I do not regret being home educated in the 80’s. From 6 to 14. (Went back for GSSEs, as this was well before internet, and taking exams would have been expensive and difficult)
I loved my life at home, feel privileged to have been allowed a beautiful childhood.
I use the example of others squabbling over space at at sand pit, while I had the run of the beaches, lakes and rivers. Some of the strange little memories from very early ‘infant school’ stand out - not being able to chose colour for a craft project, having to screw up plasticine to put back in the box. Home provided a freedom and ability to express myself in way I never could at school. I had a need to move, to do and be outside that school just couldn’t provide then- and probably less so now we are in a data driven high stakes test culture.
For those who say that ‘home ed kids don’t have friends’ that may to a greater or lesser extent be true - I’ve never had a formal diagnosis but strongly suspect I would be what was known as ‘Asperger’s’. Could read, and did- anything by about 5, medical books, folklore. My small primary actually said ‘we don’t know what to do with her’. I didn’t socialise well with children my age, and found them boring and a bit annoying. I found a passion in horses, and through this a social circle, of people with a shared interest but not necessarily my age.
What I feel home education gave me was an ability to be myself, and have come out the other side of childhood with none of what people call the ‘co-morbidities’ of this. The ptsd, the anxiety or depression. I do wonder how much of this in adults is caused by having to ‘fit in’, to mask and pretend so you are not left alone, or laughed at for the sensory issues around clothing.
And, all this was done by my mother, who was a single mum, who left school with a couple of CSE’s as she went to her local comp. She would learn thing from the book before she taught them, and incidentally was far better at explaining than my ‘maths teacher uncle’.
Now, you may ask.. but how did that all work out? Well, despite the fact that ‘formal, sit down and work from a book’ work was about 5 hours a week (no, not a day, I do mean a week) I have subsequently gone on to gain a degree, a PGCE and a masters; am employed in a job I enjoy, and still have a love of learning and curiosity about the world, along with a belief that I am a capable learner and able to face new challenges as they present.