Autonomous home ed - am I doing this right?

[Lookslikerain]

Background is that DS is 5 and a half, dx with autism at 3, and technically should just have started school (Scotland). He attended an amazing mainstream nursery for 2 years, but school is just the wrong thing for him.

His attention can be awful, especially if he isn't particularly interested. From what I've read, a child-led, autonomous approach is definitely the best fit for him. I'm just concerned that I'm not doing it right, or missing something. I guess the problem is that we're just continuing to do what we've always done day-to-day. He tends to stagnate if we stay in the house too much, so we've always been a busy family both during the week and at weekends (also have DD and baby DS). We do lots of museum visits, parks, library, baking/cooking, playing, meeting friends anyway, and he's always really enjoyed that stuff. And we do all the other stuff like going to the shops, post office, running errands etc. We have also met some other home-edders too, though he was pretty uninterested.

At the moment, he's into bugs and was trying to build a bug house in the garden using an empty box today so tomorrow we're going to the library to look for some books on bugs, and we might try and build a proper, big bug house so we can attract lots of them for watching. But this is something I'd have done anyway, just because he was interested, not something I'm doing because we home ed.

Am I getting this right? I almost feel like it should be more difficult and less fun!

[Micksy]

State maths teacher here. Four years ago many of our students took their GCSEs in year 9. They then went on to take the igcse as an additional qualification. It was far more difficult, being as it included set theory and basic calculus. We considered it a very good grounding for c1 at a level.

[dirtynakedandhappy]

Dearest lookslikerain ... I know you've been back and said you still feel you're on the right track but I still felt compelled to comment. I am following an autonomous path with my ASD daughter who is nearly 8.

Your son is such a young thing, how sad that someone had to hijack this post with irrelevant nonsense about qualifications and college acceptance... goodness even knows what the situation will be by the time that you need to support his higher or further education choices.

Home Ed is on the rise, progressive teachers and schools are starting to acknowledge some of the unique features of home ed and are attempting to include them in their classrooms - Minecraft anyone? - and many business leaders acknowledge that the jobs our children will be doing may not even exist yet... times are a changing.

I'm not that interested in the debate about college access but I feel I must speak out about the crass and incorrect comments made on the first page of this thread. If our naysayer "knew" about autism then they would know that there is a paradigm shift underway globally, that actually we're just realising that we don't know so much about autism.

Please don't get freaked out about "early intervention" nonsense.

That poster definitely doesn't know about autism: you can't learn 'em to be social, even if you start 'em young - you can learn some of 'em to fake it (that probably works better if you start to break 'em in young), to feel they need to hide their difference, confusion, fear, sadness... but where we justify things and people with approved formulae not as individuals, I'm sure surface conformity does seem like success.

The majority of young people with autism can't get or keep a job, even with tons of qualifications... maybe they need one of those "we have anything going down to "towards independence" in which students learn to use a washing machine and pay bus fare" courses that our expert offers (like any more evidence of underlying ignorance or attitude was needed).

But I don't want to waste any more rhetoric on them.

You are walking a more complex path than a lot of HE'rs and Mums with kids in schools too. School can be the perfect setting for a child with autism, there is no doubt.

I could also win the lottery.

I'm not being sarcastic: the perfect setting is out there - it's possible and what we all wish for (I include most teachers in that), just like the winning lottery ticket - it just isn't guaranteed to come your way.

I don't mind wasting the odd fiver on a lottery ticket but I'd be a fool to think of it as my pension plan. I'm not sure I can leave my daughters education to chance either.

Schools are very unpredictable places even when they are trying their utmost. Teachers get sick, supply teachers have to come in; timetables get altered; kids are loud; playtimes are chaotic; fire alarms need testing; weather changes routines; etc etc.

Please follow your heart. You know what feels right. Making a decision that you are going to autonomously home educate for the next period of your DS's life isn't going to be tattooed on your or his forehead permanently anyway! From personal experience, I believe you are starting the right way round.

Your dedicated attention, your unique specialist understanding of your unique son is his best chance of success. Watch him, love him, learn his loves and share them with him... grow together.

You obviously have a clear, intelligent, thoughtful mind and a warm loving heart and both of those you can change whenever and to whatever you want, whenever and to whatever your DS needs.

Build that bug house! I've attached a picture of ours xD

[cdsnhf]

It sounds to me as if the original poster is getting it just right. I have personal experience of the success of autonomous ed, and there are files in the Unschooling Network on FB which show that so many young people have thrived with this way of education, be they neuro-typical or otherwise.

In fact, recent evidence on the neuroscience of learning almost always makes me think that the evidence is stacking up in favour of autonomous learning over school based models. Books such as Benedict Carey's "How we Learn" implicitly repeatedly demonstrate that a classroom scenario is extremely destructive to learning, as did the recent Horizon programme on Creativity and the Mind. That programme didn't address the problems that schooling causes for creative thinking, but the problems there are...eg: You can't go play with lego, take a shower, mow the lawn at exactly the right moment to allow your mind to idle...a frequently essential prerequisite for creative problem solving. However, with autonomous education, this is precisely the sort of thing you can do! All in all, AE is just so much, much more efficient!

On the other matter above, it is very sad that the HE mum hadn't researched what would be needed for her daughter ahead of time, but round these parts, I don't know of a single family who has made that mistake. Autonomously home educating families usually know what they will need to do to do the things they want to do, and so far, one way or another, all have managed to find a way forward, be that sixth form college, OU courses, MOOCs, apprenticeships through to full employment. It hasn't and needn't be a problem.

[Mumstheword18]

OP - it sounds like your and your DC are autonomously endearing wonderfully

It sounds like DS, DD and baby are having a great time and things really shouldn't be overly difficult or stressful, education should be fun!

AngelBlue that's a great story, thank you for sharing.

My feelings are that as I read the well written and kind comments from the HErs on this thread, I am so glad to be part of such a great community, it really is lovely and I feel blessed. Reading this thread makes me so grateful we (autonomously)educate as we do!!

[fuzzpig]

Not RTFT yet so I'm ignoring the debate but your OP sounds good to me.

We aren't autonomous because I do insist on some structure for literacy/numeracy (which they are definitely responding well to - but different strokes and all that) but I want to be pretty child led for other topics and projects. They have a lot of interests and I love that we can have the freedom to follow them.

[AngelBlue12]

I was HE, I did english GCSE when I was 14, Maths GCSE when I was 15 and got accepted into College to do an NDC course when I was 17 without any problems at all.

My DH was also HE, did no GCSEs, was still accepted into college. And for the past 10 years has been running a local IT business.

We are now HE our children, our eldest is 11 and along side maths and english etc she is 1/3rd of the way through doing a Diploma in Feline Care, Behaviour and Nutrition with Compass Education and Training.

Unfortunately there are a large amount of educational professionals that take issue that children can be just as successful if they bypass the traditional education routes.

[NormanLamont]

Several sets of admissions criteria from 'good' universities I have looked at recently now have sections that specifically address Home Ed and issues arising. Manchester Uni springs to mind. Worth having a nose around.

[NewLife4Me]

My dd hasn't had any official diagnosis but also struggled in some ways at school.
If she has sn it is as a gifted child and whilst I appreciate it isn't the same sn, these children can also find some aspects of school difficult.
For her she couldn't see why she had to do Maths, English, PE and all the other subjects. If it didn't have anything to do with music or language she wasn't interested.
Taking her out of school and allowing her to pursue her interests has really paid off for her.
There are so many reasons why school doesn't suit every child, and I have never heard of a H.ed teenager who hasn't been accepted onto a course of their choice.
I know of one girl who is excellent at art, didn't get any GCSE's or A levels and went straight onto a level 4 course in Art as her portfolio was undergraduate level. A few free lessons of Maths and English gained her an accepted equivalent to GCSE in the form of a level 2 C&G.

[Iamatotalandutteridiot]

Wow... Interesting thread... So much speculating for a child aged 5 with some SEN!

I deregistered by son after 4 weeks in reception and he has been autonomously educated since. Now, aged 7, I believe he is ready for the structure of school and he will start an SEN inclusive school.

One thing that having a child with SEN teaches you, is you cannot predict the future. There is a chance my son will never get an exam - not because he lacks the IQ but if he cannot cope with exam conditions for a 3 hour period, the IQ is meaningless in that situation.

Did I do the right thing taking my son out of school? Some will argue yes, others will argue no. I will say this: if you cannot be happy and secure at the age of 4, life is looking pretty bloody shit! So, OP, do what feels right for your son and for your family and bugger everyone else.

You have years to let your child mature and develop before you need to think about his future :-) good luck and have fun.... Autonomous education is a blast :-) xxx

[PieceOfPaper]

Sorry, that should be RG (ie Russell Group) universities, not RH - autocorrect!

[PieceOfPaper]

Oh, and I had read the universities, particularly RH ones, tend to prefer exams taken in a block (ie plenty at once, not a couple a year over several years), so it's good to have that reiterated. It might be useful for me and my NT children, but presumably exceptions are made for those with SN. Probably useful to be aware in advance so that prospective students can check if necessary, though.

[PieceOfPaper]

That's pretty much what I'm hoping/planning to do, AGnu - assuming dc don't want to go to school before then. I'm sure topics in things like maths and science must stay broadly the same (otherwise how would children cope if they moved school?). As you say, set works for subjects like English (but also music, drama, art, maybe foreign languages - do they still have set texts?) may well change frequently, but presumably the underlying concepts will remain the same, as again, children move schools during KS3, or have upper and lower school systems, and still manage to pass their exams.

Anyone who's still concerned about following the NC might be interested in the thread about academies that's currently going on in Chat. Apparently, academies don't have to follow the NC, and the government is planning to turn more and more schools into academies...

[Charis1]

Charis has some particular views about kids with SEN which demonstrate strong bias and ignorance,

bias and ignorance? My knowledge comes of decades of experience with thousands of children and families, and the centuries of combined experience of my colleagues, and the combined years of training we have all been through - I am now an free lance advisor, employed regularly by two boroughs, and still doing agency work in several schools regularly.

[NormanLamont]

That's essentially what we did AGnu(tailoring some bits, and speeding ahead or slowing down depending on subject).

Outlines of the whole NC used to be available online. I'm not sure if it still is or where it might have been moved to in the great coalition gov.uk shuffle.

[ouryve]

Charis has some particular views about kids with SEN which demonstrate strong bias and ignorance, TBH. Take with a pinch of salt.

OP, what you're doing is absolutely right at this age and stage. You may get to a point where sliding into MS education seems right. You may never reach that point but find that you get to a stage where you have more specialist options. I can't see that a happily home educated child would be educationally disadvantaged compared with a child who has been continually failed in MS, at that point.

DS1 starts the secondary phase of his education, in a few weeks. He is super bright, but held back by language and communication and by poor concentration and rigid and impulsive behaviours. Had we not found the extremely special school he's at, he'd be home educated. The rather opinionated PP does not appreciate that kids like ours cannot be merely wished into a one size fits all mould.

[AGnu]

My eldest is only 3 & we've just started the ASD dx process but we're planning on HE for the foreseeable future, pending requests for a mainstream education from him or a change in our family circumstances. For those with experience of the GCSE/A level stages, does the curriculum change much from year to year, other than big sweeping changes like we're currently seeing? What I'm wondering about doing is covering a lot of the curriculum before the KS4 years & then using those years to build on their knowledge before they take the exams. Would that work? I'm assuming that things like maths/sciences cover broadly the same topics every year but perhaps the English texts change but concepts could be practiced before?

No idea yet if we'll get as far as trying to do GCSEs while HEing, or even if GCSEs will still exist then, but I'm trying to be as prepared as possible, just in case!

[insanityscatching]

Singsongsung our LA is one of a tiny minority that funds statements outside of the school's SEN budget, most don't and schools have to fund them from their own funds. In that case a child with a statement is a drain on resources. A child with a statement like dd's that specifies the support needed would not be relished in many LA's particularly when my child has a parent who insists that the support given is documented. In that situation it's easy to believe that schools will deny needs because otherwise they may be beholden to using a good proportion of their budget supporting one child to the detriment of other children who may have greater needs but no statement.

[jussi]

Singsongsung- you are soooooo naive!!!!
And that's from a teacher, parent of a home educated child with autism (who has a statement) and governor.

[BertieBotts]

This all happened over the period of 2002-2012 so fairly recent.

[BertieBotts]

As somebody who has done education in a bit of a jumbled way, and fairly recently, I'm really surprised and shocked by this GCSE/A Levels thing. Admittedly I skipped that particular hurdle as I did GCSEs at the normal time, but after that, I did a BTEC National Diploma which got changed to a National Certificate at the last minute as I was about to fail (equivalent of 3x A Levels down to the equivalent of one AS Level).

Went on to do AS Levels. Due to twat of an ex boyfriend (and okay, yep, my own distractability) I tailed of these and ended up with crappy grades and dropped out. So I have GCSEs, an almost worthless National Certificate and three AS Levels which spell BED.

A couple of years later I wanted to go back to the original plan of university. I assumed that due to aforementioned lack of qualifications that I'd have to redo A Levels or do an access course. I made a careers appointment at the local college to ask about this and they advised me that in fact it probably didn't matter; that at 20 I could technically apply as a mature student (no, this didn't make any sense to me either, but that's what they told me) and the fact I had studied at A Level level and my personal statement would tell them that I had the study skills and the articulation to manage, so I should just apply directly.

I did this, and I got in. They didn't worry about it at all. I was getting consistently high marks in my first year. As I was studying part time it took me two years to complete each year and during the second year of first year I had personal stuff going on which ultimately led to an international move looming and I decided that I wouldn't continue with university (which was a bit of a stupid move, in all honesty, but I think I also would have regretted not coming.) Anyway as part of the intl. move I applied for a course at a local college to become a qualified English Teacher (EFL). The requirements of this course were that you were supposed to have a degree, but I applied anyway and got on and passed with a mark which only 5% of students get from this course. So I effectively blagged my way onto a normally Postgrad course with only GCSEs and four AS Levels.

Sorry, I know the thread has moved on a bit, but just wanted to provide a bit of support for the idea of alternative education routes post-16. :)

[insanityscatching]

Dd is 12 now and we had a letter at the end of term congratulating dd on her achievements which placed her in the top 10% of the year (secondary school) so it obviously didn't matter in the slightest. We went to the seaside, to zoos, farms, parks, playgrounds etc (I remember going to see many scarecrows as she liked them) We very rarely wrote anything, she was a whizz on the laptop though and I read to her but it was all having fun. I enjoyed every minute tbh and they are special memories. I always think with autism the readiness to learn formally comes later anyway.

[Lookslikerain]

That's good to hear insanity. It amazing to see the difference when we're talking about something he likes. He's listening, engaged, animated, asking questions... But try and make him sit at the table to write his name or do a jigsaw, and it's another story!

[insanityscatching]

I he'd dd for a short while at about the same age. She has autism too. We did no formal learning just followed her interests. She wasn't in any way hindered by this when she did go back to school. Just like her entering school at the latest possible point and only attending nursery two mornings a week didn't make any difference. So much of the early years is devoted to crowd control anyway that you have to put in very few hours of teaching with a child individually at home to match productivity IME.