Please answer a question for a home ed virgin

[Mooose]

Sorry this is so long. I have a quite few questions that I need reassurance about before I let myself dream any more about home ed, and I?d really appreciate some help from people who can answer 1 or 2.

Our situation: dh and I both work part time and are at home with the dc part time, and we have no other childcare. The dc are currently 3.3 and 2.1 and we?re looking at schools. The state primaries are dire or very religious, and there are a 2 really nice private prep schools which we are going to think about, but I?m currently leaning towards the possibility of home ed. We want to avoid this school stress and allow the dc to grow up a bit more slowly without the peer pressure of school as they?re both currently quite young for their age. I also feel like 4 and a bit is far too young for school, and none of the local primaries and prep schools do a gradual build up to full days. If we do home ed we plan to follow a fairly relaxed approach to teaching through playing and living.

The questions:

• How easy is it to fit into schools later? At the most we will only be home ed-ing until the end of primary school, and we might look into 7+ entry to a prep school. Is the transition into school easier at 7+ or 11+?

• Is it a good idea to start home ed-ing knowing we only want to do it for a limited period? I?m concerned that the dc might pick up on this and think that home ed is so unreliable that we will be sending them to professionals to finish it, but that home ed was a disadvantage. I obviously hope that this won?t be the case! but I don?t want the dc to think it is.

-Does anyone have any experience of making the transition to a selective prep at 7+ from home ed? Is this even possible? Especially if we choose not to follow a formal timetable of work? I?m reluctant to approach the school with the possibility as I?m concerned they will see this as an opportunity to sell their pre prep rather than discuss our situation. What could we do to improve our chances of making this work?

-The possibility of relocating to Wales is also on the cards. Are Welsh LEAs accepting of home ed-ers? Does anyone know what age Welsh language tuition begins in Wales, and if schools provide a ?catch-up service? for pupils who join later without any Welsh? We could possibly get a Welsh language tutor to teach us Welsh while we?re still living in England.

• Is it possible to get hold of the primary school curriculum for England / Wales?

• Do you have much input from outsiders in your dcs education for the bits you can?t teach? E.g. French club or tutor to teach French if you can?t speak it. How well does this work?

• The dc are bilingual and speak exclusively Turkish to dh. Has anyone got any experience and tips of joint home ed-ing which they could share with us? Are there any obvious disadvantages to bilingual home ed which we have missed? The dc speak English as well as their monolingual English cousins and friends, so their language development isn?t a problem atm. Are there any bilingual home ed families or blogs around? Does this sound like a plan which could work?

• What did you do to teach reading? Did you use a formal method like a phonetics course or just read lots together? Please can you tell me the advantages of the approach you used. What age did you begin to teach reading?

• How much time per day or week will dc need to be with other children for home ed not to be a disadvantage socially? We live on a houseboat in quite an isolated spot and at the moment most of their contact with other children is in directed clubs like swimming lessons. Is this a problem? And has anyone got any tips on how we can change this? Obviously we plan to join a home ed group, but I?m concerned that might not be enough.

Re: Wales LEAs, In my experience Welsh LEAs tend to ignore Home Education. I think that my LEA doesnt have a full time officer solely dealing with Home Education.

Hi
I can't comment on some of your questions, but I'll try and answer the ones I can.

I know a few people who are intending on doing just what you are doing and waiting to put their children into school. I have a feeling that some may not actually end up putting the children into school though!

I also have friends who speak a language other than English at home and it all seems to work well, but I cannot comment further on that point.

You can get hold of the National Curriculum if you want to follow it.

Where I live there are some people who offer their skills, although skill sharing within the local home ed community isn't quite as freeflowing as I'd like. There are people who get teachers for some bits they don't feel confident to teach. What you need to remember is that in schools the teachers are noit specialists in all the subjects anyway and they just learn the bits they need before teaching the class. Languages are a prime example of this. I have observed a non-French specialist teach French using only a cassette and the book. Not a great motivator fot the children to speak French, but she got the point across. I think, what I am trying to sayu here is that you will probably be able to teach most of the things to keep your children up to speed for the few years you are intending on keeping the children at home.

Reading is a tough one for me. My children are still young and I am not doing any formal teaching for this. I want to be able to leave it to them, although I know it is something that is going to stress me out. Have you read Alan Thomas' book 'Teaching children at home'? Its quite interesting to hear what he has to say about reading.

I find the whole socialisation thing fine...its always what people worry about, but once you start to meet more Home educators locally you'll wonder how you find time to be at home.

I hope my rushed answer is of help a bit.

LucindaCarlisle - Thanks. That's good to hear, I've heard some horror stories of people being asked to prove they were teaching enough and gain permission to home ed. Do you live in a Welsh speaking area? and can you and your dc speak Welsh?

Mung - Thanks for your reply and the NC link. We're not planning to follow the NC but it will be useful to see what needs to have been covered if the dc do need to start school.

I really like the sound of skill sharing within the group. I know schools often cannot find or afford specialist teachers, but I have a feeling that has a bad impact on the teaching quality. I feel that if I home ed I need to "prove" we're doing it well by using specialists for things we can't teach. Fortunatly dh and I did our degrees in vastly different areas and can use this to teach different skills.
I can't find "Teaching Children at Home" on amazon, but there is a "How children learn at home" by the same author with Harriet Pattison. Is that the same book with a different name?
It's nice to hear socailisation comes naturally. How often do you meet with a home ed group? Do you meet them outside the group too?

Moose. Yes, I live in an intermediate Welsh Speaking area. My son who started learning Welsh at about age three or four has picked up Welsh the best. The younger that you start learning it the better.

Many Welsh LEAs are quite small and rural so do not have the resources to allocate a full time expert on to HE matters. I doubt that Welsh LEAs know how many families Do Home Education.

Have you any idea which county of Wales that you may be moving to?
As far as I know, most primary schools start teaching Welsh in Nursery.

The Welsh National Anthem for example (as sung at Rugby and Football matches etc etc)

Certain counties are much more Welsh speaking than others. Gwynedd and Ceredigion and Ynys Mon are perhaps the most strong Welsh Language areas.

If we move, which isn't certain yet, it will be to within commuting distance of Aberystwyth. I've just been looking at the Welsh NC and it looks like the learning through play policy is used all over Wales until the end of year 2. Have I got that right? If so, then that should help take some of the pressure off, as none of the dc will have much experience of formal school at 7+.

I am in Secondary Education now, so lost touch with exactly what is happening in Primary.
The area around aberystwyth is a strong Welsh Speaking area. Look up www.ceredigion.gov.uk

Moose, if you go onto the TES website, you will be able to get a lot of information there. They have the curriculum details for where you will be living.

www.tes.co.uk

They have information for curriculums throughout the UK.

Sorry Moose...you're right, I gave you the wrong title. It is the one with Harriett Pattison.
I do meet with people outside of organised activities and groups. Its very similar to the whole 'toddler group thing'. Once we have met a few times and start seeing people more regularly at various outings, groups, organised events then we have started to meet up to 'play'. I envisage doing more focused get togethers with the people I get along with more and perhaps our children can learn from the different parents in the group...I'm not sure the other parents know that yet though .

Marjoriew - I haven'thad a chance to have a proper look yet, but the link looks really useful. Thanks.
Mung - I think that sounds like a great idea, and I intend to borrow the expertise of people I know to add to the home ed experience.

Just two of your points I can pick up on -

We started home ed intending for it to only be for one year for my younger daughter only. Lots of people do this. Three years on and both girls are out of school! I always told DD2 she would absolutely have to go back by secondary, as I said it was beyond me to teach it (as it has happened, it hasn't been, but that's another matter!). Me saying this to them didn't impact negatively on the home ed at all. I certainly don't think it will make them view home ed as somehow less than school.

We haven't actually gone back into school, but DD2 will be Year 7 in September (just coming up to 11) and we looked at the possibility of sitting entrance for private school. They sent us a sample paper and DD2 found it so easy - she got nearly 100% on the maths having never looked at that type of thing before. We have never tutored her exam papers etc - her day to day home ed life just meant she could do it! In the end we never took it because it cost £50 but she would have walked a scholarship. We went round for the open day and even by the end of that they were falling over themselves for her to sit the entrance paper! Home ed children stand out in their confidence - with adults and children. I wouldn't forsee any problems if either of them want to go back to school. DD1 is starting a part time accelerated learning course at college next year - so we shall see! But both have such a good social life out of school and are so self motivated that I can't see it would be a problem.

Good luck with whatever you decide!