Home education after Primary school

[angelstar]

My dd is in yr 4 at primary school and is doing very well. Its a good school and I am a governor there.

I have been talking to dd about comprehensive schools and about going to the local school. Whenever we have this conversation though she will only reply that she wants to be "home schooled" She has a friend who she sees at church and who babysits for her sometimes who has been home educated from age 11 (she is now 15)

I like the concept of home education and did look into it briefly when dd was age 3. I decided then to send her to school.

Is there anyone on here who has started HE at the end of primary school?

I have 4 other children too all younger than dd.

thanks
Linda

We started in Year 10, so not exactly the same, but we are doing it in a very formal way with an internet school providing the academic subjects.

Has she said what it is about home education that appeals to her? Or what about the schools is putting her off? She's lucky (and unusual) in knowing someone who is home educated so she can get some idea what it is like, but do you know what this girl has told her about it to make it so appealing?

If you and she are both in favour of home education, then it can certainly work fine at that age, but it's worth being clear why she likes the idea so much to be sure it's going to meet her expectations!

We started home educating when the children were 13, 11 and 8, nearly seven years ago now.
One returned to FE college post 16 and di very well at A levels and two are going the OU route.
The elder two are now working in jobs they enjoy and only the youngest is still home educated.

Haven't regretted it for a min, it is the very best thing we could have done for our children.
And we have had such fun.

We home educate in a completely opposite way to AMIS, in that we are totally informal educators, where they learn through living life-and very successful it has been for us.

But hey-there is room for all sorts of home educators and each family will find the way that suits them best.

What exactly did you want to know?

I will talk to her again and ask her exactly why she wants to HE. She goes to school and loves the work and has friends but given the choice I know she would stay at home with me. I do worry that if she doesn't go to school she will suffer socially. Not in the steriotypical way everyone lots of people think re HE but because dd doesn't like socialising anyway. She will not go to any after school clubs or out of school clubs. She only sees other children (apart from her siblings) at school or at church.

She can be an anxious child and deosn't like change and new situations. It takes her 2 terms every school year to settle in her new class. We have a lot of tummy aches, sore throats and headaches.

I'm not sure if HE would be the best thing for her as she would not really want to mix with any other children.

If it takes her two terms every year to settle in a new class, it sounds as though school is not a very happy experience for her.

If she has friends at school there's no reason why she couldn't see them if she was HE - and as you say there are her siblings and children at church.

I took DS2 out of school at the end of year 4 and he has thrived. He's stayed in touch with two friends and has met other HE kids, plus has got friends through his sport. It's taken time, though. He was bullied in school and for a couple of years after he left he really wasn't too bothered about meeting lots of other children. I don't feel he ever missed out socially, though, as having a few genuine friends - and acquaintances whose company he enjoyed when he saw them - has been far better than the social maelstrom of a school where he was utterly miserable. He's also always mixed happily with different age groups, including adults.

Hopefully your dd will be able to tell you what appeals to her about HE and you can make a decision together.

I will say that the look on my DS's face when I told him we would take him out of school is one I will always remember and treasure. He was so happy!

Should say that DS2 is now 14 and is still thriving with home ed. He did a GCSE last year and is doing two more this year.

oh your daughter sounds just like my son and youngest daughter when they were in school.

The tummy aches, sore throats and headaches disappeared with HE- as did the stress induced asthma.

And the socialisation that happens at HE groups is different to any other young people meets that I know of.
In our experience it is much less stressful.

It took our son in particular a little while to get into it, but all of our children have a social life that is the envy of their schooled peers and cousins.

TBH from what you have said, it sounds like HE will be perfect for your daughter.

I finally managed to find a few quiet minutes to talk to dd about why she wants to HE. Her main answer was that she just doesn't like the school enviroment. She feels worried about getting her work wrong at school, I don't think this pressure comes from the teachers but from the kind of child she is. She won't answer a question in class if she is not 100% sure the answer is right.

I will discuss it a bit more with at an appropriate time. I theory I'm all for HE but I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to do it. Its a very big commitment.