Best place to homeschool

[avillage]

name changed as this can be very identifying.

My DD currently goes to a private school as the local public schools were not meeting her needs. Not here to debate on the pros and cons of this choice as it was the best choice for us at that time and she is much happier in her current school. Now due to being hit by the raise in fees due to inflation and VAT we are debating whether to keep her there or homeschool her. We cannot send to any of the public schools as honestly they are not that good.

Now we have three choices
1- Keep her in the private school. She is happy there and has friends. It's one of the best schools. Issue is that it is not worth the price now and we have been sacrificing a lot to give her a good education.

2- Homeschool her in London where we live. We will be living in our own place. She will still have access to her network of friends and can meet them up after school. We are more independent here as transport links are very good and we can go any where. I will give up my work initially or reduce the hours to accommodate homeschooling her

3- Take her to my inlaws. her grandmother was a teacher and can teach her. Her grandfather can drive and take her to groups. I can carry on working as I wfh. Issue is that I can't drive and we will have to be dependant on them. We will not have our space. It is a small town and I think has a good homeschooling community but still, I will not be able to get much involved as they will probably take over the whole thing. I will also be isolated because I will not be going out, know no one here and have lived in London for the past 15 years, know my way around London more than here. I do not like the area that much either tbh. DD might get good education, butI will hate it. I have lived on my own for the past 15 years and whenever we have come to visit for a few weeks, we are all done with each other by the end of it. I am not that keen on this idea any more but it is an option we are considering at the moment. if it's worth anything, the place is Rochdale.

What would you recommend?

1- homeschool or keep her in private school.
2- if homeschool, then where would the best place be?

Definitely not 3!

Much better to home educate in London were there are a million and one educational things available, loads of home ed groups and lots of childcare settings for home ed children.

I don't think you should do 3. I'm home schooling 8 GCSEs and it's fierce work. Getting your head round the syllabus for each of those GCSEs all at the same time is really something else. The isolation is also not great. DS's friends are all too busy with school friends to talk to us now.

I wouldn't consider number 3, that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen!

I suspect homeschooling, if done well, is more difficult and time consuming than we all think so my vote would be to keep her in school. The security of knowing educational standards are being met and the fact that she is happy and has friends would be enough for me

How old is DD @avillage? That makes quite a difference in terms of homeschooling. And what did your mother teach? – tho I agree that option of moving to Rochdale does not sound great. Primary level knowledge of the curriculum is one thing, but secondary level knowledge on a range of subjects is another. I'm a qualified secondary school teacher and there is no way I would want to home ed my DC in science (obvs not my subject!), for example.

If you are thinking about primary, what would be the plan for secondary? Back to school? (btw in England it’s usual to say state schools not public, as public schools are very elite private schools like Eton) – and if so, private or state? I would look at that as a priority (esp if DD is 9 or 10 for example).

There is a HE board on MN btw which I am sure will have lots of great support if you do decide to HE.

Surely there is an option 4 where you move out of London to an area with more suitable schools. Is driving a possibility?

How long ago did gm teach? Retirement quickly dates their skills and outlook. 3 seems you give everything up, including your dd Do you have a dh or children to consider?

London schools are generally good, and tend to get better results than much of the rest of the country. I’d look against state schools as the first option.

She is 10 and in year 5. We have paid the fess for this year so the homeschooling will start from next year. And tbh, I always get the terms mixed up as I am not originally from here so thanks for pointing that out.

If homeschooling goes well then we will probably continue till secondary. MIL is a primary school teacher. TBH I will prefer getting a tutor for the specialised subjects instead of teaching myself. I studied STEM subjects and tutored when I was a student with great success but that was 20 years ago and not this education system. I can support her education but not teach her. So it will mostly be me learning and teaching her, self learning (she is exceptionally good at this0 and group learning which I will take her to.

Unfortunately the state schools in our area are really not that great. They are at best average. DD is currently going to a selective school where she is thriving.

Can't move out of London due to DH's work. He likes his current job which pays well and he can spend time with family and relax. I can learn to drive but tbh I do not have a good hand eye coordination or sense of direction. I cannot rely on me being able to pass the driving exams anytime soon. I only had one lesson in my life so far.

The isolation I was taking about was me. DD has a good relation with her grandparents and her cousins are around.

DD is already very shy and her friends are like her too so I am also afraid that she will get socially awkward. I do plan to take her to more social activities and group sessions so she gets to interact with others but not sure how successful it would be

Have you thought about virtual online school? Much cheaper than private.

yeah, I realised that after we said it out loud.

yes 10 years ago. TBF she is a really good teacher. She has been teaching homeschooling kids since retiring and does have the ability to teach her or find her someone who will be able to teach her. That I do not doubt.

He could still work in London if you lived outside. Plenty of people commute, better than splitting the family up surely.

So number 3 is you live with your in laws and leave your husband in london?
I already thought 3 was crazy but this is just bonkers and will lead to everyone unhappy. A local state school and you keeping the family unit would give you better lives than this.

All sounds bonkers. You can either afford the private school or you can't. If you can't you put her in a state school or you give up your job and home educate.

If the private school is great and she is thriving why is it not worth the price? What are you sacrificing?