Are there any benefits of Primary school that HE can't usually provide?

[carolinecordery]

Hello all, I haven't registered my DD for Reception, which she would be eligible to start in September.
I was just wondering if you thought there were any benefits of primary school that HE can't provide. What things are good about primary school that are only available through attending?
I'm planning to HE and am convinced of the benefits of doing so, but want a rounded picture. It's easy to think of loads of things that would be, relatively, a bit crap about primary school, but is there ANY really good reason to go? DD's non-resident dad would rather she went.
Thanks, Caroline

There were a couple of HE children who came into our GCSE science classes to do the experiments and things using the lab equipment, so I think there is a way around that if a friendly school agrees.

But I agree with Seeker about the social aspect - learning to rub along with people you don't necessarily like day in, day out, is a vital life skill IMHO, and not one that is easy to acquire from socialising with other HEers a couple of times a week plus Brownies. I don't mean that to sound dismissive, but some of the posts from HE advocates are so stringent in their defence that HE is basically the only way to go when for most people it really isn't.

My children sail- they do loads of things outside school. They do archery too, and one of them dances.

But unless you know you want to play a team game, you are unlikely to try one outside school!

"Plus, you aren't knackered from teaching them how to read all day long"

I didn't teach my children to read. They did that for themselves, as they did most things.
We didn't do any formal work at all! We had relaxed days as I have described above.

Now I see how skewed these partially informed viewpoints can be....I never come across a schooled girl locally, in recent times, who has done rugby or boys or girls who have done sailing at school.

This debate is pointless. Most schoolies have a pre-conceived idea of what goes on, how exhausting it is, how impossible it is to cater for X,Y,Z when most don't have a clue.

It's rather draining trying to explain and explain and explain again. That's why there are often no debates!

Just because a child is in school doesn't mean they can't choose to take up a hobby though. A child in school can still play rugby or go sailing. Being in school does mean they get to try things they wouldn't otherwise though.

"some of the posts from HE advocates are so stringent in their defence that HE is basically the only way to go when for most people it really isn't."

I'm not saying that at all.
I said that school suits many children and that I respect parents educational choices on what is right for their families.
I do.

But I can't think of a single thing that my children got in school, that they couldn't/didn't get as HE.

"DD2 in college now, is always telling me that other parents aren't like HE parents, they want to know more about what their children are up to/thinking/doing.......they want to control more.
"They don't give their children the privacy that you do"

now I know that's probably not true of all parents of schooled children, but it shows how skewed these viewpoints can be doesn't it?"

But that's not a feature of he- it's a feature of you as a parent. You would give them that privacy if you were a school using parent too!

The HEers I know are full of 'i don't even have to teach them'. And as I've followed the families as they've grown up, I can see the results for myself: not a single child with a state qualification. The disclaimer is I'm actually pretty certain not all HEers are like this and it really can work for some families. But this is just from my DIRECT observations over a 7 year period.

"This debate is pointless. Most schoolies have a pre-conceived idea of what goes on, how exhausting it is, how impossible it is to cater for X,Y,Z when most don't have a clue."

And HE ers don't have a pre conceived idea of what goes on in school?

Nobody has yet addressed they myths about school life that are accepted and passed on as fact by some HE ers.

I think home educators get defensive about home ed because we often get attacked for our choice. So being defensive becomes our default. I have been guilty of this too.
When home ed is shown on tv as being abnormal and damaging, when the bbc erroneously reports that abused children are in that situation because they are home educated, when the local authority sends round an Educational Welfare Officer unannounced as "you must understand that them not being in school is a cause for concern" who then threatens to report you for not letting them into the house, when you find out that when the children were in school the deputy head told your child that you didn't have their best interest at heart because you were going to home educate and you would seriously damage their chances at an education.

All these sorts of things make us defensive - and understandably so I think.

"Just because a child is in school doesn't mean they can't choose to take up a hobby though. A child in school can still play rugby or go sailing. Being in school does mean they get to try things they wouldn't otherwise though."

and we can swap that around....

.....Just because a child is HE doesn't mean they can't choose to take up a hobby though. A child who is HE can still play rugby or go sailing. Being HE does mean they get to try things they wouldn't otherwise though.

I'm not saying that HE would be right for you/your child/family. It is for mine though and I still can't think of a single thing that my children got in school, that they couldn't/didn't get as HE.

And perhaps HE parents don't constantly ask their DC what they've been up to...because they already know, in intimate detail!

There have been some wonderful posts from both schooled children's parents and HE parents. But I agree the debate is pointless. I personally think there's an aggressive minority who won't be reasoned with or accept the choices of others.

But the point that was made (and like most points made skipped over) is that at school children get the chance to take part in activities they wouldn't normally ask to try and can discover they actually love it. Out of school activities are much more likely to be something the child has shown some level of interest in.

"not a single child with a state qualification ...snip...But this is just from my DIRECT observations over a 7 year period."

and my direct observation of home ed families over 11 years-and the reality of all of my hundreds of home educated young people right now, is that every single one of them is doing well at FE college/Uni, in employment or self employment.

Right now, I know of previously autonomously HE young people who are at Universities such as Oxford, Cambridge. Birmingham, Edinburgh, Leicester, Bristol, Nottingham, Cardiff, Warwick, LSE.... the list goes on and on-that's just straight off the top of my head.
They are doing subjects as diverse as Astro Physics, Mechanics, Sociology and Social policy, Law, Art, Music, Psychology, Economics, IT, Medicine, Classics and Veterinary Science.

Sirzy, we will often try out completely new things that the kids haven't mentioned precisely for the reasons you mention.
We also find that scouting is good for presenting them with opportunities to do things we don't think of.

It is true to say this would probably happen more if they were in school, but the kids are happy with the things they are involved in at the moment.

Well my school did sailing, which was good, because my parents would never had thought to take me!

however, the private life issue is important, being able to chat to that girl/boy they have a crush on each day, being able to do things you as the parent will never know about, having friends your parents don't know. Having your own life away from the home.

Many of the arguments for HE sound to me like arguments for private education and parental involvment in evening/weekend activities.

and I have made the point (and like most points made skipped over) that for my children and their friends, is that at HE children get the chance to take part in activities they wouldn't normally ask to try and can discover they actually love it. Out of school activities are much more likely to be something the child has shown some level of interest in.

Emandlu - what do you do if your DCs say they don't want to try something? Because at school they aren't normally given a choice and then sometimes find they like it.

julienoshoes I thought you were referring to unschooling with the comment that you haven't taught your DC to read. HEers cover a huge spectrum - it's just mine locally have achieved ziltch...what's worse (sorry, this is my judgement), the parents think this is just fine because of all the other benefits HE has brought them. Horses for courses I say.

Maybe at half term the schoolies should be off the Internet and spending some fine with their kids....

I'm bored now with this silly non-debate. Schoolies don't want a debate, they want to tell HE'ers that they are wrong, and in such a way as we've never heard it before. Climb back into your closed mind boxes as I'm off engineer a play date for my 13 year old with the boy that gave him a black eye last week...

We take them anyway Dontmindifido. Though to be honest it doesn't come up that often as they enjoy new experiences on the whole.

My house works on the principle that the parents are in charge and the children can give us their thoughts but we make the final decisions. Granted I don't have teenagers yet but it's worked so far.

Wow colleger you really don't like anything that questions your opinions even slightly do you!

I have given some balanced posts but no one wanted to hear them so I got bored. It's difficult dealing with morons you know!

Why are you so aggressive, Colleger? How come it's OK to be breathtakingly dismissive of people who choose school but forbidden to question HE even slightly?

Oh, and for the record, I find "schoolies" rude and dismissive- please don't say it again.