Hi can I please have some home schooling advice

[Bgmt2014]

Hi all,I'm looking for some advice as thinking of home schooling my 4 year old can anyone advise me firstly on your own reasons for home schooling at what you wrote to the school/education department when choosing to home school and where do you get your resources from,any tips

Hi bgmt, I don't home ed but there might be Facebook groups you could join in your local area. Also ring the Admissions dept at your council to find out what they need from you and whether a letter is ok :)

Lulu do you know what,get a life and go and advise someone else

Salt I don't write like real life as you put it here,my goodness your phone bills must be high with all the texts you must Send with the length they must be using the correct grammar,must take u all day

There are a lot of home ed groups on Facebook, some national (even worldwide) and some for local areas. Generally they are only for people who are already HEing but if you send a message to the admin when you request to join, explaining that you have a 4yo who will be HE, it should be fine. :) There are some for specific subjects as well, which are fab for sharing ideas.

Dear me. I hope you are home-schooling alongside other people because your DD can't learn to write from you.

Were you home-schooled?

Why is that appalling Andnowitsseven? Personally I think it's only right that there should be checks on parents' reasons and ability to provide education outside the school setting

Gosh! OP was not asking for opinions on her grammar - give her a bloody break!

Bgmt on the topics list, under education there is a topic called 'home ed' please try posting there as there are lots of really helpful people over there who will give you good advice, I'm sorry this thread has gone this way.

I will leave my thoughts with you Bgmt. At the end of the day, you'll do what you want to do. It is your choice but please take on board what I'm saying for your child's sake. Just consider it anyway.

Madame you think choosing to homeschool your own child is on a par with suspected child abuse/neglect and warrants a check by social services.

Haven't read whole thread, but wanted to give you some advice.
Lots and lots of good information available online, especially Facebook!
Here in the UK it is referred to as 'home educating' rather than schooling, as most families don't reproduce school at home.
Some excellent sites include
Education Otherwise
And on FB look for Home education UK
As well as home ed groups in your area.
FWIW you do not need to register your DC for a school at all. Or tell anyone that you're not going to.
If any 'services' get in touch, reply in writing that you are privately educating, and thank them for their offer of help, and that you'll be in touch should you require any assistance.

Good Luck

I home school my middle child who is 5. I didn't have to register or write to anyone. I think you only have to make things official if they are already in the system and registered to start school. Then you have to de-register.

So right now, there's nothing you need to do.

With starting on learning, it's entirely your choice. You can follow the curriculum or not. Most home ed is child led learning anyway.

We are really lucky to have the internet. There is so much out there, so much to print off and do/research/buy.

We started here with www.jollylearning.co.uk there are lots of worksheets to print off under free resources to learn phonics.

You will find your own way, based on your child

Also some good info on here: www.home-education.org.uk

Good luck x

This too: www.educationotherwise.net

Evenign all
We would remind you that Mumsnet's raison d'être is to make lives easier and that if there's one thing we can do with it's some moral support.

OP Mumsnet has a topic for home ed here
As well as v helpful posts from other posters here.
Good luck to you (on a personal note, the more I read about homeschooling the more I think it can be hugely hugely beneficial, but I'm not sure I'm cut out for the demands it asks of me, regardless of the benefits it may bring the DC )

@PresidentOliviaMumsnet

Evenign all

If ever proof that typos and lack of proofing happens to the best of us
Peace and love
MNHQ

Falls in love with president Olivia all over again 😍😍😍

andnowitsseven no, absolutely not for a second do I think home education is on a par with abuse but I don't think there's anything wrong with checks being made. After all, children going to school come into contact with professionals who may be able to raise the alarm if there are issues but those who are home schooled may not.

Maybe because I work alongside Children's services quite a lot I don't necessarily see them in the same way as others might and perhaps another agency might be best places to perform these checks but I still think they need to be done. Surely just writing a letter to say you've decided not to send them to school isn't enough?

Well it should be enough unless you are coming from the standpoint that every parent is an abuser unless proved otherwise.

By " you" I mean childrens services not yourself.

Hi OP!

You've had some good advice already. If you have a child who has never been to school, there is no requirement to inform anyone; all you have to do is actually educate your child. The legal requirement to do this begins when your child reaches Compulsory School Age in the term after his or her fifth birthday, but few HE parents make much of this distinction. After all, we have been educating our kids since they were born and their needs don't suddenly change when they reach a particular age!

Many of us simply carry on with what we were already doing when our children were preschool-aged, making additions or alterations as we see our child's interests and capabilities developing. It is quite flexible in that you don't have to have it planned out years in advance.

People home educate for all sorts of reasons. Some of us do it for more than one reason and find there are many benefits. I first became interested in home educating my older child as a way of delaying school start because I did not think she would benefit from full-time formal education at four. Then we liked it so much that there was never a reason to stop!

Joining a local HE group can be very helpful. You can swap ideas with other parents, share resources, and have outings with other families. This may provide friends for both you and your little one. In many areas, there are activities suitable for children as young as yours, so there is no need to wait. Let us know if you are having any trouble finding groups in your area.

Good luck and have fun!

Have a look on Facebook for your local Home Education group by searching under the county name + "Home Education" as that's the term used here in the UK. (Homeschooling is an Americanisation). Go meet them and ask a few questions face to face. I can almost guarantee you'll get a nicer and more accurate response for your local situation vis a vis HE & your specific LA. For the law on Home Education and to download a copy of the government guidelines google EducationOtherwise.net - they also have a dedicated helpline you can ring with any queries you may have. Another useful site is Educational Freedom.org - again they have a team of local advisers on hand to give advice when needed.

Just for the record Home Educators only opt out of state schools, not local social community groups such as Guides, Sunday School, Swimming lessons etc, & so are often to be seen out and about in their community. Nor do they opt out of NHS care - again from a safeguarding pov at this age children are seen for the general health care checks and vaccinations etc just the same as their state schooled peers. The dentist and optician for those regular checks we all take our children to as caring parents also still occur. The neighbours notice too! Home Educated children are probably far more visible within their local communities than state or private school pupils.

I have been home educating my 13yo ds and 14yo dd for about 2 months. There are lots of resources available, printable workbooks, Amazon do some good offers on exercise books and workbooks. Some of the resources are free some are subscription based but are worth it as it takes a lot of pressure off you. Remember practical skills are as important as academics. I find my children learn more through practical work and visual work. Set some realistic goals and boundaries for learning..doesn't all need to be done in the home. Days out can be very educational and can provide a full days learning for the following day. I'm lucky I have Ironbridge on my doorstep and all the museums that come with it. My daughter has also secured a days work experience per week and is going to be doing ict maths and English at college and can pick up a couple more options next year. Ask your local education department, they should be more than willing to give you any info.

We deregistered our eldest with a letter dropped in one morning and she never went back. There is no legal obligation to provide any form of plan whatsoever. Our local home ed liaison with the council contacted us, offered help and advice, and a meeting if we wanted one. And that's it.

Our youngest won't start school so won't even have that contact as he isn't 'in the system'. So much ignorance around the law and HE.

OP, there are loads of Facebook groups with knowledgeable members who may have something to offer other than just an uncalled for critique of your grammar, so have a hunt around.

Witsender 👍

Just had a read through this thread as I'm considering home educating my two dcs, and I'm absolutely appalled at the responses from the posters who were criticising the op's original post. Disgusting, stuck up bullies.