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?

Yes, I read this the other week. It’s shocking.

school is also shit for compliant neurotypical children for many, many reasons.

Homeschooling isn't for everyone but neither is regular schooling. Parents need to do what's best for their children. I myself was homeschooled for some years and had more and better socialisation/life skills experience during that time than while I was in school, because I had more time and opportunity to find what worked for me. If my DS was struggling in school and it wasn't improving, I would take him out in a heartbeat.

Nail on the head. People saying that bullying is somehow "good" for the victim to build resilience and prepare for adulthood etc are utterly deluded.

I've never been burned by fag ends, nor punched/kicked nor spat at, nor had my belongings stolen nor damaged in the 40+ years since leaving my hell hole comp - these were almost daily events during the five years of hell I went to that crap comp.

The worst "bullying" I've suffered during adult life was a female boss who was very "assertive" and happy to belittle me in front of colleagues for relatively minor mistakes etc. I dealt with that simply by leaving and getting a different job. Never had it in any of the other workplaces in my 43 years of working life!

Big cultural issues with schools. Academies are modelled on prison or military structures. Not everyone can make it through that.

I think the focus should be on improving the situation in schools, in terms of academics, pastoral care, safety.

As adults I'm not sure we'd last a single day back in secondary school with how we were treated.

I can only assume that those taking the ' kids are mean, they'll live' approach I then never dealt with extreme bullying, or the ones dishing it out.

You wouldn't stand by and watch an animal be treated the way I was in school.

I don't think it's about being able to cope less, it's about coping in a different way. There are many routes to adulthood, there are many different ways to live as a human. Things not being 'how they've always been' is uncomfortable for people, they like everyone to do the same (and be as hard) as they've had to.

You decided your kids would deal with life being crap without your input. That's your choice. Many people on here have decided that their kids' lives don't have to be crap in the first place and there are other routes to attaining the same outcomes in life. That's their choice.

Is the loss of your f/t wage or salary not more than private school fees?

(I feel for anyone with kids with SEND and the financial impact it has along with everything else)

What evidence do you have for this?

More importantly, schools should not have to waste their valuable resources to provide extra tuition in order to pick up the pieces where home schooling has failed and the parents dump their children into mainstream.

Secondary school in particular has morphed into a horrific experience for the majority of students. Limited access to toilets, ridiculously long queues for school lunch, up to 14 GCSEs, huge behaviour issues, very very little SEND provision, HUGE classes, virtually no support for social and emotional issues, bullying and racism. And all at a time when they're going through puberty and adolescence.

I don't blame parents for wanting to spare their children that experience. I wouldn't want that experience.

Thank you.

When I excluded ND children from this idea I should have excluded all DC with significant disabilities.

I don’t disagree with you on this. I have seen it in my own line of work. The system needs to change to work for these children.

I don't think it the kids.

I think it's the schools that have changes - noiser busier bigger less discpline more focus on uniform than behavior and more inflexiblity generally.

DN - at my old school - and by time DS was leaving and last few years of DD2 there was essentially no toilet access in the day. School claimed there was but in practsie there wasn't - even jumping through all the hoops and getting medcial passes often still weren't.

My old school had child with decent attendance and they were ill - well that was believed - I've been chase for a child still in hospital despite prior good attendance - getting them out for increasingly less flexible hospital/dental/orthodontist appointments is also a bloody battle.

I never though I'd stuggle to get mine in nearly ended up there with youngest - no toilet access then made it increasingly impossible for kids to eat and drink at lunchtime and had even top sets full of disruptive noisy kids - she found it all too much. School reponsse as long as she was on site they didn't care - I cared she was missing teaching time - but they refused to work with us - so we had to find ways to help her cope.

Schools are hostile and violent places for many children. Very little learning actually takes place unless you're fortunate enough to have access to an excellent school. Doesn't surprise me parents who are able choose to take their kids out.

runadun · Today 12:29
People asking if as home educators we are capable of delivery a high school education, for me the answer is no. However, I don’t need to. My child would never be sitting exams, isn’t going to be going to university and will probably never have a job.

It sounds as if you would be truly happy with this. However, I am not so sure about how happy your child will be in the future, knowing that he / she will be unqualified for a job.

"Things not being 'how they've always been' is uncomfortable for people, they like everyone to do the same (and be as hard) as they've had to."

That's a very interesting comment. There is an AMA thfead going at the moment about Gypsies/Travellers and it seems to be what is coming out of the answers on there.

I honestly believe my oldest would have had a better education with me at home than he did in 4 years of high school. He learnt more at home with me over lockdown than he did once schools opened back up. He went from struggling to the top sets in maths and English and then slid right back down and dropped out.

Why does everyone have a SEND kid these days?

I home educated our eldest from 13 to 16. She'd coped well at primary (ADHD) but the moment she started at secondary, the shit hit the fan. By 13 we'd had repeated exclusions and a managed move but she still just wasn't coping and was also being bullied. So on the advice of the local authority partnership with parents, we removed her initially for 6 months to let her decompress. It was hard, very very hard. She wouldn't sit and engage, was horribly aggressive to me ... and I didn't enjoy being with her 24/7 at home whatsoever. But slowly, very slowly, it got better. We found a tutor for history and english who came twice a week for 4 hours and he was a lifeline. We also started Kip McGrath for maths on two evenings a week and it was bliss to send her in and sit in the car with no noise! We joined the NT, started going to museums, art galleries, long walks with maps and compasses, and by the time partnership with parents recommended a college course for some basic qualifications I almost felt a little bereft. Would I have done it again? Never. But I felt very well supported by the LA (this was around 2015ish). I can't imagine that's now in place.

I think it depends, ideally going to a school with other kids is better but at my local comprehensive I would say about half of most lessons until 5th year were lost to disruption in the classroom and general carry on. Some of the teachers weren't much better either. If my kids ended up in a place like that I'd have to reconsider and home-schooling might be an option.

@FrankieCranky , I fear we will have a long wait for a response to that request.

They don’t.

@whyohwhy246 , you’ve worked in education for 20 years you say but later you go on to clarify that you are not even a teacher. What actually has your role been that you alluded has bestowed you with privileged knowledge of this subject?
Dinner lady?