home ed as an alternative to private school

[thornberet]

I did some maths and worked out that, by the time my kids are year 7 and year 4, the cost of the local (v good) private school would eat the whole take home of a 60k salary. Thats before extras (music lessons, uniform, fuel to and from etc).

Now 60k doesn't seem like a bad salary for a homeschooling mum (assuming i'd be saving us 60k so could claim it as my 'salary'). I know that a bespoke education would academically equivalent or better than private school (I have a couple of degrees and would hire tutors too). Socially its a bit of a minefield but at least they won't be bullied or traumatised.

Are normal professional upper middle class people considering this? Why is this not a no-brainer?

So if you don't send them to private school they will be bullied and traumatized? Right then. And what do you mean by "upper middle class"?

Why is this not a no-brainer?

People value work.
People value diversity of experience.
People value the social aspects of school.

There's about a thousand and they're fairly obvious.

It's worth saying that degrees don't make teachers.

Home education won’t pay into a pension though will it.

Are normal professional upper middle class people considering this? Why is this not a no-brainer?

Because most professional upper middle class people work and earn more than £60k.

And most of them don't want to spend every waking minute with their children.

.

Did you live through lockdown??? If I could afford tutors I would consider it but the trouble is if I take five years out of work I won’t be employable after!

Are you a qualified teacher then? Can you teach? Do you understand the syllabus and the exam system? Can you teach child how to tackle the complexities of exam style questions?

Where will you claim the 60k salary from? In many cases HS is not going to meet your child's needs.

I've seen bairns who struggle at school positively flourish HE. However, it's time consuming and expensive when you do the HE stuff. It's not all about doing classroom at home. It's HE groups and alternative learning with other kids. It all costs and you're tied to your kid. No life.

There are so many reasons why people don’t consider this, OP.
Who wants to have to teach their own children?! Certainly not me. I love teaching, but it’s a different matter teaching your own children.

By year 7 the social aspects are incredibly important. Schooldays social stuff shapes your entire life. Home ed with one younger sister can’t replicate that. That’s why I wouldn’t do it anyway. Plus I have a great pension.

Why are you totally dismissing the idea of local schools if you can’t afford school fees?

We homeschooled from 10-16 but we have a great home Ed hub nearby where DD had tutoring for most of her GCSEs, a couple she took using online tutors. It worked for us but she wants to go to school for A Levels now.

There are lots of online tutoring options but your DC need to be motivated to self learn and do all the hours they need to put in alone too.

Socially DD had friends at the hub and local dance classes, drama and martial arts. There's plenty of options out there besides school to socialise and learn.

It's something we're considering OP. I agree it seems like a great option if you're that way inclined and have plans for pension.

There's an excellent online course on centre of excellence called home education awareness.

It helps you prepare to home educate, with all the pros and cons. Go for it!

Home ed is going mainstream as more and more parents are choosing not to put their kids through the nightmare that is the education system.

Because unless there are serious mental health / medical / SEND reason it’s better for kids to be in school. Being stuck at home with Mum (or occasionally Dad) isn’t good for kids. Sure they can probably pass some exams but they miss so many important life skills. HE groups don’t in any way replicate the experience of learning how to be independent and get along with a range of of sorts of people day in day out.

@SwordToFlamethrower
it really isn’t going mainstream!

assuming i'd be saving us 60k so could claim it as my 'salary'

Aside from the fact that you wouldn’t be actually ‘claiming’ it from anywhere, do you think you would be a good teacher of all subjects to your two children? Is your partner happy to be the sole breadwinner for years? Are you happy to put your career, earning potential, pension on hold completely?

Local schools are a very real option, I just wanted to see if there were other parents out there, perhaps about to be priced out of private schools, who were considering homeschool as an alternative. I should have clarified that I meant the 5-13 age range also.

This hasn't been my experience so far. I have
loved teaching dd to read. Not all sunshine and rainbows obviously but super rewarding and bonding. I know she is young and dynamics can change..

Agreed.

Nope. Need to factor this into my calculations.

No, if I don't send them to school at all it is very unlikely they will be bullied or traumatised. Bullying happens in both private and state sectors sadly.

Upper middle class to me means wealthy enough to be considering private school.

Teaching your own child phonics, reading of basic adding abd subtract us a whole world away from teaching the secondary syllabus, especially if you're not trained to teach. I would research the reality first, think about teaching an d learning styles, how would you socialise your child too?