Anyone HE secondary age kids?

[gentheyank]

I think Ive been a member of mumsnet for years but never actually posted. Im considering home educating my children who are currently in years 8 (twins) and 6. I was wondering if there were any families here who HE older students? Ive HE our kids before but put them back into school and Im feeling the need to pull them out again, this time for good. Just wondering whats out there for HE'ing older students.
Cheers in advance!

Mine aren't quite there yet - year 6 and year 4 (also twins :)). We have no plans to move any of them back to school for the time being.

There are lots of people who have older HE children - I am sure they will be along in time. I guess the issue you need to think about over the next few years is qualifications. There are lots of options - (assuming uk based) gcse's as a private candidate (pricey), wait until 6th form age and then to then at college, do an ou foundation course (again pricey).

In the meantime - there are lots of resources for key stage 3 and on from that. The web is a great place to start.

We home educated all three of ours right through to their going to FE College/Work. All three are now doing well in University level education.

what do you want to know?

My 18 year old is home educated. How do you mean about "what's out there"?

I'm posting to say the same as Fiona and Julie. I've HEed 2 DC through to university - what do you want to know?

what do you want to know?

Thats a really good question, lol. My head's whizzing with the idea of it (excited). I needed to know about future qualifications, some of you answered that. The fact that you guys mentioned some of your kids going on to university is encouraging. My dh was concerned that we wouldnt be able to provide a good enough education. Im pretty confident. I think I just needed some encouragement. I also wanted to know if you would mind sharing what resources you use and how expensive you feel he'ing is. Ive already got a plan in mind, having learned from our past mistakes, but I was wondering if anyone had any general advice? Some do's and dont's. What do I have to do as far as letting the 'authorities' know? As far as the 'whats out there?' question, I was looking up some stuff, for example, maths books for years 8 and 9 on amazon. They looked pretty useful and a good starting point, but I wanted to know if that sort of thing was actually useful or a waste of money.

Dh gave the 'ok' (but I havent told the kids yet, they'd be bouncing off the walls) so I was hoping to let them finish this half term and pull them out in about 4 weeks time. In that time do you have any suggestions as far as what I NEED to have on hand before I start?

Another thing is that Im back in college myself, training as a hairdresser. I think we can manage this but again, I wanted to know if anyone else out there had any experience with working or studying themselves while HE their kids.

Ive got lots of questions so Im sure Ill just pop back in and ask away when they come to mind. Thanks for your patience

The easy question first: What do I have to do as far as letting the 'authorities' know?

You write a letter to the proprietor of the school to say that they should remove your children from the school register. There are various "deregistration" letters on the web that will enable you to include the relevant references to legislation.

do you have any suggestions as far as what I NEED to have on hand before I start?

You don't NEED to have anything on hand before you start. What do they and you want to do once they come out of school? You do not have to do anything that "looks like school". They may already have interests that they could spend more time on once they are out of school.

What is the reason for you taking them back out of school? You may want to give some time to recover from the school experience (you say they'd be bouncing off the walls if you were to tell them, which makes me think that they do not enjoy school). You may want to decide what is non-negotiable (for us, that was attending and working on things we were paying for - mostly musical activities) and not plan on doing anything specifically "educational" (such as maths workbooks) for a couple of months. They (and you) will need time to shake down and get used to being around each other all day.

It sounds trivial to say "HE is as expensive as you want it to be" but it is pretty much true. We did not use any sort of curriculum until the DC started doing OU courses (at almost 15 and 13.5 yo). I'd suggest that you don't buy resources until you know how you are going to operate.

You almost certainly don't need maths workbooks for both "Year 8" and "Year 9" - there is a lot of repetition in school and you do not need to do that. If your Y8 DC want to take exams and are comfortable with maths, you may want to consider doing IGCSE maths some time in the next two years (i.e. before they'd have done it in school). In that case, you'd be as well getting GCSE/IGCSE books and working through them. See www.home-education-exams.org.uk and its related Yahoo! email list for huge amounts of information from other people on taking GCSE-level exams as an independent candidate.

I have worked throughout my time HEing. However, I mostly worked from home (and went freelance when the job threatened to want me in an office most days). With older DC, they can get on with things while you work or study.

Thank you so much for your response, it was very helpful (and fast too!). My children absolutely loved homeschooling when we did it a few years ago. We had a family crisis occur which we werent prepared for and couldnt cope with it all. We are in a different place now, we've learned from our mistakes and my children dont particularly like school and I hate it. I have never been happy with the level of education my children recieved in mainstream schools. The kind of socialisation is not ideal for my kids, and I know it sounds snobbish but I know from the bottom of my heart, that we can provide something that will properly educate them and make them love learning as opposed to it being something they have to endure. My girls, in year 8, had to fight for their place in the queue for the school canteen and in the end gave up getting a hot meal bc the older students are bigger and push past them. My son is ok in year 6, but I can foresee problems for him in secondary school.

Thank you again for your response. It is very helpful!

I'm not sure if this addresses your specific concerns but I would recommend taking the long view. What do you want for your children when they grow up? Do they have a specific career in mind yet or are they wondering what the world will be like in a few years and how they might fit into it?

I've done a lot of work lobbying for better access to exams for home educated children but as it happens, with my family we opted not to do any exams. My personal view (the long view) is that since my son doesn't want to go to university and since he also focuses obsessively and passionately on his special areas of interest, it works better for us not to go down the conventional route.

Info about the conventional route here though!
edyourself.org/search/?q=exams

The local authority is legally obliged to accept your version of what you are seeking to achieve. In our case I explained (because I have a tendency to give way too much information so that the other person is backing away and making for the door) that my aim was to raise a well-rounded and assertive young person who would be much better prepared for avoiding the mental health issues which had dogged his academically over-qualified parents.

Mine's 13, has been home educated since the beginning of Y5 and is doing great. Took his first IGCSE last year in Maths, taking the higher paper this summer and working on a handful of others in sciences, English and History.

He has a far better social life than he ever had while he was in school, so much so that we often find it hard to fit in work between all the leisure activities. I wouldn't go as far as to say he's 'normal' as he has AS/ADHD but I will say that most people he meets wouldn't know he has any kind of SN, because HE allows him to develop at his own pace and tackle the difficulties of his condition.

I find it does cost a lot but that's primarily because I'm not well educated myself and don't have what it takes to teach him GCSE subjects myself, so I have to resort to tutors. He also has a lot of non-academic interests which aren't cheap, but we all work out our own sets of priorities and as others have said, it can be as expensive as you choose to make it depending on the route you go.

Our local authority is pretty crap - they present as supportive and caring but in practice they're just monitoring the risk issue and box-ticking. I send them a report every year of what we've done and our short term and long term goals, and in the past I've been happy to meet with them because we had a nice front-line officer. She's gone now and as we're so busy I'll be declining this year, but will still send the report. It's up to you how much contact you have with the LA, though some are more insistent than others.

Yep, age 16 and 12, Year 11 and Year 8. My eldest has 6 GCSEs/IGCSEs already and takes a few more this summer (we haven't made a final decision on numbers!). She goes to 6th form college in September which I know she is ready for and will thrive at. They were initially doubtful as to whether they would take her because she wants to do Drama and Dance and doesn't/ won't have those GCSEs. So they called her in for an audition in November and in the audition letter said they would let us know in the spring. I think they were utterly stunned by her. They sent her a letter offering her a place the next day! She's also applying for full time ballet school but we know that's a long shot.

12 year old took GCSE Physics last year and could do more but I am concentrating on DD1 this year. The nice thing with home ed is it doesn't have to be relelntless or as consistent as school. DD2 is very much doing her own thing this year, her music, dance and skating, keeping the maths going on mathletics, a bit of poetry and Latin with my mum, and that's it really. She reads lots of astronomy and science books and does lots of art and craft on her own steam. I'll pick up more formal stuff with her next academic year.

I work quite a lot. Mostly at home but recently I've got a job teaching in school part time, too. I worry a bit what the LA would say but the girls just get on whilst I am not there. They do their piano and ballet practice, DD2 does her maths, DD1 works through her GCSE stuff. I don't have so much input with DD1 nowadays - she's very self-motivated. I never thought I would write that when she came out of school at 12! Her main worry with 6th form is that she's been such an independent learner, it might take an adjustment.

We use quite a lot of textbooks etc and workbooks for Maths, English and Science for DD2. It's taken a while and some expense to find what suits them. Some families don't bother with them. GCSEs are easier as there are normally set books for the course.

DD2 has an enviable social life, surprisingly so as she was a very unsociable child at school. DD1 has found it harder, I think because she was older when she came out of school and lots of friendships were already very formed. 6th form will be good for her, I think. DD2 talks about staying in home ed until 18 which is fine by me. I have every faith in her to teach herself A levels in any subject :)

Ask anything you like and good luck!

You guys are fab. Thanks for all the help. We sent the 'dereg' letters in on monday this week and recieved a reply from my ds' school saying they have to wait for a reply from the LEA people before they can dereg him? Maybe they meant 'before he is officially dereg'd'. I did ring the local education authority but I really want as little hassle as possible. Im supposed to be ringing my daughter's head of house today, bc I missed her phone call yesterday, not sure if I want to go ahead and explain all our reasons, I just want to be left alone basically. Just sort of thinking 'outloud' here... I think its decided, Im just not going to explain a thing! They are to be deregistered by 9, Feb, just as half term starts and thats that!

What should i do if there is any hassle from the authorities? I think Im pretty confident I can be firm with anyone who thinks they know whats best for my kids. ...again, thinking aloud...

We are all stoked! Cant wait!

Oh, I realised what I said up there... I read in some other threads that once we let the school know of our intentions to HE, we dont have to contact the local authorities? The head teacher (who I do respect) said he contacted the LA and that they will be contacting me. If they dont dereg my son, is that on their head if he doesnt return to school after half term and they havent deregistered him? or will I have to deal with any repurcussions? I want this to be as smooth and hassle free as possible. Should I 'work with' the LA on this to avoid hassle?

Also... is there an edit button I can use here to edit messages Ive posted, so I dont have to keep correcting myself when I make mistakes?

Thanks!

Legally you've done your bit. If they choose not to do the admin that's their look-out, but once you've sent your letter then legally he's no longer on the school's roll either from the date on the letter of any other date you've specified. If you get any enquiries from the LEA, school or elsewhere, refer them to your letter and say he is now electively home educated.

Welcome to the wonderful world of home ed, and good luck!

Congratulations!!

I suggest that if you get any hassle, you ask the LA to write you to explain what they want. That buys you some time to decide which approach to take, find out whether there is any legal basis for their request, and consult with other HE parents if you think that would be helpful.

Some LAs seem to prefer to phone people, who then feel put on the spot. Don't let yourself get pushed into anything.

It's generally advised that you never ignore any correspondence from the LA. If you don't want to go along with what they want you to do then write and say so, citing the law if relevant.

Good luck and have fun home educating!

If they do phone you to discuss, confirm the conversation with an email then you have a written record of it taking place, and what each of you said. I personally believe that LEAs use the phone option to deliberately eliminate a paper trail. I won't fall for that one again .

They have no legal basis to state 9th Feb, btw. They legally have to deregister them the day you send in the letter saying you are now home educating. If they choose not to do that, they are breaking the law, but that's their problem, not yours.

Dd1's secondary school didn't even bother informing the LA. She was "found" when she was in pantomime and needed a licence. The LA were furious with the school but it wasn't our problem!

Good luck :)