What have i done.

[Jazziejay]

Have taken 9 year old out of school. She's loving it but im not sure ive done the right thing? She had a good school and was happy there. Im finding the responsibility of keeping her education up overwhelming plus im missing my free time i had during the day. I use to love the holidays and the fun we had, i never wanted her to go back to school, but im finding this tricky. Mourning my free time now! Shes only been out for 2 weeks. Reason i took her out of school was because she had picked up every bug going after a bad case of norovirus 2 years ago.

Oh poor kid.

Put her back in.

I'm a teacher and we've had some terrible experiences with children who have been HE, then put back in to school for later years. They have all been so behind educationally and it's been a battle for them.

Unlike the PP not one of them has made it to university.

Please get her back into school ASAP, unless you have money to pay for tutors, because you are not equipped to educate her properly.

"I'm a teacher and we've had some terrible experiences with children who have been HE, then put back in to school for later years. They have all been so behind educationally and it's been a battle for them."

I'm really sorry to hear that. How many children are you talking about, CocoTart?

On the flip side, I could equally say, "I'm a home educator, and we've had some terrible experiences with children who have been schooled, then been home educated for later years. Some of them have been so behind educationally and it's been a battle for them."

freshstartnewme, there is no indication that the OP is ill-equipped to home educate her daughter. Do you have any experience of home education? It rarely looks anything like school. It requires a different skill set.

Few families find it necessary to use tutors, especially at the primary age. Some do use tutors for certain specialist subjects such as languages, or for IGCSE preparation, but not always.

Sorry, typo in my last post. It IS common to use tutors for IGCSE preparation. I didn't mean to imply that the use of tutors is rare full stop. Not many people consider them essential at primary age.

there is no indication that the OP is ill-equipped to home educate her daughter.

Someone who took her child out of school without considering it properly who's main concern now is her lack of free time coupled with relatively poor written English skills doesn't come across as a sensible and well equipped teacher to me.

Do you think that people who send their children to school without full consideration of the other options should not keep their children in school, but instead pull them out immediately?

Do you think that a new parent who discovers her baby absorbs all of her time, and finds it hard going, should put the child up for adoption?

Transitions are hard. Big life changes take time. Things don't always go as expected. It may be that in the long run the OP decides that home education is not working out, and returns her daughter to school. But there is no need to jump to the conclusion that she needs to do so immediately. She may like to experiment with different ways of home educating, and to give it some time, before giving up on it.

BTW excellent written English skills are not essential for home educating parents. Their children do not learn exclusively, or even primarily, from direct instruction from one person. It is a completely different model from the school approach. I knew an HE parent whose dyslexia was so bad that it was often impossible even to get the gist of what she was communicating. She also had a speech impediment. Her teenaged daughter can write just as well as mine can.

Fucking hell, OP, you're not e e cummings. Use some punctuation! Are you really teaching your child English?

I don't think any of those things. What I think is that based on what and how OP has told us that she is not well enough equipped to home Ed.

I'm not against home educating, I get the impression you think I am advocating for schools, I'm not.

This sounds like a very, very normal 2 week in wobble to me OP.

I assume there was much more than one or two bugs to trigger you pulling her out. My youngest has a low immune system due to asthma and a minor heart condition. He's fairly robust now he's a teen but up to about the age of 10 he caught every thing going and that was with being home educated, despite what some people think we are not isolated. It wasn't a motivation to home ed but it was an advantage not to have that should I send him dilemma. There were many days where he was not well enough for school but wrapped in a blanket on the sofa was perfectly capable of getting stuff done at home.I

Only you know the full reasons why you chose to home ed so only you can judge if those reasons are enough for you and your daughter to want to try to make a go of it or whether it was a mistake and you will reapply for a school place.

Beginning home educating is like having a new baby. However prepared you think you are it never ends up like you thought/planned. It takes a bit of time to adjust for all parties and learn how best to run along.

This isn't the best place for support. Seek out your local group and get yourself to a meet or ask for help/moral support there. Home eding can be a lonely business for parents, finding people who have been where you are now to talk to will help.

I was home schooled. As were all my siblings and many of my peers.

I have plenty of experience and understanding of pros and very definite cons of the process, from my own experience and that of others in my circle, and that which I’ve gained in my adult life.

I maintain that picking up a few bugs is not a robust enough reason to decide to ‘home educate.’

OP, I'd re-enrol her if I were you.

Villainous, that's harsh. It's only her typing, and probably her phone not writing automatic capitals. Mine is the same.

@Saracen well said.

I didn't take my kids out of school because of illness or SEN etc, but for the first month or so I'd stay awake thinking 'omg. What am I doing?'
Needless to say, that doesn't happen now, although I do sometimes 'review ' things and ultimately learn from them.
It's something you gain confidence from by doing it. And you kiddo being happy and healthy should be a major confidence boost.
If it's something you are absolutely passionate about, you'll nail it.

Good luck!

I have to agree with @Saracen and @itsstillgood on this. It's normal to have a wobble here and there. You wouldn't be a responsible parent (IMO) if you didn't stop here and there and think "okay, am I making the right choices for my child? What can I do to improve the situation?"

It's a normal part of being a parent and home educating. I do a regular review of what things we're working on and checking for areas that we either missed or need to go over more thoroughly.

There's no question that (at least for me) free time is less than when they were in school, especially when you add in prep work and time organising schedules - although to some extent you do that anyway when you have a family. I have seen the progress my children have made over the last few years, and I believe that home education has been the absolute best choice for them, so losing a little free time is a good compromise in my opinion.

Disappointing to see all the people being rather brutal in criticising the OP. We don't know the entire situation - we don't know how she went about making the decision. She didn't elaborate on here exactly the length of time she thought about it or what research she did, but that doesn't mean she just made a snap decision.

OP - 2 weeks is a very short time. I would give yourself a chance to find your feet, get some routine going, take this time to find out what works for you both. IMO home ed is something that changes all the time - I adapt our routine, our studies, our activities to what works best for my children. Some things that we were doing initially have fallen by the wayside over the years, to be replaced by other things that work better - either because we've developed a new interest or approach or simply because as my children mature and progress, we make changes.

Give yourself some time to explore it a bit more. Make a list of what things you need/want and then look for things you can try to help you towards those goals (for both yourself and your daughter).

“Cold feet” just before the wedding.
“Buyer’s remorse” just after signing all the papers to buy a house.
Two weeks isn’t very long. Try some things, and see what works for you and your daughter.
@Saracen Well done here!