Home Ed at secondary (Yr 8)

[QuantockRunner]

My daughter is currently in year 7 at the local comprehensive. We home educated her in year 6, because we wanted to avoid the narrow curriculum and SATS focus, and also because our daughter had become progressively
more bored at school, despite being interested in most things at home.
The home education year was a great success, but we had already decided (with her agreement) to try secondary school. Although she has had no significant problems with bullying and the teachers seem happy with her, she wants to be home educated again.

She is fed up with the constant testing/assessments and is losing motivation and interest. She is a very academic child and enjoys studying subjects of interest to her in great depth. I think what would really suit her would be a university-style education for 12 year olds!
Unfortunately, the frustrations of school tire her out, and this means she doesn't have the energy to pursue some of her other interests. In contrast, when she was home educated, things seemed much more efficient and there was plenty of time for non-academic activities.
We are in a position to home educate her again, but have some reservations, mainly regarding the 'GCSE years' later on.
My gut feeling is to home educate again, but doing so for the secondary years seems more daunting. Any comments/thoughts from those who have been though this would be much appreciated!

Well first let me come clean and say ive not been there although close family members are. That said, the thing that stuck me about your post was the "university- style education for 12 year olds" comment.

I don't know whether you are in the UK but if you are then be aware that our university education is deep but narrow - not sure that's ideal at this age. I would worry about the overall effect of dropping less favoured subjects age 12 in favour of concentrating soley on ones " interests". That's what my family member has done and it is really coming back to bite them now at A level - and socially whenever the subject under discussion is anything except cricket or maths (eg couldn't locate Japan on a world map recently and very embarrassed when peers thought he was joking).

I know I will probably get flamed and everyone will tell you to run for the hills but do you have a Steiner with an Upper School in your area? Have you looked at the Steiner School Certificate? Totally different way of learning but it certainly worked for my HEd Ds until Year 8 who is heading to a RG Uni this September after completing Level 3 .

Might be worth looking into whether your local colleges have a 14-16 programme. Lots of home edders in our area are going down that route :-)

I agree BarbarianMum - by 'university-style education' I meant the style of delivery/having some autonomy rather than the deep but narrow content of a university education.
My daughter has wide interests and gets frustrated by what she considers to be the shallow content delivered at school, and the whole 'teaching to the test' experience!

Look at 'HE exams wikia' for lots of reassuring stuff on GCSE's.

Go for it.
You've already experienced home schooling, it suited you well and it sounds as though your daughter is becoming increasingly disenchanted with the mainstream schooling system.

There are plenty of resources out there, both supportive groups and educational help for secondary KS3&4 and you can find help later on through internet schools and personal tutoring if you feel you need it.
From reading your post, I get the feeling that it will suit you well and she will flourish.
Our eldest was in an incredibly similar position to your daughter. She became a KS3&4 homeschooler after choosing to use an internet school. She was very happy and without any help from us, schooled herself through to achieve amazing IGCSE results, went back into mainstream for the IB and is now at Uni.
I hope that you can find the right decision for you both

Many thanks all of you for your diverse replies. The HE Wikia looks like an excellent resource.
socksonradiator, thank you especially for your reply and encouragement. It is very reassuring to hear of your daughter's happiness and success. Will let you know what we decide!

We have decided to go for it - first day of Home Ed today instead of Year 8!

Congratulations!!

Does anyone HE and still work FT? Daughter has just started Yr8?

I do work FT but my partner is a SAHP, so that probably doesn't really count (we juggle the education between us).

I know people who juggle childcare/ FT working around home education (because there are no rules about when in the day/week the education has to take place).

Hi wonderwoman, do you want to say a bit more about your circumstances? Are you a lone parent, or if not does your partner work?

I don't think that home education is a complete non-starter without a parent available in the daytime. You'd probably manage the education side of things. It's more a case of whether you can arrange things so your daughter isn't bored and lonely. I do know families with a lone parent working FT, or two parents working FT, while HEing. It's a challenge, but not necessarily out of the question. And if things are terrible at school, you may be able to create a home ed situation which is an improvement on that, even if it isn't ideal.

Thanks @Saracen

Both of us work FT, just wondering if anyone can share their experiences and how it works for them. You're right the learning side is fine as we can probably use tutors but it's more what she will do when there's no study time....any ideas on local HE groups - how to get in touch etc?

How's it going QuantockRunner, just interested as my daughter was due to start year 7 but we took the HEd route.

Hi duvet, it is going very well, thanks! We are covering a wide range of activities, but allowing her to take the lead. There are some fantastic free resources, MOOCS, etc that are academic without being 'schooly' and this seems to suit her. Socially it is good too. She still sees friends from school, but has new HE friends too from local groups. I hope it is going well for you too.

Yes thanks still sees a few friends from school and does more socially now than she used to as she's less tired I think.

I removed my son mid year 8 he is 13. Best decision we ever made. He is starting to explore topics he is interested in.
Self led learning is fun for us all.