Seriously considering home ed, any tips?

[Sparklymommy]

My dd1 is a performer, and has an audition tomorrow in London. Have just informed the school, and asked if there is any work that she could do on the journey to which I got a sniffy "the absence will be marked unauthorised" and a lecture about implications!

Dd1 is quite intelligent, and at the correct levels or above with her academic studies so I do not see what the problem is! It's one day!!! And an oppurtunity she cannot miss so fine, an unauthorised absence on her records it will be!

However, if by some miracle she were to get the parts he would definitely be removed from school for the run (min 6months) and to be honest if she doesn't get the part she will be wanting to audition for other things and I am just wondering if it would be easier to take her

Oops, posted to soon!

I am wondering if it would be easier to just take we out of school and home educate her anyway. She currently has a tutor one hour a week for the 11+ whom I believe has taught her more in the past 9 months than school have in 3 years anyway!

Her education is obviously very important to me but being at school to the detriment of her talents and oppurtunities isn't. What do people think and where would I start?

Attendance regs will be tightened up in September. Just saying...

www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/behaviour/attendance

I know, and next year there is a possibility she will need time off to attend auditions/ open days etc at performing arts vocational schools. We know from a friends experience last year that the school refused to authorise two days off for induction days at Hammond school. This is partly what I am worried about.

Home ed could definitely be the way around that! And as I said, she already has a tutor so it's just a case of getting a routine and avoiding arguments! She is an intelligent child but my mum worries that she would miss her friends. It's such a dilemma!

Hi Sparkly.

I think we have spoken on other threads and I'm familiar with your dds talents. It is wrong if they are wasted because school education is getting in the way.
This was the same problem we found and dd left school last year.
So far it is going well, but must add that my dd is dyslexic so progress is slow with us. However, the couple of hours we do spend on school work has seen great improvements within the past year. Working 1 to 1 you can achieve far more than a school can, where the teacher has 20 odd other dc to teach.
Your dd has friends at dancing she would see and I bet that she is often too busy to socialise much out of school anyway. I can't see a problem as your arrangement sounds as though it is short term with an aim at the end.
We have found that we and dds old school friends make more of an effort to arrange time to socialise together, far more than when she attended school.
Good luck whatever you decide, fwiw its the best decision we ever made.

Sounds like a no-brainer to me, as long as your dd agrees.

What is she now, Year Five? I imagine that next year would be the ideal time to try home education and see whether it suits - if you wait any longer then I suppose you might be loath to risk losing the grammar school place once she has it, in case she doesn't enjoy HE?

My biggest opponent is my mother at the moment. She thinks it would be a mistake and that dd would miss her school friends. She says dd loves school (which she does) and that I do not have the right temperament for educating her myself.

Unfortunately dd didn't get the part she went for yesterday so I am now in a quandary. I have flirted with the idea of taking her out of school in the past and my mother has always managed to put me off, but I just feel that she is wasting her time which is so valuable when your at dance classes for three or four hours every day on top of school.

Hello Sparkly.

All I can say is although we have certainly had ups and downs this last year, we are all convinced the decision to H.ed was the right one.
I do think it is harder if the child is happy at school because you worry about having a worst case scenario.
The advantages we have found have not been academic because this isn't what dd has concentrated on. However, I'm sure if she had, the results would have been amazing as you can do so much in a couple of hours.
In terms of performing ability and having the time to practice I can't bless H.ed enough. No homework to do and lots of chances to attend performances during the day time. We often go to recitals, concerts, shows etc.
If she has performed herself then there is no rush to get up in the morning and as you know adrenaline is a big part of performing, and the come down sometimes leaves you shattered. This quite often made her ill if she had to attend school the next day, so her health as improved considerably.
Not sure if this helps, if you want specifics feel free to pm, although as previously stated we have only been H.ed this year.