before i begin i do not wish to insult anyone or raise a debate on this issue, i am just very curious and want the best for MY child.
i have thought about HE a few times, but never seriously. I have put my ds1's name down for all the local state schools and would also like to find a good independant or grammar school eventually, but because i will not be able to afford it i will have to look for some kind of sponsorship.
but just recently i met with a group of very happy, bubbly and enthusiastic mothers on their weekly get together and got chatting about HE as they were all HE pros. they gave me all the relevant web details and i left feeling like i too could do this. the work they showed me that their kids did were amazing!
i am not saying that HE is the best way forward but i am so unsure about state schools as i speak from own experience as a TA. I have worked in various schools, with all ages and i found not many staff were passionate about kids, you could see the passion in some of them and they were the ones kids stuck to, but most were doing a job, earning a living, they might as well clean toilets without any disturbance as they preferred their own empty silent company much more than a loud and demanding child. i am also seeing the maturity of teachers/TA's etc go downhill and most of them seem to stoop to the kids level (and not eye sight as they should!). these so called people who are responsible for our kids learning and wellbeing for a long period of the day lack relevant education, are immature and arrogant and seem to take a kids behaiviour personally and above all seem to bully kids into doing things they just would ask their own kids to do. for example i know someone who recently foud it funny to tell a reception kid that they will put chilli on her fingers if she didn't stop thumb sucking and when a little boy wasn't listening to instructions he was told to run three times round a small circuit and she made sure he did even though he was very upset and she then laughed and added that "he also missed golden time" this was a reception kid. she herself has a kid of the same age and when i asked her would she do the same to her son she was clear enough to say NO WAY! so why this child? when i worked in school i treated the kids as though they were my plants and i was in charge of caring for them, nourishing them and keeping them happy, but always maintaining them and propping them up with sticks if they were falling down, i was tough but kind, just as i am with my boys, but these so called staff are not like this and i fear my ds1 will suffer at their hands as he is a differnt sort of kid and can easily be coaxed into things or on the flip side will throw a major tantrum if he isn't happy...but he knows his right from wrong and i feel he will just be misunderstood, judge too quick and labelled and shoved to the side.....have i said too much, sorry but i am letting off a little steam fro bad parenting and bad teaching skills...i hate selfish loud and ignorant people who only look out for their own and laugh at others and much of the staff in state schools these days are like this. sorry to mention state school so much but thats all the experience i have, i dont know anything else. so now i am not too hung up on ds1 going to nursery, i prefer to keep him with me and teach him well and make him storng enough to face people like the lady mentioned above...i too went to school when i was 6 and it did me no harm.
i just want to know from those of you who are doing HE whats good, whats not, how to start and is it worth it?
any advice is much appreciated. i will check up tommorow to see what you have to say.
thankyou