Flexi-schooling in the NE?

[ButterPie]

Me and DD1 have just been playing schools (and, yes I understand doing it every day wouldn't be the same) and i have been thinking about HE. Not too sure about doing it full-time, I'm a bit nervous that the other kids she would meet through HE might all be nice middle class kids and I feel she needs to mix with kids from other backgrounds. Also I'm a bit uneasy about the closeness to private education. However, flexi-schooling would seem to be the answer.

Does anyone do this, particularly in the North East? She is only 2.11, so still very much daydreaming (although I suppose she is HE now in a way)

Does it seem like a good idea? Things we see as good points are that we would like to give her a wider education, ie in the classics and cookery and so on, we would like to be able to take her on little trips and so on. Also she is already pretty clever (not any kind of genius, but according to my teacher friends, she is doing well) and I wouldn't want her to be bored like me and DP were. We also have a baby daughter, no idea what she will turn out like, but it seems obvious that a child would benefit with more one to one time (or I suppose one to two time as at least one adult will have to work at a time)

I can't work full time anyway for health reasons, and it seems a little bit daft for me to be sitting twiddling my thumbs at home while my kids are at school.

LOL at the idea of home ed kids all being middle class.
I know hundreds in real life and could count on one hand the number I would consider as 'middle class'
Many come from single parent backgrounds, the majority of us home ed on a shoe string as mostly if there is a twop parent family, one of the parents has given up work to home ed.

From my experience our children have mixed with others from a much wider range of backgrounds than they ever did when they were in school (where all of the children generally tend to come from the same demographic area)

Would it be worth finding local home educators ato see if you can go along and meet with your local group, to see what the reality is?

Felxi schooling wouldn't have suited us, as we didn't want to fit with anyone elses turntable, so for us it would have been the worst of both worlds.

Now i think about it even more (I am very much typing as I think now) I'm pretty sure that high school was much more about babysitting (and being bullied) than education. I remember hours of sitting listening to people reading aloud (why couldn't we read the novel at home and use the class time for discussion?) colouring in and copying down stuff off the board. So, I would be much more keen on full HE at secondary level. I suppose it all depends on what is going on locally. Obviously I need to persuade DP as well, we have talked about it before and settled on school, mainly out of socialist principles, but now DD1 is getting older and I have been a SAHM for a while, it starts to seem harder to send her for an education that I don't feel will be all that good. IMO school seems to be mainly lessons in shutting up and not standing out, which can't be good.

So it isn't all The Modern Parents out of Viz? We are a bit that way, if I'm honest, although far off that financially (DP on minimum wage, me not working), but we are yer stereotypical Guardian reading, breastfeeding, terry nappies, books everywhere, etc types (what I would have said my perception of HE was) and I worry the kids wouldn't get to mix with others.

I am leaning more and more to HE...

I HE in the north east. Don't know of anyone locally who does flexi schooling, I'm not really a fan of it in principle because in most cases the school takes charge and you still end up having to do as you're told.

Perhaps it might be useful to meet with some other local HE folk and see what you think of their ways of doing things. We all do it differently, you find your own path depending on your child's needs and interests and your family circumstances.

As for not mixing with others... right now I'm finding it hard to fit in time to be at home and do academic work because there are so many social events taking place. I need a good organisational head to HE and a page-a-day diary .

How north east are you, which area?

I'm warming more and more to this idea (of fully HE)...I looked at what resources are available last night and, as I was doing it, some of my teacher friends were posting in txt spk on their fb profiles...is it snobbish to worry that a lot (not all, but a lot) of the primary teachers I know seem to lack even a basic education themselves? They are lovely people, but if I have to explain, for example, that Jesus was Jewish to them, or how to make mashed potato, then what on earth are they teaching? But then should I enter the system and try to change it from within for the sake of all children?

I'm in Washington, which is technically Sunderland, but spiritually Newcastle, iyswim.

DS1 flexi-schooled for first 2 years of school. Reception wasn't too bad but year 1 really didn't work well. So we home ed full-time now. DS2 and DD have never been to school. We are also in the North East and there is a group meets in Newcastle but I don't have contact details for them as we are a bit further south! I could probably find out at some point as I know someone who goes to the group sometimes. There is also a group meets in Hartlepool.

My son is 11 so I'm not too familiar with early years HE folks, but I know there are a few things going on around Durham you might be interested in.

If you email me off list [email protected] we can talk about it. I'm out most of today though so will probably be later in the week.