Well, crap. DS wants to go to school.

[OvO]

He's just coming up for 7. Really thought I had a year or more before he'd want to try it out. He's spent all summer playing with local children and he's been enticed away.

Going to contact the school tomorrow. Anyone know how long it takes to enrol? Term started a week ago and if he's going I want him to not miss too much of the start of the school year.

I think he's going to love it but I'll make sure he knows HE will always be an option for him.

I'll be an outcast in this forum soon. Woe.

Oh, (hugs). That must be really hard for you!

I guess you are in Scotland? I don't know how enrolment works there. In England it should be more or less instantaneous if the school has places. Some of my friends have contacted the school and then sent their child in the very next day!!

You're not an outcast here. We'll be glad to have you as long as you want to stick around.

I hope he enjoys it, or that if he doesn't enjoy it then you'll have no hassle about getting permission to deregister him from school. Some things I envy about the education system in Scotland, but not the dereg arrangements!

Thank you, Saracen.

We are indeed in Scotland.

Phoned headmaster this morning and was told he was in a meeting and would call back. Still waiting. must not get cross over every tiny thing though!

My 3 (almost 4 year old) DS is now asking to go to nursery! I am being abandoned! but I shall distract him with sweeties and he'll soon forget.

I wouldn't panic yet

A friend's dd wanted to try going to school; she went for a week, then wrote a very nice letter to the headteacher explaining (apparantly in some depth) why she thought HE was a better option than school education . . .

The tricky thing in Scotland is that if he changes his mind, you can't just pull him out - you'd have to apply for permission to remove him to do HE. But if it's what he wants, then I think you have to just go for it anyway, and I'm sure it will be fine.

I don't think it takes long to get registered so long as they have a place. I'd phone again and see if he's around, or speak to the school secretary if he's not available - it may be them who would hand out forms etc anyway.

ds decided to go at 6 as well, and now a year and 3 months later he's chosen home ed again, and, like Takver's friend's dd, he now has some very strong views on why home ed is better! Although my favourite has to be a rant he had one day after school when he was "forced" (in his words!) to play duck duck goose when he wanted to continue his work!

I'd got used to being the parent of a school child by this time as well and it's taking me another mental shift to think about home ed!

Sorry can't advise on the school practicalities as am in England, but here it took about a week I think. It was part way through the year and because he'd never been to school they eased him into it slowly, mornings first, then mornings with lunch time before full days, which he pushed for sooner than their plan.

Actually, to be fair, we've allowed him to choose home ed again, he's been asking for most of the year but we wanted to work on issues he was having.

Come sit next to me love.

My 11yo is going back to school in a couple of weeks at his request.

Yesterday I paid for and lugged home about 30 kilos of textbooks for just 4 subjects so god knows how much his bag will wiegh when the rest arrive and we add in exercise books etc to boot.

He is dead excited, I am busy hiding my stress at the mountains of homework to come.

Feeling a tad glum today. But it will be fine. Jitters are (probably) normal.

Everything will be fine. (self soothes in calming voice)

Thank you for all your lovely replies.

We have a meeting at the school tomorrow and I'm hoping it will all be sorted out there and then so DS can start on Monday.

I'm trying to think of all the positives of his going to school. So far all I have is that there will be less noise. I don't know how two small boys can make such a HUGE noise?!

I'm still feeling about it but I keep telling myself that he has chosen school. It's his decision. We were going down the path of autonomous education and this is just part of it in a way, iykwim.

(grabs OvO's hand and gets a bit clingy)

We're not autonomous, but what else can you do when your child makes it clear they want the mainstream option ?

I don't want to force HE on him, even though I really don't rate an Italian education highly, not least cos it just won't work if he is constantly wondering if the grass is greener in the "big
school" playground.

I quite cross with muself for feeling this wibbly, but by the sounds of things from mates the homework situation is far worse at middle school, ditto the constant testing and I am getting the cold sweats thinking about how stressful managing the lesser amounts of both at elementary school was.

It will be fine, we will adjust and be super dooper organized about homework and test prep, the ipad has flashcard apps availble, I'll buy them and everything will be fine.....even getting up at 6.45 for the 7.50 start... in the depths of winter when the gate freezes onto its runner and I end up hurling boiling water at it in ever increasing panic of not getting there on time.

Must buy snacks this week. They have an early start and finish at 1.37 before going home for lunch, he'll be starving by then.

Have a cunning plan to start a post school homework club so he and his friends can send tine together but still get all the work done. Nothing to do with my need for a fix of HE by stealth, perish the thought. :)

DD2 chose to go back to school after two years of HE, settled in really well, (adn got the highest KS2 SATs results in the school ). Now she's facing a few months at home due to medical issues, and because she knows how to work at home motivating herself, it's not nearly so daunting a prospect as it would otherwise have been, for either me or her.

I think having brought up a DC who is able and confident to make that kind of decision means you've done really well as a parent - hold on to that thought!

Ovo,
all the best for tomorrow and I hope your ds settles in quickly. A friend's ds, also AE'ed, went to school at 9 years old and settled in with no trouble. He too had fitted right in with the local children.

Fastweb,
Hope you soon get to be less wibbly.
having been brought in the Italian system of education, I remember fondly being home for lunch and go out to enjoy the sun in the afternoon. I imagine that 10.30 and 12.45 breaks are still in practice, so plenty of opportunities to placate hunger :)

Homework was never too much to stop me going out to play, have friends over and doing sports. Also having a dd through the English school system, it seems to me that she and her friends are far more stressed about tests here than my cousins' children in the Italian system.

Fava, Did you go to school here before they instigated the new national programme, the Gelmini reforms and the INVALSI exams .?

Your memories sound very much like all my friends memories, but their childrens' school experience bears little resemblance to that of theirmparents.

I have no idea what UK schools are like now, I left in 84, my son has never and will never go to one so I don't bother comparing. The school system is the only real constant thorn in my side here, I wouldn't want to bring him up anywhere else. Not that I have any choice inthe matter, DH would never leave Italy and DS is a right proper mini Italian nationalist. :o

I teach in state schools, train state school teachers, my son spent three years in materna (lovely, they really do let children learn through free play here, no early academics to cntend with) and three years in ele before I turned to HE in desperation, and my experience jibes with the explanations of The Italian Paradox as to why high investment, small class sizes etc result in Italy constantly battling with Greece, Portugal and Spain for the spot at the bottom of the league table.

I think thngs are changing, but as you know there are issues with the mode of candidate selection via concorsi anf the cast iron nature of statale contracts so It is very much a long term plan for change, it won't result in any signficant improvments in my son's school years. The next gen will reap any benfits garnered.

I am really going to have to get a proper keyboard for the ipad, not gettng on with this touchpad thing at all. Please scuse horrible typing and lack of edits to the above. Have horrible feelng I have very fatnfingertips or something which s mucking my ability to type on the thing.

No place for him in the P2 class.

He was deferred officially for P1 so would have just started P2 but the head wanted to put him in the P3 class. He was really pushy about it too.

So we've put DS on the waiting list for P2 and we'll just continue with HE until a space comes up. If it ever chuffing does.

There's only one P2 class and it already has 30 pupils. Are they not allowed even one more?

OvO I empathise!! My 8 year old DD went back to school about 6 weeks before the end of term (before the summer hols). She made a lot of friends but was immediately horrified and affronted by all the petty rules. Although she enjoyed bits of it, she was told quite often that she 'wasn't doing enough work' (she takes longer to write and struggles with it, although reads fluently, so I never worried whilst HEing as she will get there in her own time.) This was a real insult to her.

I was also a bit insulted to read in her report that with EVERYTHING she was 'Below level expected'. This did worry me briefly (we're autonomous too), but had to remember to snap out of that whole 'let's compare kids according to date of birth' thing.
Any hoooo, I am clutching the de reg letter as we speak, as after a Summer to reflect, she is adamant she wants to HE again, despite us offering flexi schooling with one day a week at Forest School. Secretly I am chuffed..

I think it is testament to you that HE has chosen to go, and agree, it's part of the path of autonomy.(Sorry for the ramble OP)

Aww. At least you've given him the confidence to try it out, and he knows you'll still be there for him. Hopefully he'll get a place s

Darn it, overenthusiastic thumbs

Anywho, you definitely won't be an outcast here! I've been on here for ages (under different names, I change a lot) and I've never homeschooled. In fact I just bought DD her first uniform today

I find this board really inspiring, it helps me keep a clear mind of what I (and thankfully DH) really want for our DCs in their education and how we can keep to it even though they will go to school. I've never been told to sod off :o

I wish there was a magic wand you could wave to sort it all out, I have HE'd DD, she's flexi at the mo, but I think I feel that she should be HE'd full time.
There are pros and cons to both though and because she is an only child (no cousins either!) she does get a bit lonely I think...
also I (selfishly) like to have some 'me' time...
Sorry for rambling