Roll call whose still here

[morethanpotatoprints]

Hello,

Just wondering who is still about and thought a roll call would be good.

Aw thanks morethan!

It's looking unlikely that either of my kids will go to school in the next few years (she says with a sigh of relief).

Dd1 is going into Year 10 so it's pretty much now or never for school, and she has no inclination to go. Lots of her friends are at college and it isn't impossible she could do that at some point, if she wants to and if she can get past her deep annoyance at the patronising attitude shown by some of the staff at our local college on an open day... ("Of course she'd have lots of catching up to do", "no doubt she'll find this environment rather overwhelming at first", and worst of all the fact they were addressing me instead of her as if it weren't her decision whether to go!)

Dd2, eight, is still her usual quirky self and far prefers playing over receiving direction in how to learn. Besides that, she doesn't want to read yet and that would be a problem at school.

So yes, we are pottering along as happy as ever.

Saracen

You are fab! When my dd didn't want to read at 8 I panicked like mad, could never have been as laid back as you, and yet when I read you telling others not to worry, I took a step back and it all started to happen.

I'm not so sure your dd would be behind others starting college, it would depend on what she was doing.
When I briefly taught Sociology all but one of my students were coming in fresh to the subject as only one high school had offered it at GCSE.
The student with the GCSE wasn't noticeably beyond the others, I'm sure its the same for most subjects at GCSE and A level.

The subjects that worry me are the core subjects as these are the subjects that dd wouldn't choose to do.
I'm not surprised your dd found staff to be patronising, we notice this at a local high school that is used for our LA music service ensembles.

Toffee

No, I haven't assessed as I know she would be behind in some things.
She wants to do a SATS test this year, I was and told her to give over
She can do some things from y6, some from y4, and all the others but I doubt any are complete years as they teach at school.
Hopefully dh will fill in the cracks this year as I have told him he is doing some this year.
With the extra groups she is taking on after her recent exams dh is having to do more.
I know we are lucky that both of us are around to help each other.

I'm still here, but only just as dd starts school again in a week. It does not seem like 2 years ago I was apprehensive about taking dd out of school, but it was the right decision then to take her out and it is the right decision now for her to go back. It doesn't mean I won't miss home education and as I have enjoyed it so much.

Hope all the new home educators enjoy it as much as I did.

I am!

I have four kids - dd1 (going into year 9) was HE'd up until she chose to start in year 7, ds1 (nearly 8 with ASD) & dd2 (5) are at home & ds2 (3) goes to a Monte preschool 3 days a week - he'll come out at 5 and be HE'd like the others.

"Of course she'd have lots of catching up to do", "no doubt she'll find this environment rather overwhelming at first"

Saracen dd1 had all that ^ when she started school ... which she found a mixture of hilarious & insulting. She's very happy now (I still grumble at the inefficiency & stupid rules etc) - they pretty quickly realised they were on the wrong track & have fairly graciously accepted being educated by her wrt home education (e.g. they no longer call it 'home schooling' and never ask if she had any friends!).

I'm here! I've been HEing DD1 for two years and DH and I just decided on Monday that my two younger DDs will also be HEed. This is massive for me - it's been my dream for years.

For DH the proof of the pudding has very much been in the eating and he's seen how much progress DD1 has made, and how happy she is.

I haven't been on here much since the early days - btw, thanks Toffee for that long-ago thread for new HEers - as DH was diagnosed with a brain tumour and then suffered complications during recovery. Had I known what was going to happen I would not have started HEing, but hey - we got through it, and I'm glad I began when I did.

I'm hoping to get back into the swing if MN now that I'm HEing all three. Posts from Morethan, Saracen, Julienoshoes and others all helped me a lot in those early days.

I'm here. Just trying to work out how long we have been HE (time flies and school seems an age away ) - I think it must be about 4.5 years. None of my 3 show any inclination to go back into the school system at present.

We are sort of HE, but ours are 3.5 and 1 so not really old enough for school. We're already part of our local HE scene, though. Just signing on to take notes, cheekily.

morethan - it's great that your DD can focus on her gift (music) and she is obviously way ahead with that and can catch up with anything she needs to later. I know I shouldn't worry about comparing my DS2 to others (particularly as he managed to be way behind in Maths when he was AT school), but it niggles at me. I think I just need some reassurance that I'm doing ok with him and not letting him down.

JustRichmal - best of luck to your DD in going back to school . I'm really glad home ed worked out so well for you and her.

MrsZ - you have your hands full! I'm sure home ed is particularly good for your son with ASD. My older son has ASD and can't cope with mainstream school at all, but unfortunately doesn't want to be home educated either because he just wants to spend hours on his computer. Good that your DD re-educated her school peers and teachers about home ed .

TRex - I'm really sorry to hear all you've been through with your DH. Is he doing ok now? I'm so glad you are living your dream now and home educating all three children. And thank you for saying nice things about my support thread. I really enjoyed that thread and it provided a lot of support in those first few months when it all seemed so daunting.

throckenholt - glad to see home ed is still going well for you all.

Actually, TRex has reminded me of how lovely it was to have a support thread - or just a place for everyone to chat and swap tips and get reassurance. I keep a blog now, but it doesn't give me the chatty element of a thread. I also post on this website, which has a weekly link-up where people writing home-ed blogs can swap their latest posts.

Am trying to make links with people in the local home ed community, but it's difficult. I went to a meet up in a local park and it was lovely to meet other local home educators, but my son refused to mix with anyone. I suppose it all takes time.

My eldest has his own place, @morethanpotatoprints , and ds2 lived with his Dad whilst at 6th form.

Ds 3 went because he was desperate to. His window hanging drove me mad and he was dragging our day to revolve around when school ended. To be blunt, he apparently prefers to be told/spoonfed what to learn and be surrounded by people 24/7. Some people do.

If I'm honest, whilst I can recognise this, I certainly don't understand it.

He loves school and is really looking forward to starting back.

I may not like it, but life is certainly more peaceful as a result and my dds and I can just get on with our day (as the school is a few miles away and I can't drive, he is taken and picked up by either OH or OH's sister - I'm trying to get him transferred to the school across the road, but that's been a task and a half do far).

Thanks Toffee, he's fine now, he just has to be a bit careful and know his limits. He initially only had a brain scan because he absolutely insisted so I feel like we dodged a bullet.

Good to hear that, TRex. It must be horrifying to think that he came so near to not having a scan and the outcome might have been so different. Thank goodness he insisted.

Trex, Hiya.

Oh I'm so glad your ds is getting better, I can remember your posts during the worst times, it must have been sheer hell.
Lovely to hear you have all of them at home now.

Toffee Your thread was amazing and just at the right time for many people starting out. I'm sure it was Ommmward who said that somebody she knew had just covered the nc when they were preparing to go back into school, I think y7. So you would just make sure any bits you'd missed were covered.
I'm sure I'll be more bothered during y8 as I know she definitely wants to join her fav school for y9.

Ninny

Some children really suit school and even though we know that for others its the right thing even dc in the same family can differ.
I so wish that we had H.ed ds2 because he was a prime candidate, even more so than dd who we H.ed now.
I didn't know much about it then and was still under the impression that H.edders were weird hippy types.

I'm still here :) I don't post much as ds is only 3.5 but I'm still strong in my plans for him not to start school next year. I decided when he was 18 months. I have to stop myself from wishing away the years until I can get started with HE proper!

Actually I have decided to start a sort of "preschool" HE with him from next week. Focusing on geography as ds loves maps and learning about other countries. So we'll be spending next year covering all the continents and learning about other cultures. Through literature, documentaries, music, arts and food! I'm very excited!!

snappy

You are H.ed proper, I never realised until dd came out of school but with her and her dbs I did lots of stuff with them during the pre school years as they didn't go to a nursery or pre school.
You have already started

I'm here We took DD2 out of school at the end of April (2nd school, huge anxiety, low self esteem and we think HFA but the system didn't agree). Dd1is at special school and DD3 remains at the MS primary school.

We're looking forward to next week. I ordered some Schofield & Sims books. I then told DD2 that she'd be worked so hard shed be begging to go to school and that we'd lock her in a cage, tossing her dry bread and water. She took it in really good part which is amazing progress because she's so very serious and literal. I had to do a lot of exaggerated winking and shaking of the head as I was saying it, but it's a start.

She's going to try a KS2 French class run by a tutor for the HE group. We need to go back to the beginning with maths because she has no foundation. She can't even add 9+3 in her head. So clean slate there.

We've joined a nice HE group and I have two local HE families very near by.

Hello all. We're here, just starting rely though. DS would be due to start school next week-ish and DD is 3. I am very excited and equally as nervous about us starting our Home Ed journey! We are very lucky where we live, lots going on locally and in surrounding areas, I've found all the families we've met to be so welcoming and friendly.
I'm still not sure how structured we're going to be - I had been sure that we were going to be very laid back and veering towards autonomous, then I panic that this will not be 'enough' for DS and I must plan so that I give him enough tools to reach his potential.

Am in awe of those of you who are such pros at it!

Just out of interest - are any of you ex-teachers? I seem to be meeting so many who are and despite their assurance that their job hasn't helped them HE at all, I can't help but panic that I'm just not intelligent enough to do this...

tin

I am. But it was Post Compulsory and I only did a year
I am qualified though and it makes not one jot of difference.
In fact it was responsible for me missing the summer hols before we started as I did plans, schemes of work, had it all ready to go and we didn't last the week.
So I don't plan anymore I just use what others have used before me, make sure dd does the core subjects as she plans to go back to school in a few years.
I don't teach, and neither do I think you will.
If I could advise you anything at all it would be to do it your way, there isn't a wrong way.
The panic is normal btw, well I still panic sometimes, then somebody nice on here helps.

Well you have now returned the favour and helped me! Thank you for your kind reply.
It's funny but the other HEers who have teaching backgrounds have also said it actually hindered them at first too. It took them time to forget there were no targets, no tests, no strict guidelines.

I feel so lucky to be in this position, to have this precious time together and to actually be there to watch them flourish. It is a privilege Home Ed families have that I just wish more could realise.

"I feel so lucky to be in this position, to have this precious time together and to actually be there to watch them flourish. It is a privilege Home Ed families have that I just wish more could realise."

You are so right, tinfoil.

Sometimes friends say wistfully, "It seems like just yesterday that they were little, doesn't it? I wish I could go back" but it doesn't feel that way to me. The fourteen years since my dd1 was born feels like just that, fourteen long and lovely years. Her sister's eight years feel exactly like eight years to me. We've done so much, had so much fun, and I've been right there with them.

Rarely, my teenager is so busy whizzing about that a couple of days go by during which we literally only see each other in passing. That's OK from time to time, and by now I am increasingly used to that sort of thing with her, but it feels a bit odd. For that to happen day after day - especially with a younger child - would make me feel I didn't really know them. I can see how the years would seem to pass in a haze and be gone in the blink of an eye.

It has been, and is, a great gift to share their childhood with them.

Yes, we're all different and the school system really does suut some [morethanpotatoprints]

And yes, [Saracen] it is a great gift to be able to share so much time with our children. Many wish they could, but don't.

Just marking my place as we embark on our second year. No plans to return to school at all. DS is so much happier.

Dp is proving difficult to persuade. He originally wanted the boys to start school at 6 (compulsory schooling age here) but it seems the last few weeks, he's been really paying attention to what we are doing at home and what the boys are learning and seeing how happy and relaxed they are. I think he's starting to come around to the idea, he seems a lot more positive in his discussions with me.

Still, I've got to get permission from the MOE to HE as well so that's where my concerns lie at the moment. If they refuse, we won't be able to HE at all.

Sorry, that was supposed to be "dp was proving difficult to persuade.