Home educating

[Terr]

My daughter has been suffering from ME for over a year now and as a consequence of her case being mis-handled we have had to withdraw her from school. We are hoping she will be well enough to attend the local fe college to do English gcse in Sept but would like her to do german as well which the college doesn't do.Can anyone give some advice on home educating? All the online courses seem so expensive and beyond our financial reach so any help would be appreciated.

Hi Terr,

My dd is only 11 so all my info is secondhand. However, the subject is discussed quite a lot in home ed circles.

You certainly don't have to do a course; you can do it on your own. I understand that finding an exam centre is sometimes the hardest part.

Here's an overview: education-otherwise.org.uk/exams.htm

There is a very busy Yahoo group dedicated specifically to the topic of exams and alternative educational routes for teens: groups.yahoo.com/group/HE-Exams-GCSE-A_AS_Levels-OU-Others/

There's a fairly detailed wiki on the subject, but I can't find it at the moment. There's probably a link to it from the above Yahoo group; if not then just ask on the list.

You may also reach more people here on Mumsnet who can answer this if you post here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/home_ed

Sara

Hi Sara

Many thanks for your advice, I never thought of Yahoo, will have a look now. I'm also new to this talk thing as only registered today!!
I think I need more practice!

Thanks again

Terr

The wiki is at www.home-education-exams.org.uk/.

My DD did German with the OU at 14-15 (and our story is on the wiki). The intermediate German course takes you to a CEF level B1 (GCSE A-C). There is also a basic course, at the same level but with less depth and assuming that you are starting from scratch. The next beginners' course starts in November and the intermediate in Feb 2012. Financial assistance is available for the course and it is based on the student's income, so young students normally do not have to pay the fee.

The OU is also good as its tutors are used to dealing with students with special requirements. The materials are intended to be used without a tutor present but tutorials are available if you want to attend. For a language, I'd recommend them and tutors are open to students only attending for half the time, or whatever.

Feel free to ask more questions - I took L130 alongside my DD and thoroughly recommend it.

Dear SDeuchars

Thanks for your advise, it looks ideal. My daughter was starting her GCSE coursework and has already studied German for 3 years so I think she would start at the intermediate level. This is one I shall look into over the weekend.

Thanks again

Terr