To really worry about the future of homeschooled children?

[AgeingMillennial]

Please don’t think this is a goady thread designed to rile the masses about home education. I’m very much not referring to children with SEN whose parents are homeschooling because they’re desperate, or ‘serious’ homeschoolers who do an incredible job and produce very well educated kids by following a dedicated programme. I follow several such families on social media and their energy and commitment is way beyond anything I could do.

However I’m noticing a huge uptick in people ‘deregistering’ their kids to promote a kind of off-grid, traditional lifestyle on social media. Not because the child is struggling or unhappy at school but ‘I want to spend more time with them’, ‘the government want to create tax paying robots’, ‘I don’t want the state to raise my kids with transgender ideology’ etc.

The problem is the ‘homeschooling’ is then very substandard and then consists mostly of nature walks, crafts and visits to National Trust properties. All very wholesome but the sort of things most families do at weekends anyway. They might do a couple of pages of the sort of workbooks you find in WH Smith, but that’s it. Where there are siblings they all do the same basic things, none of it tailored to be specific to their age.

AIBU to worry about the future of these kids and to cynically wonder if it’s a ‘social media stream’ in many cases?

School was introduced as childcare so parents can work and pay taxes. I expect most teachers will tell you these days they are fire fighting trying to educate children with limited resources where the academically able essentially teach themselves with little input from the teacher who spends his or her time trying to control the unruly 30% of kids who are disregulated. Factor in an outdated system which doesn’t prepare children for the 21st century workplace and a narrow boring curriculum with too much testing and you can see why some choose to home educate.

Home schooling does not only include the things you mention like the freedom to explore nature and the things which excite and interest the child but there are also home ed groups and alternative providers of education. Both my autistic grandchildren are not in school. Among other things they have individual tuition, Forest school, animal therapy, occupational therapy as well as doing arts and crafts, travel and exploring and baking, swimming, sports etc etc. My husband on the other hand who is also neuro diverse was forced into school in the 1970s , miserable for many years, played truant and left with zero qualifications. He found his vocation doing an apprenticeship and had a successful career as an electronics engineer. There is more than one way to get an education and you could argue school is not the most effective way certainly not for every child.

I worry more for child abuse/child protection tbh and agree kids need regular check ups. And I am pro home ed.

It’s great you have that experience, as the thread shows many of us haven’t.

I absolutely think there's more than one way to get an education, school does NOT suit every child/young person.

My DC left school during Y8, didn't do GCSEs or A levels, got into uni on the strength of his results from OU courses, is more literate than many people I come across, and has an excellent career.

I understand this but I also think we have a really wide problem with schools not fit for purpose (I say this as an ex teacher). More home ed setups and education for parents would help.

I agree with you. I also see these. Parents should just show what theyve done and take it seriously.

“I assume you home educate your children so can have a valid opinion” is like saying I assume you are a murderer so can have a valid opinion on murder.

You don’t have to do something yourself to have a valid opinion on it.

I disagree. It isn't ideal or easy but it is very possible to work full time and Home Educate, espeically for older KS3+ children. Remember, education does not have to happen at set times of day or days of the week. It also does not need to be provided solely by the single parent. There are lots of alternative provsion learning centres/hubs/forest schools for Home Ed children, parents can employ tutors or family members can help and bring additional opportunities or skills to the child's education. For younger children they can attend a childminder whilst the parent works and older children often self study or join online daytime Home Ed classes with qualified teachers. Older children often go to Home Ed activities or workshops in their local area whilst parents are at work or visit another Home Ed friend and study or play sport or do an activity together.

1:1 learning on academic subjects is far more efficient than 1:30 in a classroom. You can easily teach a child 1:1 in an hour what they would have learnt in English, Maths and Science in a whole day at school. Or spend evenings or even a whole weekend day off work on academic 'subjects' and cover what they would have covered at school in a whole week.

I can't understand how anyone could quote and qualify anything that they see on these social media sites let alone take it seriously.

No but you do have to educate yourself on home education and not just assume it should be like school at home

Some of us will ro anything to meet the real needs of our children whether it us "practical' or not. It takes a lot of sacrifice but it us worth it.

I guess it just depends where you are and who you meet. I doubt any UK teacher or teaching assistant in a state school could honestly say they do not encounter violent, rude children or disengaged and disinterested parents on a daily basis. That doesn't mean school is wrong for all children or that all schooled children are like that, it would likely be the case regardless of which method of education these children are receiving.

When people are paying 160 to 450 for a bog standard two paper GCSE exam there is quite an incentive to help their children pass!

Although this is true, at least the parents with low aspirations for their kids who send them to school, are not solely responsible for their education

My child has never been to school so no idea what they’re like currently.

It would have helped a lot I feel, if the op has included the word 'some' in the title.

I am so sick of threads bashing home education. You don't need to be a teacher or have a degree to be able to do it well. It is very possible to work while home educating, especially if you can work from home and have teenagers.

You don't have to follow the curriculum. A lot of learning does happen in daily life, out in the world and children can learn a huge amount from experiences and conversations or discussions. Not everything needs to be written down at a desk.

The people you see on tiktok are just a tiny sample of the home ed community and even then you only see a snap shot of their lives - the bit they decide to share. Similarly, if you know people who are home educating and they don't seem to do much learning - do you really know what they are doing?

If young children are mostly learning through play and not doing a huge amount of literacy and numeracy that really is fine. In some countries, kids don't even start school until they are 7.

My son was unable to attend school in years 8 and 9. There was some support through the LA and later the school (due to covid) but not enough. When we tried to plan for year 10 they wanted to play it by ear regarding how things would work if he remained unable to attend. I felt that wasn't good enough so we deregistered.

I was a single mum working full time from home. I facilitated and motivated and did not 'teach' in the formal sense. We used a mixture of online courses and resources and he ended up with 5 GCSES with decent grades. Loads of home ed kids sit GCSEs. He also self-studied art. We did most of our PHSE having discussions on dog walks. He socialised with friends mostly online but felt more comfortable meeting up once he was no longer registered at school. We did life skills (cooking, budgeting etc) and had a lot of conversations about money, politics, economics and world affairs. He got onto his chosen Level 3 course at college and found his people. He never had a day off sick. He is now at Uni (just starting year 2) and living away from home. Home ed really was the best thing we could have done.

There are a lot of stories like ours. I have been on Facebook groups now for the past 6 years and the vast majority of home ed families are very switched on to their kids needs and their rights and responsibilities. Their priority is doing their absolute best for their children (many of whom have been failed by the system).

I home ed my son and he is working towards his English and Maths GCSEs a year early, then we will be focussing on Computers and IT GCSEs so he get into college. We do go on woodland walks, also the gym, swimming and badminton. He is also interested in getting some work experience which we already have planned.
I think you know very little and have based your opinion on what you see on social media, which is rarely a true picture of what goes on.
Get clue then come back with some actual facts about home education concerns.

This isn’t a thread bashing home education and I don’t even have TikTok.

When we were looking at whether my daughter might go into school for GCSE years, the school we were looking at had a 36.5% rate for a strong pass in English - strong pass being Grade 5 and above. 36.5%!!!
A pass is considered to be a 4, but 6th form were asking for a 6 in English for the science subject she wished to do so we felt that the figures we could find were a strong indicator of her chances there.

It formed part of her decision not to give school a try.

To be fair, it had increased by around 10% by the following year and I wonder if they may have taken a number of none English speaking children that year and that had accounted for the lower pass rate. I can't find the figures for the preceding years.

How do you come to that conclusion? People can hold down a full time job and home education you know.
evenings, weekends and home ed doesn’t stop I. The ‘school’ holidays

you make it work, simple as that.

so with the greatest of respect, wind your neck in because you have no idea

It kind of is though, although my frustration isn't all aimed at you but rather at some of the other posters whose uninformed opinions your post has invited.

I have seen people say how can you home educate if you are not a teacher and that you can't properly home educate if you work full time or are a single parent, none of which are true.

You said you watch 'video blogs'. I am not sure what platform that is on - but whether it's on TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, or somewhere else, the premise is the same.

Why are you watching the daily lives of home educators if you have no skin in the game? Surely you can't know that many people in real life who are home educating. I only know of maybe 3 other families in real life and in only one of those the child was the same age as my son. We never went to local home ed groups as he wouldn't entertain it!

Well done on your assumption. You must have gone to school and not educated at home

Sometimes having money to home educate is not a good thing!

I live in an affluent area, and it has attracted some fundamentalist Christians to move here!

One family lives on my road, and they coerce their children to warn us that we are unprepared for the rapture and to advise us to join them before it’s too late!

I am a humanist and not a believer, but when two of their children knock my door I am polite to them and ask them questions because I worry that slamming the door in their face only reinforces their fears!

It seems that they only attended school in infants, then they were home schooled.

They proudly that they study the bible for 12 hours a day… they are not allowed to socialise outside the church, they are so terrified of demonic possession that they are hopeful the end of days so that they can be saved. I have asked them about science and again it’s the literal teachings of the bible… apparently fossils were put there by the devil to test us! The sun and universe revolves around the Earth.. just like in the bible!
Apparently we just need to believe in god and prayer for everything!

They are very polite, clearly well looked after and they are homeschooled well, but without any critical thinking, and complete isolation!

I worry greatly that home schooling means that children can be indoctrinated without any oversight to religious and terrifying doctrine without any oversight!

I am also aware that this is something that isn’t exclusively a Christian problem. I worry that home education is used as a tool to prevent children from questioning their parents beliefs.

We live in a secular society and I believe that all children should have a secular education to allow them to be able to decide their own path in life!

I was raised as a catholic, went through catholic education and to be honest the fact that contraception is still banned by the church is reason alone not to continue in that faith, my children have never been baptised or christened for that reason!

I Think "home schooling" does need regulating I had a child join in year 4 that had been home schooled that could not read or write. It turned that mum couldn't either.

Ii think home school should have a parent with a minimum of A level or equivalent to be able of home schooling. A parent unable to read is unable to teach