provides more than nothing.
Come back when you have a clue about the SEN children being not only failed by education but traumatised