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Original poster

Anyone home educating - ie NOT sending kids to school

61 replies

PotPourri · 10/07/2004 14:41

DH didn't go to school til he was 14, and at his own choice. I went the full way through. He's definately got a more rounded view of the world and learns from his surroundings and books etc much more effectively than I do (and I'm a very high achiever as it happens). I learn to pass an exam, or to meet a deadline, or in preparation for a presentation. And it just doesn't stick.

We're expecting our first little 'un and I'm wondering if anyone could share success/less successful stories about home educating. I would love to have the courage to do it, but it's so different from what I know...

OP posts:
boudicca · 11/07/2004 02:24

I don't know what time I'd have to spend on me,I have a feeling I'd get v. involved with dd3's stuff! it would probably be more interesting!
What are you going to do regards GCSE's SM?

boudicca · 11/07/2004 02:28

Sorry sm was busy writing so posted before your reply,I've been on a lot of the HE sites and also checked out the Beeb and The Guardian,I'm in/near Bromley by the way.

spacemonkey · 11/07/2004 02:31

I will enter dd as an external candidate for her GCSEs when the time comes I think. She might even do some of them early, we'll have to see how it goes - it might be good to spread them out or she might want to take them all in one go as they do at school. I know of one home ed family with a daughter who didn't do any GCSEs but started an art foundation course on the basis of her portfolio and is doing very well, so it is possible to be much more flexible with home ed, not having to adhere to the national curriculum.

I think our move to london helped me make the decision too - wealth of educational resources and lots of families home edding within easy reach. I think it might have been much harder in the small town where we now live (we're moving at the end of this month).

Do feel free to email me direct to compare notes

Sorry potpourri for hijacking your thread!

boudicca · 11/07/2004 02:43

thanks SM i'll take you up on that offer.Ditto sorries PP

frogs · 11/07/2004 10:51

spacemonkey and others in or near London -- you might want to know about the Royal Institution just off Piccadilly. They do fantastic science events for schools, but also welcome home-ed children at their schools lectures.

They get serious but kid-friendly scientists to do lectures on topics like "Light", "Sound" etc -- there's a brilliant one on low-temperature physics, involving lots of tricks with flasks of liquid nitrogen. We don't home-ed, but we like them so much we've been known to bunk off school to go, and it's all free!

hmb · 11/07/2004 11:49

Spacemonkey, an honest question, how will you get round the need for coursework if your dd is going to be an external candidate?

I've often wondered about this. In the science GCSE it is 20% of the total marks.

And I know that people who home ed do use night classes (which I have taught) but these are often limited.

If you are going to do any science, I can recommmend some good websites.

spacemonkey · 11/07/2004 11:59

hmb, I haven't looked into the GCSE requirements in detail yet, so I can't answer that question. There may be different requirements for external candidates, but I'm guessing that if that isn't the case we would have to have coursework assessed by a teacher (perhaps by making an arrangement with a secondary school or using an approved person as directed by the examining board).

Janh · 11/07/2004 12:40

I was talking to a retired German teacher this week about 2 people she knows who are taking Russian as external candidates - because they are external they can't do coursework at all. It's a different alphabet but they only get the same amount of time for the written part as those doing eg French and German, so it would help them a lot to do coursework, but they can't.

Presumably for those who can't do it the exam is marked differently?

spacemonkey · 11/07/2004 12:51

I've just checked out the AQA website and for Italian GCSE external candidates may only take the written option (i.e. no coursework), so you're right janh

spacemonkey · 11/07/2004 12:58

the AQA Website has all the GCSE requirements in pdf format (might be useful for you boudicca?)

HelloMama · 11/07/2004 14:07

This website may be helpful, particularly for members who have dyslexic children, and also those interested in home educating: www.dyslexics.org.uk (don't know how to do a link i'm afraid!)

Eulalia · 11/07/2004 16:29

Regarding the social aspect - my ds is about to go to a very small primary with composite 2 classes ie differing ages from 4.5 to around age 9, and then an older class. They mix the older and younger children at the same table so the older ones can help out. His other options were huge primary clases... so even mainstream schools can be different. I'd love to home ed but ds responds better to other people than me at the moment.

Davros · 12/07/2004 00:51

SM, just asking not judging! Don't you think that Home Eding AND moving to a totally new area might be too much at once?

spacemonkey · 12/07/2004 12:38

I don't see it as any more difficult than moving to a new area and starting a new school would be really davros. Our move signifies a huge change for us as a family - all three of us are a bit nervous about it (we'd be weird if we weren't), but more excited than nervous. I don't feel daunted at the prospect of home ed for dd at all - I think it'll work really well and will be good not just for her but for me too. But it's not a decision I've made suddenly with no previous knowledge of HE, I've got a long standing interest in HE, so the idea has been brewing for years and years and is now coming to fruition.

And if it doesn't work out, she can go back into the school system and I will be happy that at least I've tried it!

spacemonkey · 12/07/2004 12:39

PotPourri, I'm really sorry to have hijacked your thread like this

Davros · 12/07/2004 16:22

Well,maybe this is actually the perfect time then SM and, as you say, she can always go to school at a later date. You're brave though in my book! I ran a home program for my son with ASD for 4 years and it was VERY hard work but I know its a different thing.

MUMINAMILLION · 18/09/2004 09:17

Just wondering if anyone who was considering HEing their children has taken the step to do it and how are you getting on?

Earlybird · 20/09/2004 21:33

I think IlanaK is home educating hers......brave woman! Perhaps she'll see this thread and respond.

Slinky · 20/09/2004 21:35

Doesn't Stupidgirl HE as well??

MUMINAMILLION · 20/09/2004 21:57

Thanks Earlybird. Will try to contact her.

MUMINAMILLION · 20/09/2004 23:36

Thanks too Slinky

stupidgirl · 20/09/2004 23:52

I've just seen this. I HE my 2.

MUMINAMILLION · 21/09/2004 08:08

Hi stupidgirl. How is it going? How long have you done it? And how do you do it???????

This was a good thread, and I did wonder if anyone had taken the step of HEing their children since.

ks · 21/09/2004 08:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

MUMINAMILLION · 21/09/2004 09:41

ks - if you go into WH Smith's/Waterstones etc, you can find workbooks which follow the curriculum. We found a good one was the Carol Vorderman series, which also has gold stars which they like - gives them a sense of achievement! They are carefully graded and well-explained. The only other thing I can think of is if you contact your Education dept, or the school itself. Im not sure how they feel about giving this kind of information tho, as they sometimes are not overly keen on parents giving children work of a different level to that which they are on in the classroom. Hope this helps. Let me know how you get on.