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?

Youve got too much time on your hands and seem to be basing a lot of your concern on social media content

Fully agree OP. Few sensible people do this except in the cases you describe.
The people I’ve known personally who did this or wanted to were crackers - either really controlling and thought they could teach their child better than school or very sentimental and didn’t want their child being away from them every day at school.

You often see posts about homeschooling from people who appear to be only semi-literate which is a bad sign.

Look at terrible YouTubers like the Ingham Family. Those kids receive absolutely zero education and it’s disgusting that they can get away with it.

Crazy isn't it that thousands of children can spend 12 years in the school system and not even get a bare minimum of an education. But apparently that's ok.

I don't judge parents who send their kids to school though. It's not always just a lazy option.

I know of a couple of families where the kids are homeschooled & I agree with you.. they do a lot of nature and not much serious learning or curriculum.

Im not sure homeschooling can ever be the right / ideal place for an education to be honest. I think education is about more than the actual school curriculum and is about going into a group, being part of a big community,

I know of a couple of families where the kids are homeschooled & I agree with you.. they do a lot of nature and not much serious learning or curriculum.

Im not sure homeschooling can ever be the right / ideal place for an education to be honest. I think education is about more than the actual school curriculum and is about going into a group, being part of a big community, going even when you’re not confident or keen to go. And trying all kinds of subjects even when they’re not your favourite or you find them boring. I don’t think you can learn these skills at home with a parent.

I used to think school in the UK began too young, but then I had to send my son at three (France) and he absolutely thrived. The first year was hard but he grew up in leaps and bounds. I think on balance now that the uk has it about right. I think a large part of the problem in the UK is actually poorly educated parents who don’t really understand what the point of school is; and honestly harsh as this will sound, a poor political understanding which means they don’t really grasp the important parts of an education within a capitalist democracy and they can’t pass this to their children. I also think many home educate for reasons that suit themselves but it’s not in the best interest of their children actually.

If your child attended school and nobody in the class got a C in maths or English because the teaching was so rubbish then the school would be shut down. If parents don't adequately prepare children who have the ability (not SEND/LD) and put them through a handful of GCSEs then they absolutely should be held accountable and social services should be involved - just as they would if you refused your child basic medical care.

In what way do you support them, if you don’t mind me asking.

Without a GCSE and with low self esteem/ deeply rooted sense of failure - all because they can’t access the narrow way of learning offered

If an exam is worth doing not everyone will be capable of passing it.

What percentage of children in the class not getting a pass becomes a problem for you?

If the system is designed so a significant minority of children won't get the bare minimum to get anywhere in life, why is there the concern that some home educated children won't get GCSEs?

While I generally agree with you OP I do think that a lot of these types of kids - who get pulled out by borderline illiterate parents who then do sod all education with them - are also being failed at school in a different way. A lot of these kids aren’t very bright and they have no need to learn about Pythagoras’ theorem or the structure of an atom and it’s not going to help them in life. They need to be taught more functional skills in numeracy and literacy. Kids in years 5 and 6 are being taught what fronted adverbials are when a frighteningly high proportion of them still cannot read fluently and with expression. I do think there needs to be a bit of an overhaul of the national curriculum to move away from the idea that “all kids in year X should achieve Y” as it means the least able kids are being set up to fail and the most able aren’t stretched or inspired. The constant testing and obsession with national standards is doing no one any favours.

What’s your image of nature walks and WHSmith work books based on? Do you know a lot of home educated children?

I think you are absolutely disingenuous and you are not “really worried” about these children in the slightest.

I'm a teacher and a few time my husband has suggested I home educate the kids for various reasons. It would be far too difficult!! There's no way I could manage it! I would just find it too intense and my experiemce of teaching my lids during lockdown was that the lines were really blurred and they just tried to play me up way more than they ever did or more than they would another teacher.

I think that the parents who pour their hearts and souls into delivering high quality, differentiated and challenging learning experiences should absolutely be commended for their commitment. I think I would just end up scrolling on my phone all day 🙃

I have seen a few 'come home school with us' and its stuff like baking or working out the total change at the shop. Kim Kardashian said she took North out of school but showed her a budget for some project she was working on and that counted as her mathematical education. Its just not enough. Mathematical thinking develops in a very deliberate and rich environment and needs to be facilitated very consistently. Same with any of the other subjects. Hats off to those home educators who are working their socks off to educate their kids. I could not do it.

The problem you have here OP is that all the people that are doing this well are going to jump on you because they are doing what is right for their children and of course they are passionate about what they provide. They can’t necessarily see that many of the children that have been deregistered are not receiving the education they deserve. I’m with you on this one, I’ve seen so many parents write that they haven’t done anything for 6 months because their child was getting over this or that trauma caused by school and I think months out of education is really worrying (some call it deschooling). I’ve seen some activities posted on social media by these home school families and they are worryingly poor, often teaching misconceptions. It’s hard because some people just aren’t capable of providing an education for their child but they think they are. I think those that are doing it right will provide happy, healthy well rounded adults but those that aren’t doing it right are going to cause some real problems for us all soon. I do wish that the people that are doing it right would be honest though and admit that they see some really poor practise because it makes people like you and I look really judgemental and I’m actually not, I have toyed with the idea myself but I worry I wouldn’t get it right.

There is plenty of uproar about that and schools are regulated and held to account as are individual teachers. No such thing really exists for parents who homeschool.

"Isn't it awful that some children have a lovely time doing crafts, nature walks and spending time with their families but don't pass their GCSEs"

"Isn't it worse that even more children have a miserable time in school and don't pass their GCSEs?"

"No no, that's the way education is supposed to be"

Exactly this!!

I think we’ve found one!

What does it matter? AI is going to end human existence in 10 years, so maybe they had the right idea - enjoy life while you still can. The future is bleak. I feel sorry for all children; if I was of childbearing age I would definitely not be bringing a child into this warped world of climate change,AI, Putin and Fart.

Wow.

Fart?

I seriously considered home education for my DD who is autistic and really struggles in loud environments. Untimately, she went to school for reception and stayed there. It was tough but the main thing she needed was socialisation skills and I could never have given those at home.

I am not sociable enough to have managed home ed groups alongside a full home curriculum. Lockdown was a taster of what I would have done aside from groups and despite holding a master's degree, I couln't have continued being my child's sole maths teacher any further than KS1.

Done properly, home ed is wonderful and I still admire those who have done it well. I too worry about the future some children will have without access to any education at all. The joy of learning and reading is the biggest gift I could have given to my child and to think there are DC who grow up without it is really sad.

Wrong thread?

I took my DD out at the start of Y11 after a huge amount of consideration. Her mental health was destroying her, me and the family as a whole and I was close to losing my job. The school refusal, self harm and generally unhappy home was not worth it. If I could get her to school she spent most of the time in the toilets and I spent most of the day on the phone to the SLT. It wasn't getting anyone anywhere. I had exhausted the pastoral team, CAHMS, therapy etc. It was literally a last resort for me.

Within a week I had my happy, confident daughter back.

School is not for everyone and with hindsight I would have withdrawn her in Y9.

She has now completed functional skills in maths and english and has carried out several weeks of work experience.

Not sure what the future path for her will be but at least I am not worried about her not being alive to actually have a future.

I know this is different to young children never attending school - she flew through nursery, Infants and Juniors with no problems and has a great grasp of English and maths, reads very well and also a lot for pleasure - and I don't think I would have ever have been up to that task. Lockdown nearly did me in.

I agree with the right to home educate but I also firmly believe in the right of a child to have a proper education and think that it needs to be more regulated to make sure children at least have a basic level and socialisation.