I didn't imagine a time when I would home educate either-it simply never entered my head.
However as my three children became increasingly unhappy and it became more apparent that the state system was not allowing them to reach their potential, (they all have dyslexia, the youngest could not read a single word nor write her name when she was deregistered after nearly 5 years of state schooling) we found out that home education was a legal viable option and deregistered them.
So my dc don't have to question what it was like in schools-they know to their cost and have never wanted to go back!
They know after six years of home education, what they miss out on is bullying, teasing and coercion to do something they don't want to.
Our children have a social life that is the envy of their schooled cousins, who are sometimes lucky enough to join is in the holidays.
Our children know their schooled peers are stuck indoors, when we are out on the beach in the sunshine, finding and discussing fossils, or kayaking down a river watching and learning about the wildlife as we go.
Or we might be at one of the many home ed camps and gatherings, doing a workshop on green woodworking.
They know their schooled friends are stuck indoors when they are outside with their group of home ed friends, making snowballs, building igloos, discussing weather conditions and the effects of global warming, whilst having a ball sledging down the hill.
Our children may be with their friends discussing computer programming and designing their own computer based business, even when their parents have very basic computer knowledge. They have become a whiz at computer technology and are now the experts in our house, helping their parents learn what we are interested in!
Whilst their schooled friends are sat doing percentages in maths lessons, our children were out going around different banks, enquiring as to what interest would be paid on their savings if they were to open an account.
Whilst friends have been stuck in doing homework, they have been out attending physics lectures that make physics fun and relevant to life.
Basically we looked at the main HE websites (as outined by the other poster) and we got to know people in the home educating community and it became apparent that you do not have to do 'school at home'. There are lots of ways to home educate and every family will find what suits them, but many do become 'autonomous' educators.
We facilitate the childrens learning, we don't teach at all. There are no formal school work lessons at our house, none. We follow the childrens interests entirely, so there is no coercion to make them do anything educational. We do not ?make? them comply with anything. This doesn't mean neglect. We make suggestions, discuss possibilities, help find solutions, facilitate interests.
Everyone naturally has interests, we can't help it. When allowed to follow those intests freely and without pressure, every person wants to know what is needed for him/her to be able to live life to their potential.
I don't feel the need to 'monitor'. Monitoring is necessary for a teacher in a class who is trying to track the understanding of 30 children. It is easy to see in a one to one situation, whether you child has understood a point and is ready to move on with the next one or whether she needs some more help.
We are 'on track' as our children are doing the things that they want to do and are really interested in.
Our children are teenagers now. All are interested in vastly different career paths and have hugely different interests.
Our eldest has really done the computer-based business, and is interested in computer games and technology. But he also loves Psychology and Sociology and related interests.
He went to college post 16 and did amazingly well at AS levels and according to the lecturers, fitted in really well academically and socially. He is on target to do really well at A levels this summer.
He gets up and oragnises himself for college, because he has chosen to be there, with no problems. I do not pressure him to attend, or to do homework, he does it becasue it is all his choice to be there.
Before college, during his self directed learning, he has played a wealth of computer games, 'Warhammer' 'fantasy role play' games and 'Magic' card games. We have played board games, card games and dominoes. He learnt a lot about computers and I have learnt more about the world wars, the weapons used, the politics behind and the people involved than I ever wanted to know.
We have learnt about politics and democracy together. He loves history. We have done workshops on Vikings, Egyptians, Romans-you name it, we have done it. Horrible History books and magazines have taught him so much history, he far outshines the history I learnt in the grammar school education I had!
We have had conversations about every subject imaginable! Talking and learning together has been the backbone of the education we have provided.
Our middle child is passionate about human rights, especially women?s childrens rights. We did endless projects about the role of womes in history, in the home, in politics-and this on it's own covered so many 'subjects' as we went along, let alone all of the other things that she has tackled.
She has helped out at workshops for women who have been victims of domestic violence. Together we have found out about Amnesty International, the United Nations and the roles of the main charities.
She is a passionate vegan (unlike the rest of us) and has learnt and taught me such a lot about healthy nutrition!
She has an interest in sailing and had the opportunity to spend long summers with another HE family, sailing up the west coast of GB and the east coast of Ireland. What better way to see natural history, geology and geography than in real life? She covered an enormous amount of maths when learning to navigate and sail and was fascinated by the politics of each part of the UK and Ireland that she visited.
She too has done the sort of workshops and activities outlined above. Now we are exploring the OU for possibilities to study law. And design courses. And the possibilities of getting Competent Crew status to enable her to go sailing more!
Both of the older two have part time jobs that they are committed to and are seen as valued, reliable employees.
Youngest child is most interested in the arts. She is a promising performer, even if I do say it myself. She looks to have a career as a singer. But being home educated this has given her time and opportunity to practise her art, without missing out on the rest of the things she is interested in.
She adores all types of outdoor activities. Loves the English language and has a passion for word games and suduko. She loves poetry and songs and drama.
She lead a group of local home ed youngsters in an application for a grant for their drama production. They got £1500! They have had a ball researching and developing their drama production. They have built their props and designed their costumes. The performance has its premier this weekend at a Street Theatre at a town near us.
She is fascinated by history and politics. We spend long hours discussing democracy. We are just organising a visit to the Houses of Parliament.
Together she and I have just returned from a week with home ed friends, staying at a youth centre. We had a week of kayaking, trekking and cycling, with masses of HE friends.
She and I are going to the ballet next week, with another home ed group and then later that same day, all three will be coming to another with HE friends in Derbyshire. Then we'll all be going, children and stepchildren, to the biggest of the home ed gatherings, in July, where 1500 of us will gather for a wonderful week of all sorts of workshops and fun together. There are musical events all week. Youngest daughter will have a solo spot for singing there and also one with the band she is a lead singer of.
At present, we are exploring where she wants to go with the rest of her education-again we are turning directly to the Open University, to enable her to provide evidence to universities, of the level of her education and ability to study. She is most interested in philosophy and psychology courses-but is also tempted by the science course-she has always loved the science experiments we have done at home and the science programmes on TV and discussions she has had with us and other people.
Universities are increasingly happy to take home educated young people-they have found them to be self motivated enthusiastic learners. Especially those who have followed an autonomous lifestyle.
There is an interesting article on comparing formal and informal (autonomous) home education by Alan Thomas and educationalist, to be found here:
www.infed.org/biblio/home-education.htm
Autonomous education like this, takes time and commitment to your childrens education, but it is not difficult. Difficult is sending three very unhappy children to school very day!
This is just a snapshot of our lives-if it sounds an idyllic life to have with teenagers-it is!
Happy people live at our house!
This has turned into a long reply, but I hope it answers your questions?