Exploe Learning/Kumon/etc

[ButterPie]

Does anyone know how these kinds of schemes work with HE? I'm thinking it could be a good way of supplementing HE, in a kind of flexi school style, ie they would do most of their learning in a traditional HE way (we're thinking semi-structured, maybe with elements of classical but with lots of automonous time as well) but maybe a session or two a week in one of those tuition centres.

I'm thinking it might make sure we don't somehow miss out a key area, the girls could mix with schooled kids but the kids wouldn't all be from the same school, they might benefit from another "voice" in their education and I just found out they can sometimes count as childcare so you can use childcare vouchers and tax credits.

Crazy idea?

We tried Kumon a year or so ago (when ds would have been in yr 1 had he of been at school) and tbh, I found it jarred a bit with HE, so we stopped after a few months.

For example, we kept getting 'told off' that ds was leaning grammar as he went along, being told that he shouldn't be adding appostophies to work he did for homework sheet yet etc. It was quite draining for me really to be told that I shouldn't be teaching him so and so yet when he was obviously learning.

But I guess a lot depends on the people running it, one pfthe teachers at our one had a real attitude about HE and make me feel uncomfortable.

Butterpie, grandson has been going to Explore Learn since they opened the new centre here last September.
Where we live they are open every day from 3pm until about 8pm, and on weekends Saturdays and Sundays about 10-4pm. In our venue, they open the centre at 2.30 on a Wednesday afternoon for children who are home educated. We only live 5 minutes away and it's in Sainsburys so I get to do my shopping.
They have 2 one and a quarter hour sessions a week - an hour of each session is spent doing literacy and numeracy and the other 15 minutes is spent in Surf Club playing games.
I pay £50 a month because I'm a pensioner, and you can use WTC to pay towards the sessions.
In school holidays they are open all day and they also run free workshops you can sign up for i.e. money, telling the time, creative writing etc.
Grandson loves it and has done quite well.
Kumon was awful, boring, repetitive and we had to get the bus to and from there and it cost me £100 a month.

That sounds good. I think I will add it to my list of things to have a proper look at.

You can get a free session to try it out.

My girls are only little now though, the eldest is only 3.2yo, the youngest 6m, so they couldn't really try it out.

It beng there could be a key part in our decision though, because it could provide just enough "school" to quell our worries. :D

The company I know about is Kip McGrath, as I worked for a while as a tutor at one of their centres. They do mostly English and Maths, though depending on the centre owner they may offer other subjects. They have a very structured method with worksheets & computer programmes, though again the centre may choose to add to that with National Curriculum or other materials. The lessons are 90 mins, with the last 15 mins or so being computer games.
Children can start at 6, though I think academically they wouldn't be doing anything at that age that you couldn't do easily (and better) at home - if you wanted to do structured work there are so many cheap materials in the shops and free ones on the internet that you could be sure you weren't missing anything they would be doing at school.
However, with your other reasons for considering it it doesn't seem crazy at all!!
On the other hand, after school clubs would be another way to enable your dcs to meet schooled children and learn to work with other adults.

hiya
don't know about the other ones but please don't waste money on Kumon, as somebody who worked there I can tell you it is not worth it.

come to think of it it's almost the antithesis of autonomous learning.