Sending my younger dc to school instead of home ed

[Westcott313]

It's 12 years for me and my eldest is going to college. Youngest two are boys 7 and 4. I love home ed but also need some time for me as I would love to pursue some personal interests etc.

Just asking the reverse here - is school always inferior to home ed? I'm not asking about secondary when the children are older, but primary. What age would you consider ideal if you were to return / send your dc to school?

I have 5 kids by the way, only younger two are home.

"is school always inferior to home ed?" seems a bit inflammatory. Just as bad as "is home ed always inferior to school?"

I imagine some home ed set ups are awful and some schools are awful. And some are brilliant etc etc. It's surely about doing your best for your children and the whole family with whatever resources you have. I don't have the patience or teaching skills and experience to do a good job home ed so it's not right for us.

Anyway, our 7 year old is going into Y3 and we're very happy. He has made friends and been exposed to a range of other children. His teachers have really got to know him and have skilfully helped him develop. We like the structure and I think we all benefit from not being together all the time. He's learned a lot and I don't think he'd have learned anywhere near as much from me.

Good luck making the right choice for your family.

Ah I didn't mean to come across like that, I guess I was addressing the home edders who mostly prefer home ed to school purely on the basis that dc can learn at their own pace, aren't constrained by rules etc.

I'm not anti school, I'm just finding it difficult sending my dc as it means less freedom to do other things.

I do need to hear positive stories like yours CycleHire, thanks for replying

you are too late, if you don't already have a school place, right now all you will get is the last place in the least popular school, which could be any distance from you.

If you do have a school place, you will still be home edding, ALL children are home edded, but most are school educated as well.

It all depends upon on the child and the school I think.

I have one in and one out so see both. Academically I have little doubt that in our case HE is superior but school offered something socially and some opportunities (drama/sports) HE couldn't provide.
Personally our plan was always HE to 7 and then reassess regularly with the kids. I wanted to be sure my children had good foundations in reading and maths and I truly don't believe the NC is the best way of doing that in the early years. After that I thought if they wanted to go then they would cope fine as proved case for one.