3 day week

[Lucaslovesfelicity]

Morning all,

After dropping my tearful 11 year old son off at school today, I’m feeling that I am moving closer to the idea of Home educating him. He has ASD and ADD and the School environment is not benefiting him in anyway. He remains disengaged, anxious and depressed and I no longer can watch him struggle like this. My question is, would I be able to Home educate 3 days a week? I’m a secondary school teacher and could potentially drop my working hours down to 2 days a week but I can’t afford to give up work completely. My parents are happy to support me the other two days, by taking my son on visits and supporting him with participating in other practical activities. Do you think this could work? As anyone home educated in this way before? Apologies for all the questions

Yep, could totally work. Someone more eloquent will be along shortly to elaborate but your son will learn just as much from visits and self directed learning on his days ‘off’.

Thanks velvet, it’s such a minefield that any advice would be much appreciated

Home education does not have to follow school hours or terms. You don't have to do any formal work if your child learns better informally. Trips, practical activities count as home education in the same way school do field trips, workshops, d&t, food tech etc. Even if you end up going down more formal learning route you will find home education is so much more efficient. You are not wasting all that time moving between classrooms, packing up and putting away, dealing with the disruptive behaviour of a couple of kids at the back. If your child understands something within 5 mins you can move on. If they need longer than you can spend longer.

Absolutely! I agree with everyone else.

You can educate on any days and at any times you like. It doesn't have to be weekdays 9-3.

You don't have to do formal learning at all. What your son learns on the days when he's with his grandparents is educational too.

Individual education which is tailored to the needs and interests of the child is vastly more efficient than mass instruction. For this reason, when a child is off school long-term and the LA is still responsible for their education (because they are ill, for example), the LA only has to provide a minimum of five hours a week of tutoring! You won't need to sit down with your son for 30 hours a week.

There are many ways to home educate. If your son is happy and learning, then what you are doing is right for him. It is fine to experiment as you go along.

That's one of the best parts about home ed - you don't have to follow "school hours" or do your learning like school does it! We don't! We're kind of semi-structured - we do some bookwork and some "in the field" work (outings, activities, museums, etc).

Just as an example, today my older son did some reading and a packet of activities/worksheets on natural disasters. My younger son did some spelling activities and some fractions. Then we did some Lego building of a house we're working on, followed by all of us watching Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. After watching it, we talked about all the historical figures in the film - where they were from, why they were significant - and my dcs chose some stuff about them that they wanted to learn more about. (which means a bit of research by me tonight to get some more info on Joan of Arc, Beethoven, Napoleon, and Socrates).

It's all good. Sounds like you will do fine with your parents helping out.

If you are a teacher you get school holidays off? You could do more work then and do visits to places that are packed in school holidays in term time.

Thanks for all your feedback. Knowing that this could potentially work is really good to know, I thought it could work but just doubt myself sometimes. Thanks again

It could definitely work. And later on you could look at online school if he wants more interaction. How is your relationship? Will you be able to ensure a good routine and compliance with work? And not resent having made such a big sacrifice if it doesn’t work well?

Our relationship is a good one Brownturkey. He can become extremely disengaged, so making sure there are lots of interesting first hand experiences is a must. He has two younger sisters that I also need to take into account, one of which has SEN but loves being in school and the other attends pre school. There would be lots of juggling involved but I am hopeful that it could potentially work.

I did this! I worked 2 days a week as a teacher and DH worked compressed hours so was home 1 day a week. We had a nanny for the other day who supervised them finishing off anything they hadn't done and did art/craft/sewing/cooking activities with them.

Home ed doesn't have to look anything like school at all so, as the others have said, it can definitely work in your circumstances. Our days look far more like school holidays than a day at school - day trips with friends, home ed groups, visiting the library, projects at home, time on the allotment, lots of playing in the garden, reading, art, etc. It is amazing what is covered through informal learning, and how time-efficient education is when the children are 'in the zone' and are doing what they are interested in.

Have you found your local groups? Sometimes it can be useful to go along and chat to other parents to give some more ideas of how it might work in practice. All the best!

Our days look far more like school holidays than a day at school - day

And that's one of the things that worries me about home ed, because lots of other parents do all that stuff in the holidays and send their kids to school for an education during term time. I don't believe that an education can be gained by accident, simply because of a few 'outings'.
I totally get why you're worried about your son at school OP but I'm wondering what other options you've considered? How much support does he access in school? Could he access more?

Tabatha - their education doesn't happen "by accident" though. Parents who are home educating (many who are teachers, or other educators) are not just throwing caution to the wind and hoping that their children are learning 'accidentally'. Children, like adults, learn most effectively when they are engaged, and free to explore at the depth and level that is appropriate for them at that point. The way I educate my children is based on years of research, and a degree in education - I would very much feel that my children would be "accidentally" receiving an education should they be in a school environment.

You might find some of Ken Robinson's TED talks interesting.

Yes, hairylegs, I see it that way too. I do my best to create an environment in which my children will have access to whatever they need in order to learn: building toys, books, outdoor spaces, computers, other kids, knowledgeable people, toys, interesting places, activities they could join in with. I let them to decide how to make use of the resources available to them. Much of the time this means me standing back. Sometimes it means me responding to them by providing extra resources where they want them. For example, my child with a passion for music wanted better quality musical instruments, a tutor, help to find local choirs and bands, and transport to those choirs and bands.

I wasn't directing what or when or how she learned, but it was no accident THAT she learned.

For example, my child with a passion for music wanted better quality musical instruments, a tutor, help to find local choirs and bands, and transport to those choirs and bands

I'm a music teacher and provide all of those things to the students I teach at school. This isn't some fantastic homeschool offer that schools can't provide.

I don't think any of us here are trying to convince you Tabatha - we were answering the OP's post about how home ed could work in her context.