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Home ed

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Original poster

Be honest, I want everyone's views......what do you think of home ed???

696 replies

3Ddonut · 16/02/2008 15:19

I suspect this may get nasty, but please try to keep it nice ladies (and gents) I really like the idea of home ed, I would dearly love to home ed my dc but there are some problems, firstly I work 3 nights a week and my dh works 2 full days,my eldest dd is 5 and she really loves school, but some of things that she says about school unsettle me, I always said that it is their choice if they want to go to school or not, which is why she is there and my ds is in nursery but I wish she'd want to stay home and the longer that she's there, the more I feel that we're wasting time...

I've read a lot of the other threads and see that you can do some home-ed stuff alongside school but I don't think that it's enough for me, I want them to remain interested and not be moved on from one thing too quickly or forced to spend time on things they dislike.

We're already a close family because of mine and dh's shifts there is nearly always someone in the house and we get to spend a lot of time with the kids. I suppose I'd just like it to be more of the same.

My main concerns are that the dc would resent us for it in the future (although I would not take a happy child out of school) I also worry about the effect of home ed-ing the children would have on future employers and university places, I do worry about the socialisation aspect although the kids are in a few groups and are very social, they interact well with adults as well as other children, I'm concerned about how much time I'd have to work with them with working full time myself (no opportunity to cut hours)

I'm going round in circles at the min, I think my ds would be more open to the idea and I'm considering not sending dd2 to nursery at all.

The other biggie is that the school they attend is out of area and it's a really good one, they wouldn't get back in there if we deregistered, I've considered flexi-schooling but I feel that would bring more problems than solutions....

OK, Open fire!!!

OP posts:
Blandmum · 23/02/2008 21:06

a boy I was in school with was told that he could never be an animator. He's up for an oscar for 'Surfs up' next week

things have changed in schools since I was htere

Bubble99 · 23/02/2008 21:06

Which of those subjects couldn't be covered by a HE family?

I imagine lab facilities would be needed for sciences.

Blandmum · 23/02/2008 21:09

In theory they could but in practice do they all cover that sort of range?

My parents wouldn't have.

Tamum says that if she'd have been HE her mother would have concentrated on English.

I think that it is natural to bias to what we enjoy ourselves. I'm sure HE parents can and do put themselves out to avoid this, but in school it is all there, on a plate, often taught by people expert in the field.

I'd have missed out on so much. Some crap as well, but the good side outweighs that

yurt1 · 23/02/2008 21:10

The problem for home edders and sciences is that if they want to do say A level then they need to so practical coursework and that can be really hard to organise. I know because I've run coursework sessions for people doing A levels at home. And it was hard for them.

If you want a quslification such as an A level easier to do it via college I think.

TheodoresMummy · 23/02/2008 21:10

Good for him MB !!

My confidence is still low regarding my 'academic' abilities.

I am really struggling with me course in some ways.

I get in a right tiz about the written work and am convinced that I am too 'average' to be anything 'special' (like a Barrister, for example).

ahundredtimes · 23/02/2008 21:11

Well TM you might have. Or you might have specialized at drama at 15 and gone to drama school and spent your life as an out of work actress and then thought 'Oh god, why didn't I do law. Why didn't anyone TELL ME to do that.'

Blandmum · 23/02/2008 21:11

I always remember him when a child tell me their ambition.

I may have to grit my teeth if it is 'to be a celebrity miss' , but grit them I do!

ahundredtimes · 23/02/2008 21:12

Oh dear X post.

You can do it. It might just take you longer TM, but you will get there and do well.

[blows trumpet]

Bubble99 · 23/02/2008 21:13

I suppose what it comes down to is how committed the HE parents are. In the same way that a child's experience of a subject depends on the committment of the teacher.

ahundredtimes · 23/02/2008 21:14

I was considered something of a genius at my foolish school because I got three A grades at o'level. They overlooked the fact I only got 5 the first time round. (I did pick some up later along with A levels, she adds quickly).

My headmistress told me to be a lawyer. I said to her 'I will need some qualifications to do that' and she looked at me drunkenly across her desk.

TheodoresMummy · 23/02/2008 21:15

A level is the end of school though isn't it.

It is specialising and most people would realise their limits if there were any (in a HE environment) and seek out a course/expert.

I think it's been 'proved' over and over here that up until then HE can cover what schools do if that's what they want.

Many HEers don't want to which is why they HE.

ahundredtimes · 23/02/2008 21:16

And the parents Bubble too, we are still in the picture even if we use schools.

ahundredtimes · 23/02/2008 21:17

Anyway, I have enjoyed this. Thank you TM etc. I must go now and do boring things like tidy the kitchen. I'd definitely have failed that o'level.

TheodoresMummy · 23/02/2008 21:19

Thanks ahundredtimes. I will get through the course ok (because I have chosen to do it ).

Of course, I might have been an IN work actress had I been encouraged a little.

Blandmum · 23/02/2008 21:20

the thing is I couldn't give my kids access to 4 foreign languages before they got to the age of 14. I'm just not competent, and I'm reasonably bright and well educated. And if someone could then they would probably find it difficult to do the sciences or the humanities.

Choices I didn't take in school were economics, geology, computer science (in those days punch cards!), greek and roman history, British constitution, tech drawing, typing.

You'd be really going some to offer that sort of range to your kids. And who's to day what will light their fire?

Bubble99 · 23/02/2008 21:21

OF course you are.

What I meant was the committment of whoever makes sure the child has access to and understanding of info he or she needs to study a subject.

ahundredtimes · 23/02/2008 21:21

Hmmm. They are few and far between. Law is better, much better. Be a lawyer or a doctor, dear.

It'll be great. I admire you, it's a tough and brave thing to do. Don't let anyone do you down, and you will get there.

Blandmum · 23/02/2008 21:22

My point is though TM, how do the parents know what to provide, or the children really know what they want, if they don't get a taster?

leaving primary school I wanted to do history.

It was only after doing science in school that I realised that it was sciences that really floated my boat.

Even if my parents had been able to HE me, they would have follwed my initial interest, and I would have missed out on one of the great loves of my life.

Bubble99 · 23/02/2008 21:23

MB. A lot of HE families pool/share skills. Some use tutors. I know I would struggle to teach lots on your list. I think the 'home' in HE is misleading, TBH.

TheodoresMummy · 23/02/2008 21:25

Acting/theatre work would have been great when I was younger. I would have done well too because I was so passionate and hardworking (prob would have been a stage manager tho rather than an actress if honest).

But no longer an option. Hours and lifestyle not compatible with children IMO.

Blandmum · 23/02/2008 21:26

But then you have to go to someone elses time table, learning can't be totaly child driven etc etc. the person doing the teaching soen't have the intimate knowledhge of the parent. and may also not be terribly good at teaching. I don't think that being crap at teaching can be restricted to teachers!

essentially you have created a smaller school. Now granted that smaller school may well have adcvantages, but it isn't autonomous learning then.

Blandmum · 23/02/2008 21:27

and, thinking about my friends, who are reaonably well educated, we couldn't cover the range of subjects offered in the school I work at. I doubt that many groups of HE failies could either, unless you are looking at a much larger pool of people

Bubble99 · 23/02/2008 21:28

TM. Do you have a local am dram group?

I know this might conjur up some fairly disturbing images. But it might give you an intro back into something you obviously still feel drawn to?

Blandmum · 23/02/2008 21:29

LOL at am dram being disturbing!

TheodoresMummy · 23/02/2008 21:30

MB - good points.

Which is why I prefer the 'Free Range' over the 'Autonomous' reference.

I would be getting DS out there and experiencing all sorts.

The thing is, who's to say that Victorian History at primary age (every farking school I visited last year was doing this) is a better way to spend your time than researching your family tree or horse riding or planning, planting and tending to an allotment ?

That's my problem with the school thing (well, one of them ).

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