Do any of your dc homeschool themselves?

[Mycatatetherat]

My dc are in primary school at the moment but I don't want them to attend high school. They are both very self motivated when learning things that interest them and can be focused and sensible when given a task. I'm wondering would it be too much to expect them to be able to basically school themselves? I'm a self employed single parent and couldn't possibly stop working (although I often work from home) so kind of had it in my head that I could set them tasks and pop in on them every so often. Am I being unrealistic? How much input do other homeschooling parents have?

What happens if they no longer are self motivated when they are teenagers?

So unless your DC are twins there will be one at home alone all day at the age of 11?! Even if they’re twins that’s a long day. If they were already in a HE routine it might work but not starting from scratch IMO. I’ve been HE for many years now and I can’t see that working. Depending on personality and aptitude it could work for a slightly older child. My DS taught himself IGCSE science for example, but he definitely had help with other subjects.

Well no, they wouldn't be at home alone all day. My work involves appointments with clients plus admin etc so I might be out 10-12 then in, then out again 3-4. And it's flexible and on my schedule.

And as for As a teacher, I’m a bit insulted that you think we just kick back, hand them a laptop and tell them to get on with it this is not what I said

Sounds like a terrible idea to me. Education is about so much more than gathering facts.

We have an old, semi functional laptop on which we can use the internet and yes, watch the planets!

You're naive beyond words. Please do some substantive research before you make life-changing decisions for your children.

Secondary school is not the way you describe it at all. There may be some odd ones, but overall most children have the best experience at secondary school and make lifetime friends there. Perhaps do more research in to that too. There are fantastic teachers all doing their best for our children and teaching them above and beyond.

Social life WILL change if you home school, so don't kid yourself about that.

What capacity were you in schools? You sound incredibly naive. How do you know that your DC would not love high school - like many children do?

Yes there is bullying and yes teachers are stressed - but I know I teach engaging lessons and the kids learn and enjoy.

I think if you don’t have tv or easily accessible internet access then no, you absolutely can’t expect them to educate themselves, regardless of other factors. How will they readily access current information by themselves without it?

Do they want to be home educated or do they want to go to school?

I’d take the advice from teachers with a pinch of salt. They are often the most vehemently opposed to HE IMO. From a position of knowing very little about it. It’s like getting opinions on vegetarianism from a butcher. I’m a former teacher myself btw and my older dc are now in a (highly regarded) school.

It’s not really tho is it tiger? Because they are actually qualified to teach the curriculum to kids... so it’s more like getting a crop farmer to teach about vegetarianism, not the same but still have educated and realistic opinions.

Also OP isn’t proposing home education which implys adults educating them, she’s proposing self education.

I was hoping for some more advice from actual homeschoolers - thank you tigertiger10 - rather than teachers, who by default are opposed to home ed! I understand that, and I'm not criticising teachers or even the school system as such.
My dc are the square peg types. They wish they didn't have to go to school. Every morning is a battle. They spend their free time reading, asking a million questions (which we answer by googling on the semi functional laptop) and pursuing their interests. I suppose they're (we're) pretty nerdy and introverted. A lot of their friends go to different schools or he so not too much should change socially.

I don't think that what you are proposing will help your DC when it's time for them to get out 'in the real world' and get a job/career. Part of school is around learning to exist within societies norms and relating to people from different backgrounds.

Surely sitting and reading about stuff that interests them is what they should be doing as an interest in addition to school?

I suppose I haven't given much thought to qualifications, future jobs etc.
I don't use any of the qualifications I got at school or even uni. My business is built around my skill, which is quite niche and I taught myself. I can see that this gives me a slanted perspective on school.

What I can teach my children, though, is persistence in acquiring a skill and then business acumen, admin, networking, resourcefulness etc to create a living out of it.

I went to a medical school that did a curriculum based on problem based learning. You'd gather with a group of 10 students on a Monday morning and a tutor would give you a case and we'd work out the things we needed to learn based on that case.

We went away and learned about eg breast cancer and came back that Friday afternoon to come together and discuss what we'd learned. There were 3 hours of non compulsory lectures within the week (sometimes useful, usually not) and a two hour compulsory dissection class. That was it. And we're now all doctors. It was a steep learning curve once we started clinical years and then later on graduated, put it that way.

The students were exceptionally bright with good work routines and a good 8/9 years older than your DC would be. I can assure you, self directed learning would definitely not work

I almost can’t believe this post! I pity poor children who get taken out of the school system to be faced with this option! My dd didn’t want to go to high school either but she loves it now. Why do you assume your children will hate things before they do them?

I think that resilience is becoming a very important skill for teenagers. They can’t really learn it in theory, in a completely safe, calm environment. They learn it by bumping up against unfair, uncomfortable, unpleasant personalities and situations. Like high school.

Also I wonder if you’re underestimating how much positive stuff kids learn from each other, in a class situation? My DD comes home so enthusiastic about something she’d have had no interest in, until she ‘catches the bug’ from another kid. Then we study that topic together, and she takes her new knowledge back to school to share. It’s a very important intersection between learning and socialising, that will hold her in good stead in the workplace. My DD also tries much harder with subjects that her friends are good at (and she’s weaker in). Call it peer pressure, but it’s very useful sometimes!

One important function of teachers is how they filter and express information/data in a way appropriate to the age group, and check for understanding. I just can’t see how the internet does that. If anything, it does the opposite. It doesn’t promote critical thinking, another key skill.

Don’t do it.

I dropped out of secondary school at 14. My parents were getting shit from the local authority due to my lack of attendance (“They wish they didn't have to go to school. Every morning is a battle.” - This was me) so my parents decided to tell them they would “home educate” me to get the council off their back.

I had ambitions and aptitude to be a lawyer. The reality was once in a while, I would copy a page out of a GCSE revision book. The rest of the time I was in the park, off my face on drink or drugs.

Not saying that’s what is going to happen in your case, but I was a supposedly bright girl with great potential and self-motivation. Being taken out of school changed the course of my life.

How would you teach the sciences, specifically the practical skills? I developed a life long love of science at school.

I think there are some online curriculum, I looked into HE my teenager who was school refusing.

I think there is a real danger of narrowing their options with HE.

Lots of teachers are fascinated with and very supportive of HE, in my experience (being a teacher). We know how much planning and preparation that goes into creating a day's worth of engaging and challenging learning experiences for children, and are in awe of parents who manage to do this for their own children of different ages, day in and day out. Amazing! But, as previous posters have suggested, I think you could probably do with doing some background reading before embarking on such a life changing mission.

Your post about qualifications sums it up. It seems you are projecting a lot of yourself on the children and that alone makes the idea of then staying home and doing it themselves with a bit of your presence at odd moments in the day even more scary.

What if they want a job that is different from yours, where they need to follow a different line and get qualifications? What if they have a real passion for a subject they haven't heard of yet?

I'm a teacher who isn't at opposed to HE, and in fact I find all forms of education interesting and valuable to different children. And then there's your suggestions. Others have asked what you did in a school. I would be interested too because it clearly wasn't teaching. I too have worked in lots of different schools and have seen a very different side of things.

HE is important for lots of children but I do agree with you that you are being naive.

Part of a school’s, YOUR job is to prepare your children to enter the big, wide world. I think you are so wrong on so many levels. Please don’t do this to your children,

I home ed - but mine are 5 and 2. Hard work. I work part time, GPS look after kids 3 days a week. We do a 4 of sheets of work books each day (stuff bought at stationer’s) which takes between 1-2hrs with breaks - 5 year old is a couple of years ahead.

But he often doesn’t want to work so we have to be strict with him to ensure things get done. For the future, myself and husband have a good coverage of subjects between us and relatives are good at English for essay stuff. I would advise you NOT to home ed as it would probably limit your kids’ opportunities.

If you home ed, most people have to pay for gcse exams privately.

Think about their future job prospects. I don’t know but I suspect a lot of further education courses would require maths and English at grade c at least and some would like at least 5 gcses. In your position i’d Start the kids at high school. If there are specific problems then seek help for them.

I homeschooled mine during a house move period and spend 4-4 hours a day teaching them (primary) you certainly cannot be working at the same time now. They will be missing out on the bits they don't find easy or interesting. You need to urgently review their curriculum and ensure that they are meeting the level in every subject expected - or send them to school if you don't have the time to teach them

So basically what you're saying is that you want to take your children out of mainstream education - and then not bother to educate them at all. Great plan.
They will end up isolated as their friends move on without them and in minimum wage jobs if they're luck as they won't have been educated past 11.
You really think children that age can teach themselves? They won't.