Considering home schooling DDs for secondary. What do I need to consider?

[TillITookAnArrowToTheKnee]

DDs are currently in Y3 and Reception/F2. Very happy with their primary school. Its lovely.

Secondary schools in my area are... Dire to say the least. Moving house is not an option nor is a private school unless I win the Lotto

Obviously they are both quite a way off Year 7 but I'm the sort who likes to consider things well in advance, and I know absolutely nothing about home educating. A few people at my Church have done it, all for varying reasons, but I would like a broader range of information, if you'd all be so kind?

Why not online schooling instead?

Didn't realise online schooling existed

There's a lot to think about, but you have plenty of time!

One point is that by secondary age your girls will have opinions of their own on whether they want to be home educated. It's quite rare to home educate an older child who isn't keen. So, you'll need to give them information and perhaps offer a trial period, with the understanding they can change to school after that if they don't like HE. Which leads me on to the fact that it isn't at all difficult to change back and forth between school and HE, except that it's very awkward to go into school once GCSEs are underway. So, whichever way they want to start off in Y7, go with that and let them change later if they don't like it.

Before you even mention the possibility of HEing to anyone, you'll need to come up with a more tactful way to describe your reason. Many people will take great offence if you suggest that the schools to which they send their kids aren't up to your requirements.

People have all sorts of odd notions about home education which don't tally with reality, so in the first instance discuss it primarily with people who've actually done it. You might like to go along to a local home ed group to chat with more people about their experiences and the pros/cons.

British parents who home educate come from various backgrounds, do it for various reasons, and use various methods. However, it seems to me that as a group, British home educators differ somewhat from their American counterparts. Unless you feel particularly drawn to the American way of doing things, it may be more enlightening to look mainly at British websites instead of the more high-profile American ones. The common stereotype of "homeschooling" is drawn from American sources and is less reflective of the reality here. Here, the preferred term to describe what we do is "home education" to acknowledge that it seldom looks like "school at home".