Regretting taking kids out of school.

[apocketfulofposy]

Posting here for traffic,sorry.

I have 5 children ranging from aged 6 to 10 weeks old.

We always planned to home educate after reading a book about it when ds1 and 2 were toddlers,then when ds1 was about 4 and a half,and i was pregnant with baby number 4,i decided to give our local primary a go,partly because it was just that time where he would of been going and partly because i was finding it hard with them all at home (no family on either side for 3 hours,husband who works away monday to friday,rural ish area,i cant even drive!).

Anyway reception was ok,he liked it,made plenty of friends,dc2 and 3 went to the pre school and liked it,except dc2 had lots of issues with hitting other children and just general destructive behaviour.

When ds1 started yr1 last year he hated it from the word go,he still liked seeing his friends but he really noticed the change between mostly play to mostly lessons,plus his teacher left after a term and the new one was very strict and spoke to the children like she was some kind of prison officer.

Ds2 started reception and seemed to enjoy it but after a few weeks i was called in a few times about his hitting and destroying things,they said he just physically wasnt ready to be at schoolt hat much so put him down to half days,which was a bit of a faff for me as i was in and out all day but it was fine.It didnt seem to help though and he was behaving worse and worse at school,especially at lunchtime,but strangely his behaviour at home was getting better.

Add to this the fact i was finding it hard carting them all around everywhere and i felt crap because i kept forgetting to reply to things and i kept hearing all this micheal gove stuff,i just decided to pull them out,id been thinking about it on and off for a while and just thought do it,and id id it almost on a bit of a whim.

The first few weeks were great and we all loved the novelty of not rushing around in mornings and the kids have been playing all day,and actually one good point is that they have been getting on so much better.

But apart from that i am starting to regret taking them out,i miss the routine,i miss being able to take the babies to their groups and talking to my "mummy friends"(cringe) i miss being able to go to the shop quickly with just the double buggy,i also just dont know what to do with them,and the house is just such a mess!

I know these are'nt huge things but its starting to feel chaotic and i can feel it going back to the way it used to be,before school,and it hink i underestimated how much it did for all of us.I just dont know what to do!

Help and advice please!xxxxx

But potato if part of the criticism of schools is the rigidity and timetabling then why should you take the same school holidays? I thought HE was all about being outside the box. Surely if that is the case you will educate on a Sunday, during school holidays- i really don't get the need to stick to a term time education.
You may as well ring a bell for morning break- I mean why adhere to what the schools do regarding terms?

It's not so much about being outside the box, but rather about having the freedom to choose. Flexibility is very important to most home educators.

If flexibility is important then why stick to school term times?

Because some activities run to term timetable and some only run outside of term.

But then that would leave you more time to HE during school holidays, not less.

Not if you're counting some activities as part of your curriculum.

Ahem ... like I said - the freedom to choose.
We don't have to stick to term times if we don't want to, but can if we do (and as Scout says, to take advantage of activities that DO run to school terms.

But it's the choosing to do what fits the child/ren, family and other circumstances that's important. There's no obligation to work completely to one way - THAT's the flexibility.

twelve

I thought I had already explained this.
School holidays are when school children can play, if we H.ed during holidays she couldn't play with school friends.
Also, as other commitments are closed at the same time as schools are on holiday, we choose to have a holiday as well.
I don't know if I could make it clearer.
Do your children play with friends when they are on holiday?

My children never stop learning- even during school holidays. They are home educated, but they have the advantage of full time school too.

Streakybacon

I have just looked at Fiona's post regarding the law for H.ed as applied to LA's. This is the first time in 2 years I have read it in relation to provision of education. I had forgotten several things that have just become normal to us now.
I was initially worried about a broad education, resources and targets

Twelve

School obviously isn't an advantage to H.educators, otherwise our children would be there.
Not disputing it is advantageous to you though.

Is this a record for a HE thread? It looks as if it will make the 1000 posts!

"I just find it odd that you should adopt the same term structure as schooled children."

Why shouldn't home educated children have holidays too?

It's interesting to dip into occasionally, isn't it morethan ? I've been reading bits of it recently, in conjunction with LAs' parent guides, which my LA asked me to so they can write a 'good' one. It's so interesting to see the range of interpretations across the authorities - what they think they are meant to do and how we know it's meant to be . Overall though, it doesn't matter much what they put on paper, it's how they act on it that counts, and some of them are very naughty indeed. The fact that they write one thing in their documentation then do something else, demonstrates that so many of them know how they're meant to be working with home educators but they choose not to. The little tinkers .

Well that may be an option for those poarents who HE. Some may not find it necessary, after all some are only spending 2 hours a day studying so maybe they don't need holidays in the same way that school kids do. If they spend all day following their own interests at a relaxed stress free pace do they need "holidays"?

My friend HEs two kids, the 14 year old spends most of his day either baking or in the garden on his unicycle. The 10yo makes craft creations out of old packaging and can't read or write.

I doubt these children would even notice if their mother announced it was holiday time.

twelve

My dd is always glad of the holidays because normally, just before, she has completed a marathon of rehearsals and concerts. She is usually quite shattered coming down from huge adrenaline buzz.
Maybe some H.edders don't feel like they need holidays, or at the same time as schooled children, its what's best for you, surely.

Tamer
Not sure about other threads, I think there may have been a couple.
They more often than not include posts of quality, not quantity.
Maybe this is a record in that case.

Many kids that go to school full time also have heavy schedules of rehersals, shows and performances- I know my DD does.

I expect OP is surprised, if still reading. It is probably due to not having started in HE. It is the first time that I have learnt anything from them.

*twelve8

You are fortunate your school allows p/t attendance.
My dd was never there in the end.
Doesn't your childs education suffer if she misses so much school?
Oh dear, I couldn't have that.
We are lucky though as we don't choose to attend school, so she doesn't miss any education.

Part time attendance?

Twelve

Sorry, I read your child was a performer during school hours. Not did performances outside school hours.
Our LA was a bit at the constant requests for performance licences from production companies, but this was just one part. On top of this were the odd days the LA managed groups asked us for days off school. Then there were competitions, festivals, etc.
In the end school was getting in the way of her work and she decided she didn't want to attend anymore. It was the main reason any of us considered H.ed. The other benefits were an added bonus and once we realised how great life could be and dd wasn't permanently knackered we found that you don't need school to have an education.

DD's school allowed to attend very haphazardly for two terms whilst she performed in a show in the West End.

But it's a private school, so maybe that means they weren't bound by attendance rules?

We still had to pay though .

Ds2 asked me to explain what first, second and third person meant while we were in the car today, so I did.

Great to know he is now an autonomously educated home schooler as well as going to school!

word

I think you could be right here. We know several families in private schools who found this, maybe as they aren't managed by the LEA granting permission is different.
They were great with dd, they never refused. However, we were recently told that if she was still there they wouldn't be as accommodating as they were a few years ago.
Schools seem to be tightening up quite a bit lately.
You had to buy your tickets, how mean.
Its rotten isn't it? the better they get and the better the venue the more expensive the tickets.
It may sound mean but we have to pick and choose what we go to see now and quite often only one parent will go. I also get the gps to go sometimes, that saves us a bit for the next performance.

happy There you go, I would say isn't it easy and anybody can do it, but the none H.ed lot would shoot me down. So I best say, no that's not home ed

My son learned all about atomic structure and the mechanisms of radioactivity and the electromagnetic spectrum at home when he was 8.

Like happy he is an autonomously educated home learner- both my children have been for many years, and have learned a great deal at home.

They also happen to have gone to school.

Most of us who send our children to school also home educate. We do both.