What made you choose home ed?

[Theywereonabreak]

I'm really curious :) I have a nearly 1yo and although it's a while away, I've always thought about home ed but I actually don't know much about it. I come from a family of teachers and always hear that home educated children's social skills suffer (not that I believe this to be true). Just want to know why people choose it and how they get into it. Thanks

DD with autism struggling a bit socially. Tiny school with mixed-age classes. Her friends were all in the year above leaving her high dry for Year 6. School just didn't 'do' SEN; one (middle-class, NT) size fits all and if it doesn't fit, it's your fault and you need to change to fit in.
Not good.

@Booferama
I’m sorry to hear of your child’s awful experience of the school system. It’s an all too common story I hear from home educating parents I know. I hope she’s happier now.

Our school system is unfit for purpose these days. It’s rigid and unforgiving. If you don’t fit into their ‘square hole’ they’ll damn well try to push you into it even if you’re a round peg.

No consideration of learning styles or the fact that children all learn at different times. Unless you’re following the line on a graph that some person in Whitehall says you should be following you’re stuffed. As a teacher the amount of children I’ve seen who are put off learning in their first year or two if primary is shocking and sad.

Children are not robots.

Freedom of choice primarily. I can choose the workbooks I feel will work. And I get a say in what to teach them each week and also I can control the level and amount of homework set as well. We do a ton of cooking/baking/singing and so on as a family. I can go as much as I like to the library, and other places that support learning like museums, zoos and galleries.