I don’t know if I’m just upset but I have just had enough of the school thinking about homeschooling

[Thismumrunsonhugsandtea]

fed up of the school year 7 bullied all the way through had meetings with the school finally got sorted at the end of year seven.Now getting made fun of and Pe today he was picked last when picking teams.told he wasn’t trying by the teacher and that his jogging was like someone else running he has asthma and under the hospital for his lungs because there might be a blockage that we have to investigate.Im just tired of it the naughty kids just seem to get away with things and if your a nice kid that gets on with there work.you seem to be a target The school is so big now adding more and more children each age so I’m guessing everything is over stretched.I worry about him so much since he’s been there.Is it actually worth it.Im thinking about home school but im really dyslexic and worry he will lose his social skills because although though he doesn’t enjoy school, he has got a couple of nice friends.And is a only child.Can’t afford private school Is there a on line school they can do I don’t mind paying if it’s not to much,what are peoples experiencing with homeschooling.Is there still groups they can go to as well.I just don’t know if I can do another three years of this or does it get easier as they get older?

Your poor kid! That sounds miserable. Yes, there are other ways to make friends besides at school. My children have never been short of friends.

In fact, one of the main reasons I decided not to send my eldest to school at four was because I thought school would interfere with their opportunities to play with friends! (I know they have playtime, but most of the school day is NOT playtime.) That child tried school at nine, just to see whether they were missing out on anything. After a few months they returned to home education. There were several sticking points, but the main one was that it stood in the way of their social life! 😂

Most areas have home education groups with other kids who have plenty of time and interest for friendships. If that doesn't work out for your son, he could still meet up with his existing friends after school, or join clubs or sports or scouts and hope to find friends that way.

The best way to find your local home education group is to go on Facebook and type into its search bar "home education" followed by the name of your city or county or nearest big city. Let us know if you have any trouble finding one, and I'm sure somebody can help.

Thanks I just think the school System especially secondary schools are not good at the moment not good for there mental health

Yes, so many schoolchildren seem stressed beyond belief. It gets worse at GCSE stage, with the teachers constantly implying that their lives will be ruined if they don't get the right results, while kids have no say over when and whether and how many they take.

Home educated kids typically spread them out over several years and take them whenever they feel ready. They also don't really need as many as schools make them take; five or six is usually enough to get into college. So they might focus on just two exam subjects to study over a year and sit those exams at fifteen, then move on to three more the following year. In parallel they would probably be learning about other things which interest them, but not being restricted to the GCSE syllabus and not worrying about an exam at the end of it, just learning because they want to.

About your dyslexia: you don't have to teach your son yourself. When you home educate, your role is to help him find resources so he can learn things. Besides, you probably DO know quite a lot that you can help him with.

Through home education, my older child made a good friend when they were 12. The mum had such severe dyslexia that I often couldn't understand anything she was trying to express in her messages. She also had unclear and disorganised speech as a result of a head injury and having been deaf as a child. So it was also difficult for me to understand her when I spoke to her. She was a lovely person.

I'm an academic high achiever with several degrees who won national spelling competitions as a child and writing scholarships in my teens. I've worked as a university teaching assistant and a maths tutor.

Most people who know nothing about home education would predict that of those two, my child would get the better education, would learn to write better and speak better and get better academic results.

As it turned out, those two kids ended up with very very similar outcomes. When I first met this 12 year old, she was reading a novel which was over 1000 pages long. I helped her with her CV when she was 16. Her draft was perfectly competent, with the presentation you would expect of the average 16 year old. Her speech was clear and well organised. She was a natural at marketing and sales. Exactly like my child, she delayed taking her GCSEs until later in her teens, put in relatively little work 😂and got decent results, 5s to 7s if I remember right.

Why? Home educated kids aren't shut up in a box with only their parents to teach them. They have access to the whole world. They just need a parent who loves them enough to encourage them and to help them find out what they want to know. What's more, this young girl may not have learned how to spell from her mum, but she did learn many valuable things from her. She learned to be a go-getter, to ask for what she wanted, to care about other people and be involved in the community, to work hard, to come up with creative solutions. She's a happy and successful 25 year old now.

There are plenty of great resources out there.

I'd suggest looking at the £2 Tuition Hub for live lessons (they also have "social pods" which are moderated online forums where children can chat and make friends and moderated zoom calls every weekday for the children to chat in person).

Other frequently used resources might include Twinkl, BBC Bitesize, EdPlace (for revision, not primary tuition), CGP workbooks - I rate White Rose for Maths because you can buy single copies of the workbooks that they use in schools and they come with free YouTube videos for each day's topic and form a complete curriculum so you don't need to worry about accidentally missing something that they will need for GCSE.

If you search Facebook for "Home education" plus the name of your county/local large towns/region you should be able to find your local Home Ed community and once you gain access they are likely to have private WhatsApp groups and/or mailing lists etc which you can use to find your local in-person meet ups and home ed activities (sports, trips, activity groups etc).

Thank you all 🙏 x

The face book group home education for all or HEFA has lots of information. Some people do like a one sized fits all online provider but honestly it’s as easy, cheaper and often better for the child to try different ways to learn as there are lots of different resources out there. We’ve used south west sciences for igcse level science plus Absolute maths get rated highly. Maths Genie & Corbett Maths-are free.You will need to pay for any exams and arrange them yourself through a provider like ‘tutors & exams’ but often these are cheaper via a local private school or centre. We use a mix of in person tutors, online lessons and self directed learning for my teen. We are staggering iGCSEs 2 each year over 3yrs plus music theory & some project skills.

Thank you xxx

My ds is the same p5 age 8 bullying been going on since p1 . School doing bugger all about. Was 2 kids now 3 picking in him. Only difference he goes to a tiny school, which you would be on top of bullying . My ds says he hates school now . Don’t know what to do for the best. But know this can’t go on as my son so withdrawn

Social aspect get them into hobbies they enjoy or try new ones that are weekly so they see the same faces and can make friends with a variety of people form all walks of life and all ages. I think kids these days are so withdrawen and antisocial they don't know how to conversate let alone talk to older people. So Home Ed opens more doors for a variety of social interactions.

At the end of the day you can stay at school and tick all the boxes and come put not knowing how to deal and interact with the world around you. Just becuaee you get good grades doesn't mean you will be a positive contributor to society.