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Home ed

Find advice from other parents on our Homeschool forum. You may also find our round up of the best online learning resources useful.

Home educating an only child

4 replies

choosyfloosy · 12/12/2009 23:07

Just that really. Wondered if anyone has any thoughts.

DS is about to turn 6 and likes school, has some good friends, is deeply woven into the school community. And is an only. Home education is probably not an option for us right now as I am doing a course which needs a lot of time away from home.

But at secondary level we are seriously thinking about it. Neither dh nor I were that keen on our secondary education experience. DS loves doing stuff at home with us. We have explained to him that some children learn at home instead of at school, and he asks about this from time to time as though he would like to do it. He basically 'threw a sickie' the other day because he had French that day - I can't believe that at 6 he is already faking illness to avoid particular lessons! I am seriously worried about the secondary school curriculum.

But I do worry that home schooling an only child who is basically happy at school is a poor idea - and would love to hear from anyone who does it.

OP posts:
piscesmoon · 13/12/2009 19:35

I wouldn't even think it worth worrying about yet. You have no idea what he will think, or be like, in 5 yrs time. Your experience of secondary education isn't going to be relevant. I expect that even the secondary school curriculum will have changed by then! Take life as it comes and enjoy the present.

AMumInScotland · 14/12/2009 09:39

I don't think the fact that he's an only makes much difference - you'd have to make sure he got chances to mix with a range of other children even if you had several children yourself, so I don't think it's any more of an issue for an only.

But I think you need to consider why you want to HE him at secondary level - the fact that you and DH didn't enjoy secondary school is not really very relevant - your DS is a separate person and it is a different school, teachers, syllabus, ethos, everything. Don't start assuming he'll not like it before it happens.

Many DC do love doing things at home with their parents, but that doesn't automatically mean they'll enjoy HE, or that they'll continue to want to do as much with you as they get older - believe me your 6yo is not going to feel the same way about everything when he is 10, or 12, or 15...

So, I'd leave the idea on the back-burner for now, and see how things progress. HE is great for children it suits, but school is also great for children that it suits.

I'd also suggest you need to be cautious about "selling" the HE idea to him unless you're in a position to do it in the nearish future - it's not helping him at school to think that it might be "optional", specially if he's already trying to get out of specific lessons. If he has a problem about French, then you need to be either dealing with that with the school, or telling him that school isn't a pick'n'mix and he'll just have to accept that he has to do some things he doesn't enjoy.

The secondary curriculum isn't something to worry about, but his attitude to it might be - as long as he's at school you and he both have to be committed to it, not half-hearted.

CirrhosisByTheSea · 14/12/2009 10:00

I don't do this I'm afraid, but I am a supporter of HE.

What I would say though is to never tie up your experience at school with your child's. It's simply not relevant and I don't think you should let yourself be influenced by it at all.

If your child is enjoying school then yes I would personally find it very wrong to take them out.

If this were me I would make a pact with myself to not plan or think in detail about this until his last year of primary, when I would be able to assess his whole primary school experience, and actually visit the secondary school and make an informed choice based on my child, and the current situation and curriculum at the secondary school

lolapoppins · 15/12/2009 19:25

I home educate my only child who is 7. To be honest, I can't say how it is/is not a good idea as it's all I know!

My ds was very unhappy at school though. If he had been generally happy, he would still be there as I would never have explored HE in the first place.

Your child will be a very different person by the time he reaches secondary school age, so I wouldn't think about it too much until then.

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