Why would anyone home educate?

[slipperandpjsmum]

I am so interested in this please tell me more . . . .

I have and still do home educate for various reasons-all different with each child.

(ds1&2 are now at school and 6th form college both were HE for 3-5 years at different periods,ds3 has never been to school)

A teacher bullied ds1 making him to ill to go to school he was allocated a tutor for over a year and we continued to HE when we moved away.

Ds2 initially because of the tail end time of ds1s withdrawal from school/

ds2 later through extreme ill health

Ds3 bcos at the time ds2 was so poorly I couldnt leave ds2 whilst I took ds3 to school and I was H.E anyway.

now I do it because I have little faith in primary school education,ds3 learns 'differently' due to being H.E and unless he now asks to go to school I cant see him going.

my 13 yr old is HE due to severe bullying, the school denied anything . i involved the EWO,but the scchool then admitted they didnt know whaat to do about it?????
my 6 and 4 yr olds are due to bullying, yet again. i kept my 6 yr old off for the day stating i would bring her in the following day once they haad sorted it out. but the head came marching into my house, called my daughter a liar to her face and must learn to tell the truth. what! this had been going on sincee she started nursery. then she grabbed my little girl, bundled her into the car and took her school without my consent. needless to say they were withdrawn the same day. this happened about 4 weeks ago, she is only just started to let me out of her sight. she has been having the most awful nightmares. the EWO came to visit last week to but my daughters mind at rest, telling her she is not a liar and that she is totaly safe at home, saying she will not get into trouble, she was wonderful with her. she did advise me to take the matter up with the police, social services, school governers etc, but im worried incase my 6 yr old iss interviewed and starts her nightmares off again.
But i do have a DS in the last yr at school who loves it

oops sorry, i've re-read my messaage and saw all the typos.HEing is the best thing we have done, it's something i do not regret at all, we are all having so much fun. my 13 yr old is working towards taking his first igcse in a few months

I started with home education because I felt four was too young for formal education, especially full-time education. I thought my little girl should have the chance to play instead. Also I felt she was too sociable for school: she would have been in constant trouble for talking and playing when she was supposed to be doing other things. I liked the fact that she spent much of her time dancing and singing round the house, and I didn't want anyone to make her stop. (She's eleven now and still does!)

In the last seven years, I've discovered dozens more reasons to like home education. My daughter tried school last year. She said the main reason she chose to return to HE was because it gave her time. School is not a very efficient use of a child's time compared to individual attention. What takes a whole day to learn at school can be covered in an hour or less at home, freeing the child for hobbies, reading, playing, and daydreaming. By my calculations, a home educated child has about a thousand extra hours a year to do these things. It gives an entirely different quality to their lives.

What about you, slipperandpjsmum - what has got you interested in home ed? Does the idea appeal to you?

Refusal to acknowledge and support ds's autism, leading to neglect and harm, in two schools. Watching him regress by 18 months in five weeks because of it. HE was the only option left to us by then.

The effect of school's viewpoint on access to medical services who believed teachers' reports so wouldn't refer him.

He's been out of school now for two years and although he's doing very well indeed in many respects, in others we're still picking up the pieces .

Saracen these are just the reasons we've been seriously considering it- dd is nearly 4 and we're going to have to decide soon but the problem is I haven't found anyone very local for her to see (central London) and though she has lots of friends from nursery I really want a family we can both share this with! I really feel home education could be so wonderful but dd just loves being with children as much as possible and am questioning whether I can manage this in our area...

Looseleaf, there is loads going on in London. Have you tried the EO site to find your local co-ordinator? Or Google "home education" and your area (borough, for example).

I decided to HE as I left secondary and my older one has just gone off to uni. I wouldn't make a different decision with hindsight. HE has been great for us, allowing us the flexibility to follow our own interests and not to get ground down with the system's hoop-jumping.

Saracen - it really does yes. Many of the reasons people are posting are very relevant for our family. I was under the impression you had to follow the national curriculum at home - now I discover you do not, which makes it even more appealing.

We went on a day trip to Liverpool the other day, taking in the museums etc and my son aged 9 was like a sponge and relayed all the information he had learned to his Dad that evening - he had a light in his eyes that I never seen when we do school work and it felt like such an honour to be the one who was able to impart and share in the development of his knowledge.

My daughter started school aged just 4 I asked school if I could defer, they looked at me as if I was suggesting a move to Mars for the year. I now so regret not standing up to them and doing what was best for her rather than the school. We recently had an education psychological assessment undertaken which shocked us by just how low her self esteem in relation to education actually is. Following the assessment the doctor looked at me and said its days like this I feel ashamed of our education system. I am in regular contact with school and we have a plan of how to address her issues - one of which they have implemented!! The action plan was not complex eg say 3 positive things to her every hour, let one of the younger children read to her. The only thing they have actioned is she takes the register to the office!!!

My son refuses to go to school on a regular basis and if it were not for a very kind teaching assistant who peels him off me and encourages him into school.

But I am worried about the money side of things. I do earn some money at the moment and worry about losing that, although I am starting to realise that we would not need to stick to 'school hours' do we.

That's exactly it: the light in the child's eyes. It went off when ds2 tried school again and came back again when I deregistered him again, after 2 weeks!

That phrase about a child looking to you for inspiration, attention, approval, any sort of reaction. The key is in the word 'look'.

@slipperandpjsmum:
I am worried about the money side of things. I do earn some money at the moment and worry about losing that, although I am starting to realise that we would not need to stick to 'school hours' do we.

You certainly do not need to stick to school hours. What work do you do and how many hours? Do you have somewhere your DC can go while you work? I was the main breadwinner and educator for the first 13 years (then I was divorced and I could work while the DC were with xH every w/e). I worked from home, so I could work early morning and after they were in bed.

Also, you may find things are cheaper - no special clothes required for five days per week, no packed lunches or dinner money, any trips you do are within your control, taking advantage of cheaper rates during the school day, etc.

I have been struggling with this question for over 2years now. I'm a SAHM of four children. Their ages are 5, 4,2 & 1. My two older children attend school but even I can see that not much is covered and that the education system needs a re-vamp.

I feel that they are too young to be at school especially as young boys. They can't contain their energy but they have friends which they adore and have such little children. I once tried to get in touch with a home schooling group in my area but I was soon shut down.

I want better for my children but lack the ..... courage to do it.

Zola, have you joined the Yahoo Home Ed list for your county, (if one has been set up)?

I'm sorry your local HE group wasn't friendly to you. Don't give up yet. Once you find local like minded parents it will be easier. They might be searching for a family like yours right now and be feeling a bit lost too.

It's becomin far more common in the UK forvarious reasons...ovrcrowded schools and poorly performing schools are making some people think of HE when previously they would never have onsidered such a thing.

I have always fancied it...my DD is 6 nd now my DH is going to work abroad we hve the chance ...wewill try it for 18 months whilst abroad and see what happens! Good luck with your own resarch and journey.

My Son asked to be educated at home . He went into to the system a very bright child eager to learn. 3yrs later he was bored, rarely picked up a book, was underachieving where we knew he shouldn't but way ahead of his peers in maths and science. The school were very unhelpful.

We have been home educating since late June. He is reading for two plus hrs every evening, its his choice of relaxation. He is studying maths IGCSE (despite the school saying he should stay with yr group)he is planning his own projects and is very motivated.

I work in schools and I believe now more than ever that it is a failed system. Having seen the situation from all sides, as a pupil, teaching and then as a parent I honestly have no faith in it.

DS2 is now at home and making great progress. He is 5 and the school expected cursive handwriting instead we are focusing on writing for purpose, comprehension and basic spelling rules and phonics. I will not set them up to fail but in the longer term I have much higher aspirations for them than the school system (which writes off more than 40% as destined for manual labour)

I still manage to work a few hrs a week and catch up on paper work in the evenings.

I found it difficult to meet others, some groups are quite closed. It has taken a while but we are starting to make friends and have found several activities. I have also found that many parents from the school are friendlier now than before. It might be the zoo effect!! look at the strange Home edders, but I couldn't give a monkeys.

The friend "issue" is funnily enough what puts most people off minimathsmouse..they'll happily put up with rude or shouty TA's, bullying teachers or kids...with poor teaching and grotty buildings...but heaven forfend their DC might not be "socialized"!

As if shoving 200 kids together daily in one building is real life anyway!

My own DD is currently in a prvate school bu if the day comes when she s not loving it...or if I see her confidence fail...then out she'll come. It's not perfect as it is...it's too ordeed and too much sitting for my liking..6 yeat=r old's should be learning through play still I think....and reading should be taught through GOOD books not these terrible learning series'

I am looking forward to seeing her react to no school or a while! And i I fel she needs school when we come back then she can go...

Sorry for the hjack OP...I suppose what I am saying is that the world is changing very fast and some things not for the better.

Yes mashed, the whole philosophy of the state system is now based on the idealogy that children must be socialised in order to fulfil their purpose within the economic scheme. Which is part of the hidden agenda of pidgeon holing children into the boxes they will occupy as adults in the working world. Not half as many astronauts needed as clerks, not half as many managers as button pushers.

The socialisation agenda has permeated into the subconscious of almost all mothers so that now children are being cared for and socialised in nurseries.

If I pulled peoples hair, refused to share, laid on the floor, screamed, pinched and bit others would I be a better social role model for my children? No and neither is it a useful lesson when learnt from their peers. Sorry about the rant, just gets my goat that people have been duped into beleiving that their children are somehow best educated in large imposing spaces with few adults and too many children.

Exactly mini....I am not saying my DD is perfect...far from it! But she never, before attending school said words like "Hate" nor did she have any natural meaness in her...now I see her say "You can't play with me and I am not your friend" to her baby sister...it kills me that...because I have taken such pains to teach them about kindness...

if learning to socialise means learning nasty tricks, then I am not sure it's for me...I mean...I went to school...pretty bad ones....I learned at the time to fling inults and so on...but now I am an adult I choose to avoid people like that.

I could have learned that at home! Making friends is innate in a child who is properly taught to be interested in the world around her or him...

Mine went to school to the end of Year 4 and Year 2 respectively. They were ok at school (it is a good school) - but it never really inspired them. We (as parents) found the national curriculum very restrictive and decided since we were in the fortunate situation of both working part time, that we could do a better job. We share the HE which great because we come at things from different angles, and don't get stale from doing it day in day out.

We have only been HE for a few months - but are loving the freedom of it - freedom from teh triviality of lunch boxes and pe kits on one level, to the freedom of exploring our area at another level, to the freedom to follow interests. We also appreciate the ability to concentrate on something for a while until they crack it, tackle something from lots of different angles until you hit upon one that connects. We also like the freedom of not being tied to certain times - we tend to find lots of learning takes places around and just after tea time - lots of conversations come up then.

We have no idea how long we will do this for - but for now (kids age 7 and 9) we are all enjoying it (which is a step up from before when it was just ok but often not much more).