Made the big decision to home ed, now what do I need to do?

[Mandbabe]

Hello this is my 1st time here, and Im hoping to find some help.

My partner and I have been looking into home ed our son for some time now and have just decided its the best way for him.

Our son is now 4 (was 4 in Aug) and isnt yet registered with a school.

But he has special needs and many medical issues so is under the local child development center and part of his on-going support there is attending a special needs nursery and having regular assesments from an early years teacher.

So far this has worked well, but the early years teacher is really pushing me to get him into school, something which both my partner and I agree is not the best thing for him.

Iv mentioned to her in passing our intention to home school, and her reaction to this was horrific, and basically put so much presure on me to get him into school and made me feel like I didnt have a choice ...is this the case?

I know he is not a "normal" straight forward case with his special needs, and this is part the reason we have decided to home ed.

What do I need to do? and who do I need to tell and can they really stop us home ed'ing our son?

We would be so greatful for any help and advice.

Mand xxx

Hello. We too have just decided to HE so my knowledge is very limited. But in the absence of any others just yet, I wanted to say you are perfectly within your legal rights not to send your boy to school. I would look for a local group, perhaps "Education Otherwise", and arm yourself with some information to answer the negative reactions. There's also some great books out there. Have just read "Free Range Education" - edited by Terri Dowty. It's full of first hand accounts of other people's experience.

I'm sure someone with much more knowledge will be along shortly. In the meantime good luck.
x

Hi - I home ed my DS1 (aged 9) and will probably do the same for my DS 2 (age 2).

There are some excellent websites and organisations that can guide you through the "process" part of home education. Education Otherwise has been particularly helpful. You should write to the local education authority to de-register your child if they are already registered. You need to state that it is your intention to provide an education for your child at home. Each authority is slightly different and some may want to come and visit to see what educational plans you have.

I do a mixture of work from the curriculum in English and Maths and for all other "subjects" follow a more self-directed approach - depending on what my son is interested in at the time.

Good luck with your choice - and I'm sure lots of others will come and give you more advice on this thread.

Hello

You absolutely have the right. Don't be pushed into anything. My daughter has only just started school and she is 10 this week. By the way, we are having TERRIBLE problems with the school, just as we had envisaged which is why she was homeschooled.

I joined Education Otherwise immediately I decided (when DD was about 4) and they are so helpful. Go to their website and read all about the law and find others who have home educated their special needs children. I wish you lots of luck. It's not always easy but my daughter is a totally wonderful girl with a great sense of self.

I forgot to say, the only reason she is going to school now is that we haven't found it easy to find her friends in this area and she is at an age where she is desperate for them, so she asked to go to school.

Hi Tinwhistle
I don't know where you live but, assuming you've got no HE group in your area, I had an idea! I used to run drama classes for children and ten year old girls were the mainstay of my business. They were all lovely girls and really enjoy drama so much at that age. Mine was a Helen O'Grady Drama Academy website helenogrady.co.uk - they are all over the country, so there might be one near you. I bet your sociable daughter would make some friends there!
They do Saturday mornings or after-school classes.
Just a thought, anyway. Their ethos is all about making friends, gaining social confidence and having fun...

Hi Mandbabe, I rang my LA yesterday and discovered that they have a person dedicated to HE! She was really lovely and told me everything you need to do to satisfy them - not very much it turns out. They work in partnership with the HE families in the area to just make sure that the children are getting learning opportunities, that's all. No timetable, no National Curriculum requirement, just a visit now and then, and it didn't sound at all threatening. Your LA might do the same? I just rang the Education Dept no listed under the council and they put me through. Good luck!

Thnak you all so much for your advice and above all for your wonderful support in this.

I am finding so many people who dis-approve of our decision, I knew we would come across people who didnt agree but had no idea on what scale that would be, But I am determinded to do this for our son, I know its best for him, so I guess the negative attitude of people is something we just have to get used to now.

Havnt informed the LA yet of our decision but plan to do that sometime this week, but now I have my mind made up, there is no way they will talk me out of it.

McSal, hello and thanks for that, I'll look into it straight away. She loves all that sort of stuff. We took her out of school btw, that didn't last long. Unbelievably bad Back to home ed!

Thanks again. Oh, and I'm in Essex. Shhh! ;o)

Hi Tinwhistle
Glad you got her out again, I'm on the verge of taking mine out (she's 5 and very tired at the moment). There are drama classes in and around Brentwood and Romford - have a look on the website for full list. I've met the teacher who runs them - her name is Jo, very energetic, friendly and fun. If you give her a ring she'll tell you all about it. Funnily enough, I'm currently covering some of the classes down in Portsmouth temporarily. Some of the kids came dressed as waste paper baskets for the miniscript on Monday! They all come from different schools so there's no cliquiness. I had several home-edded children enrolled when I ran mine around Winchester & Southampton a few years back. Good luck!

Thanks We're too far from Romford but there might be one nearer and we have a 'Stagecoach' near us. £300 a term gulp so I might wait until she's got a bit more staying power as we've just lost a whole term's school money.

Good luck if you decide to home ed!

Yeah, Stagecoach is more than 3 times the price of HOG, but they do 3 hrs per wk. We only do one hour and it costs £78 this term. Good luck!
I have my dd off 'sick' at the moment (that's sick of school I think, she perks up as soon as I say she can stay at home). Just wondering where to take it from here...

just new to MN HE forums and so was just reading through these and i'm a bit horrified that everyone seems to take the LEAs word that they have to have a home visit if you HE. You do not!

take advice perhaps the EO website or look at the HE-UK website for information. both have groups/lists you can email for support and advice, I HE but have no experience of Special needs - HE is very suitable for this i woudln't like tos ay for sure on wherher there are any special rules - i know there are people on the HE-UK list that would know for sure.

most LEAs, (including nice people designated to HE) do not understand the Education Act and therefore do not work within the law when dealing with HE'rs.