Thinking about home ed my 3 kids

[racheous]

Hello all
well for a while i have been thinking of home educating my 3 children aged 8,5 and 3
but i wouldnt know where to start, i.e.
will i have the welfare on me?? am i clever enough to teach them at home?? what do i have to do to get it all started?? i really dont want to send them back to be honest after this holiday is finished but do i have enough time before monday to get the stuff sorted that i need to be sorted to educate them here??

It is possible to home educate. You need to get in touch with your local authority who will be able to provide guidance and material. Also check out the Dfes guidance "Access for Education for Children" (I think that is it??) about elective home educating.

Good Luck?

Check out the Education Otherwise website here . It's a great resource and will tell you all about deregistering your children, as well as different approaches to home ed. Plus I think it gives information on local groups if you want to meet up with other home edders. There are plenty around the country. I think there are quite a lot of home edders on MN too so they'll probably come to your aid far better than I can.

BTW I don't home ed but we seriously considered it for ds and did lots of research. We'll follow this route if school doesn't work out for him. From all I've heard you don't need to have loads of education or be a teacher to home educate. Good luck!

I have home educated my three children for more than six years.
You can deregister them on Monday and never look back. We found out about home education on a Friday and sent in the deregistration letter on the following Monday ;o)
Best decision we have ever made.

You will need to send in a deregistration letter to the 'Proprietor' (usually the head master) of each school. A sample deregristration letter can be found on the 'EO' website;
www.education-otherwise.org/
and on the 'Home Education UK' website;
home-education.org.uk/
If you can, get a receipt for the letter or send by registered post, as proof that the schools have received them.

Both of these websites contain more about home education in the UK than any DFES web page. They are written by home educators for home educators.
And as you have children aged 8 and under I recommend the excellent 'Muddle Puddle' web page, for families with children under the age of 8 years old;
www.muddlepuddle.co.uk/

Once you have sent in the deregistration letter you do NOT have to get in touch with your Local Authority. They will have no support or help to give you, that can not be obtained from other home educators, from the library or from the Internet.
You do NOT have to meet with them, you do NOT have to have home visits, your children do NOT have to meet them and you do NOT have show them any of the children's work. You can of course choose to do any of the above but it is the parent's choice on how to provide evidence of the education provided.
Persoinally we provide the LA with a written report when they ask, explaining why and how we home educate. They have never seen the children, nor any of their work. The LA accept this.

If I were starting anew now, I would read those three websites and maybe have a look at some of the books written by John Holt on how children learn.

All three websites have links to national email support groups and EO and Home Education UK have links to local conatcs and/or groups.
Where abouts do you live?
Support from local home educators can be so valuable. If you can't find anyone there, let me know and I'll try and find someone for you to talk to local to you.

But between now and Monday all you have to do is write those deregistration letters. Maybe read a bit from those websites to reassure yourself.
Then just relax and enjoy having your children at home. Take time to find out what you want for them and what they would like to do. Continue as you did, when they are on holiday and before they went to school. Children can't help but learn when there is no stress and life and learning are pleasurable.
Ask here or on one of the online support groups, if you have any more questions.
Enjoy

wow thank you all
julienoshoes i am in bridlington, east yorkshire.
as we live not far from a beah i was also thinking on nice days we could go to the beach anbd do their education there or maybe go sit in a field with a picnic and do it there.
So i really dont have to have people coming?/ thats one of the things i think that put me off.
thanks for all your help guys, i am going to look at those sites now

oooh another thing, what happens if you home ed about gcse's and such??

Home edded children can take the GCSE exams in a school (I teach in a secondary school and we have had home ed candedates do their exams with us)

Mant home edders opt to use tutors for some subjects, some rely on teaching the children themselves, I think. You can get the kids to go to night school, I have worked in adult ed and have also seen this happen. But if you choose this option it can be almost impossible to study things like physics abd Chemistry, since these are seldom taught in night school classes. For these a tutor may be the best option.

Some children miss the GCSE stage out and go on to A levels, but they will have to have done the study even if they don't do the exams IYSWIM, since you couldn't pick up A level study from scratch.

There is, I think, and on line school that a MNetter has linked to in the past.

ok thanks martianbishop but what is IYSWIM

sorry! If you see what I mean!

No, you really don't have to have those people coming round.
Though they may try and insist that they should!
See ;
www.home-education.org.uk/legal-guide.htm#anchor4

Couldn't find local contacts for your area on those sites
But have asked on national support lists for you I'll get back to you when I hear from someone nearby.

The beach is a fabulous place to be-at any time. And so much to learn from just walking along, with time to look at everything and time to talk.
Some people do school at home and some are completely 'autonomous' home educators (as we are) and don't do any formal lessons, just follow the child's interests. A walk on the beach would be excellent for that and would be something we would do. We learnt a lot about fossils that way and the children were inspired to go and look up the fossils we found at the library.
If the children wanted to learn history, we'd pop to a relevant museum, or maybe go to a reenactment day. It is a very fun, efficient way of learning.
Our children have learnt everything they needed from living life and following their own interests. They have only done formal course work when they chose to-and now they are very committed, because they are doing A levels because they want to be. Unlike a lot of the other students.

Don't rush out and buy loads of workbooks. That is a big expensive mistake that most of us make! Instead take your time and find out how your children want to learn. We find books very cheaply at charity shops and use the Internet for free resources. Muddle Puddle will lead you to lots of these and also to free down loadable worksheets if your children want them. there will be plenty of time then to decide how to spend money on books you actually do need, rather than what you think you will need now.

And as for GCSEs, you have plenty of time to decide whether you want your children to do them-or not.
My older two children did a couple at a local college, one day a week, before they were 16. They both then went on to a local FE college, where they are now, doing A levels by choice(and have settled brilliantly both socially and academically according to the lecturers)
My younger daughter is giving them a miss altogether and doing an OU course instead. We'll use that as evidence for a university that she can work to the required level.
Some home educators use distance learning packages. Some download the curriculum from the AQA website, teach the work themselves and then enter their children as external candidates. Some do vocational qualifications instead.
All of the home educated young people that I know who are at the end of the compulsory schooling age, are happy and successful in their chosen field.

Julienoshoes, you have been a grerat help, and if you have msn i would like to add you there?? or even just communicate via email??
i would like someone who has/is going through all this to talk to whenever i/we need to if this is possible i would be ever so grateful.

racheous,

I have been HE now for 7 months dds 7 and 3 and I wish I had done it sooner!!
I have just looked in my latest EO magazine and there is a HE group in Bridlington who meet regularly on thursday mornings, if you email me (CAT me) I can give you a phone number.
Local HE groups are my life line, I have made loads of great friends and so have my daughters!!
We are in S london and there are a lot of us here.

It's very scary at first, no it's terrifying!!
But when you have submitted that de-reg letter a huge weight will be lifted!
Expect a lot of critisism and negativity from family, friends complete strangers, but believe in yourself and you'll be fine.

Good luck!

Join Education Otherwise they will give you stacks of info.
Muddle Puddle is also good.
Resources, there are tons on the internet.

Have lots of days out and take a few months to de-school!
You may need more than your kids however. [grin}

HE yahoo groups will give you a lot of support too.

Don't worry about your LA it is the schools responsibilty to contact them.
I have been quite communicative with mine but have not had a visit yet, just submitted a thorough educational provision.
You don't have to accept visits and certainly not until you have found your feet.

runnerbean my email address is [email protected]
could you email me that number please??
i am going to join the eo website now, thank you all xxxx

hello Racheous
have added you to my hotmail contacts-am happy to talk about HE anytime!
It has been the best thing ever for my family-we have such a happy life now.
talk soon!

I don't think you need to be anti the LEA. Where I come from there is a team dedicated to helping people who elect to home educate. I suppose it may be different in different counties though?

Have fun teaching your children and all the best with it

If all LAs were helpful and dedicated to seriously to helping people who choose to home educate, then that would be great.
Sadly from the frequent messages on all of the national HE support lists, indicate that this is definitely not the case.

Besides which, my children have had enough criticism of 'their' work from school teachers. Their work is their intellectual property and they see no reason to offer it to someone from the LA to see. They do not choose to meet with the LA. I certainly do not expect anyone to come into my home to make judgements on us, our home or the way we home educate.
I do not see this as anti LA, more pro freedom and choice to live the way we choose.

thank you all, im still kinda scared at this point, i know it sounds really stupid but i am, lol
but i know its what i want to do and thats that for me :D

Julienoshoes - I think I probably meant 'suspicious' of the LEAs support. I just think that home education can be done without having to feel that you are doing something on your own, but I guess the HE sites and people you have met have provided that support. I am totally pro-freedom of choice for our children. Respect to you and all other home educators.

Haven't decided what I might choose as children 1yo and 2yo and I am a qualified teacher (but full time mum at the mo). So I may come back and try and find you for advice in the future!

Oh and also, as a teacher, I NEVER 'criticised' childrens achievements, attempts and 'work'. I know many fantastic teachers who enlighten and help children every day.