What are your views on home-schooling?

[Littleraysofsunshine]

Just out if interest

Also while am at it, having access to exam centres, and not having to pay to take exams would be a big plus too.

I think its liberating, fun and an effective and efficient way of learning. For my family its the best decision dd ever made.

I think there should be a lot more info available to parents as there are so many ill informed / mis conceptions on the subject. I think more parents would opt to H.ed if they knew all the facts and where to find them

I don't think that more families would do it. Most women want-or need-to work. They have a problem with taking a few years off-they are not going to take 13 years or more off. I know a woman who has been at home for 16 years-she is very intelligent, with a degree, and can't get a job.
Most people know the choice and want their DCs in school with properly trained and inspiring teachers who really know their subject.

exotic
Ime most people know very little about H.ed, but yes the choice is widely known.
I know and have read about many parents who work alongside H.ed and many parents share H.ed and facilitate the subjects they feel most confident in.
Not all teachers at school are properly trained and inspiring, knowing their subject. Just the same all parents aren't.
It really works for us atm, but I can see its not for everybody.

I'm sure it works for some people but it doesn't for others. It just makes me smile when an assumption is made that if people knew more about it they would be bound to opt for it!

exotic

I wasn't implying parents would be leaving schools in their droves if they had some knowledge. But I think with fewer misconceptions more parents would opt to H.ed.
There is always a steady flow of people just on these threads asking for info as they are considering H.ed themselves. Many are surprised by certain aspects where they were ill informed or had preconceived ideas, myself included.

I don't understand why people assume if you HE you don't work outside the home too? I mean, most women with preschoolers work, so why not with HE children too?

I HE (am new to it though) and I work 23 hrs shifts in the NHS, weekends, nights and all sorts. DH is out of it during the week - although around at weekdends. I try to work at weekends if I can.

With the right childcare - which for us is a combination of grandparents -it is actually more working parent friendly than school was.

We are finding it a very valid choice and happily the social side of things is least of any problems we may have. DD has never had so many fun engagements and interactions with people she actually likes instead of people who happen to be the same age as her. SHe has been more socially happy as a HE child than as a school girl where she was totally out of place for 3 whole years. SHe had nothing in common with the other play-boy pencil case girlies. Now her main HE group activity is den building by a stream. DD all over.

I smiled to see her playing a team sport with about 15 others at a weekly meetup- the age range on her team was 3 to 9. They all supported the smaller or less able, relied on the sporty for goals and generally had a riot of a time.

Having said that, today was mostly 3 figure addition and past tense verb spellings. Sigh.

I dare say that a few would-most of us know the facts and have made an informed decision in the first place.

Having said that - her class at school had many lovely children and we are really trying to stay in touch with those we knew. I didn't mean to be rude about the people in her class - just that my dd couldn't seem to fit in with them. She couldn't seem to get interested in what they are interested in. Which doesn't make her better or worse than any of them. Just realised how judgey my post came across as - t'wasn't meant

Treedelivery.

I am so pleased H.ed is working for your dd and your group sounds really good. Our dd has the best of both worlds socially as still close to friends she was at school with, and plays without the school playground politics, she's still invited to parties etc and has lots of activities she enjoys most evenings. The main benefit is she can enjoy these as she is not shattered after a day at school. I like her being able to become engrossed in a project and not have to leave it to do something else, and of course no more continual assessment or having to follow the n.c.
We are currently drastically improving spelling and handwriting.

I think it's fab for some, but not for us. I'd be arrested by lunchtime

School is social hell for many children, with many children being bullied and feeling extremely lonely despite the numbers of other children around to see every day.

HE does not stop children having as many friends as they would like. My oldest has just returned from a birthday day out with three of her best friends. On Wednesday she is going to spend the morning with six other of her friends, and the afternoon at a meeting where there will be a huge age range of children present to socialise with...in two days she's getting more socialising time than school children get in their break-times, and that's not the only times she'll be socialising.

Many children leave school with vast gaps in their knowledge, having learned simply to hate learning.

GCSEs are not the be-all-and-end-all, as evidenced by many very successful people in the world who have not a qualification to their name.

HE is not a barrier to studying for exams if so desired. I know of many HE'd adults who are very successful in the field they have chosen to work in, one of whom is currently studying for a PhD despite having no formal teaching until the age of 16.

Education outside of school does not necessarily have to look like school at all, so there is no need for lesson plans and making children learn things they're not interested in.

Children are naturally curious, so long as we don't bash it out of them, and tend to learn masses simply by absorption. They learn through conversation, reading, playing, visiting museums, going on group visits, attending science festivals, watching TV, using computers, baking cakes, going to the post office, shopping...the list goes on.

Home ed kids frequently, IME, have many different skills and lots of different knowledge to their schooled peers. What matters is that it suits that child and supports them in the lives they are leading right now.

The NC changes over the years, which means that people's ideas of what children ought to be taught to memorise changes, which suggests that the idea that there is a set of information that all children need to be taught, and any who do not know it are doomed to failure...which is clearly bollocks.

40% of children sitting GCSEs didn't get an A-C pass, which suggests that school fails rather too many children for my liking - surely HE can't have as high a fail-rate as that!

Oh yes, and how come it's OK to force children to go to school against their will, and yet not OK to decide to HE them from the very beginning? Aren't both options just the same? Most kids don't get a choice about whether they go to school or not, and I don't see anyone complaining about that, so why complain that HE kids don't get a choice about whether or not they want to be HE'd?

One day we will see a thread like this that has no misconceptions about HE, as it is becoming a more and more common choice to make.

I'm all for free schooling for all, and would be horrified if someone suggested that it shouldn't be available. However, the fact is that it's failing some people. If parents think that they could do better than a school at teaching their children, why not? The state system seems to be a bit of a lottery, and many people come out of it either with few qualifications or with serious social issues.

I was HE, and got the requisite GCSEs and A Levels. I entirely self-taught. Bought the textbooks, read the textbooks, sat the exams. I'm not especially clever, but I knew what I wanted to do in life, and that to achieve my goals I would have to pass certain exams.

Socially, I'll admit to being 'odd', but many of my school educated peers were also 'odd'. I'm not sure what it is about oddness that scares people so much. This fear appears to come from a belief that the current status quo is ideal, and anything that deviates from that is Wrong and Bad. Perhaps those odd people are the ones that see the system for what it is - a machine to keep us in our place, buying the right products and living the corporation-approved lifestyle. And they just don't buy into it.

I think HE is a different beast to what it was when I was a child when very few families did it. But I am definitely in the camp of those who admire those who have the patience and drive for it and find it fulfilling, and yet know I could never do it.

I do get quite amused when people (actually not many of the HE-ers on this thread) claim that school is an unnatural structure, with its peer groups and 9.00am starts. In answer to 'what job starts at 9.00am' - well mine and the thirty people in my office. I am assuming the jobs of the people on the very full bus I get each day at 8.45am and on the other full buses I see at this time! I also, by virtue of the fact we have a similar job and wage, work with a peer group. We aren't all the same age, but most of us are female, with kids, same socio-economic status. So it is a peer group as near as it can be - I get on well with most people, I suppose like I did at school. But being able to get along in a group even when you may only have one common bond ( being a mother, occupation, age) is a vital life skill.

Finally where are these state primaries where every girl in the class is 'girly'. I have 2 dds in state education and it is not my experience at all. One is more traditionally girly than the other - but both would build a den and both have friends who would love to do this.

People always come up with examples of absolutely crap school education and compare them to absolutely brilliant home education, and say "there, HE is best"

There is good and bad in all all sectors of education.

I, personally, could never do it. I don't have enough patience or knowledge, even with the HE resources I know you can get.

But if my son was having an absolutely horrible time at school and the only choice was to HE? I'd do it.

Whatever is best for my son. Right now that seems to be preschool. Hopefully it will continue to be 'regular' school.

"GCSEs are not the be-all-and-end-all, as evidenced by many very successful people in the world who have not a qualification to their name."

This is a particular "bete noir" of mine. Yes there are some very sucessful people with no qualifications but there are bloody sight more with loads.

And don't forget the millions who have had their life chances curtailed by lack of the appropriate bits of paper.

It's a bugger that you have to jump through hoops. But while we have the system we have, jumping through them is the best way to open up your choices, and give you freedom.

DCs in school with properly trained and inspiring teachers who really know their subject.

That is maybe the holy grail for all of us - but sadly it is far from the case for many children. I think the education system in this country cripples most teachers ability to be properly trained and inspiring. They are so often cowed by the paper work and jumping through the current hoop of choice thrown at them by the government, and totally limited by the National Curriculum.

Until that is on offer, while we can afford to do it, DH and I will attempt to do it for our own kids. I feel very lucky to have that chance at the moment, and not have to deal with the lack of inspiration they were getting at school (and that we often see in their friends who go to local schools). Other parents can make their own judgement, based on their own personal circumstances (eg kids thriving at school, can't afford to not have both parents working, or not wanting to take on the responsibility personally). All anyone can do is the best they can for their kids in their own individual circumstances. No-one should take other's decisions as a comment on their own choice.

The NC changes over the years, which means that people's ideas of what children ought to be taught to memorise changes, which suggests that the idea that there is a set of information that all children need to be taught, and any who do not know it are doomed to failure...which is clearly bollocks.?

One day we will see a thread like this that has no misconceptions about HE

This on the same post. To me, this shows a lot of misconceptions about school. My DD has just started Y4, and is very much encouraged in school to be a free thinker.

She was taught to read, but just as much encouraged with her comprehension of a book, discussing characters, feelings, expression.

In Maths, she is being armed with numerous strategies for solving problems, because not one method suits every child. They are very much focussing on her as an individual.

She is encouraged to make friends with other year groups. She has friends ranging from Y3 to Y6. They encourage lunchtime groups run by the children, such as library groups, chess groups and 'X Factor' style talent competitions, which has shown such a level of support and friendship from the older children to the younger ones.

She has a boy with DS in her class. His mum is very happy with the level of one on one support he gets in order to meet his individual educational needs. I'm happy that my DD and her classmates see this boy as their friend, equal and peer, that although he may have times were he goes out of the class to do different stuff, hey so does everyone! I think the rest have learned a valuable lesson fom being around this boy everyday, that they may not have got at home.

For me, HE would not work for two reasons.

The first is that I am happy in the fact that at every stage in my children's education, I want them to be taught by people who have themselves studied and have experience to teach at that level. Even if I was a teacher, which I'm not, that would not be me for the whole of their childhood.

Secondly, I want my children to meet other children from many walks of life. I do not want them to only socialise with children who I know, or children of parents who agree with me and have my values and attitudes. That would not equip my children for adulthood. I want my children to develop strategies for dealing with people they do not necessarily like or agree with, because that will obviously help them in later life.

It would be quite nice to occasionally have a thread like this that does not condemn all schools from a person's experience of one. Often 20 year old experience.

And sone where it was possible to say that HE is not necessarily the holy grail of education for all!

I think that it is very misleading to say that exams are not needed. I know a HEed DS who got to Cambridge without exams but he is a rare exception. Many will be simply weeded out before they even get applications read. I have read the blog of a woman who is 'wildly excited about the possibilities for her unschooled girls' - they were 15 and 13 when she wrote it and she has hasn't a clue! They both want to have careers in a highly competitive field. I thought about commenting but decided it would be unwelcome and she will find out for herself. My DS is trying to get a job, he has all the right pieces of paper and a 2:1 degree. At least 50 people want every job he applies for. The days of walking into jobs are long over. It makes sense to have all the 'right pieces of paper' and keep as many doors as possible open. My DS who left at 16 wouldn't have got his excellent apprenticeship without is passport of C grades and above for English, Maths and Science- apprenticeships are like gold dust - the competition is intense and you are up against those with A'levels who think it a better option than university.

People will insist on treating HE as a competition- maybe because they are insecure- it is merely an educational option, nothing more and nothing less.

Launching your DC out into the real world with a career is the most difficult part IMO- all the other problems look far less important. I would at least make sure that they have as many qualifications as possible to open as many doors as possible. In a world where a graduate with a very good degree may have to to start for free and work their way up from the bottom, there is no chance for the person who just wants to charm their way in with force of personality!

For me He is something you resort to when all else has failed, I say that as a parent with a child who has an SEN. It should be very highly regulated with an exam/inspection at least once a term.

It takes a huge amount of arrogance to believe that you can provide your child with a well rounded education single handedly. Its far too easy to caught up in just your child or even worse your own interests.

I see how much my children get from their teachers, all different individuals who have their own opinions, which are completely independent of ours. The more people involved in educating a child the better. My dcs (15 and 17)come home every day from school telling me about the banter they have had with a teacher or what they have discussed in a class that was completely off tangent.

Children are naturally curious, so long as we don't bash it out of them, and tend to learn masses simply by absorption. They learn through conversation, reading, playing, visiting museums, going on group visits, attending science festivals, watching TV, using computers, baking cakes, going to the post office, shopping...the list goes on.
But they get all that anyway whether they are HE or go to school. The He child is far more controlled in the environment they do these things because they only have the input of their parent while doing these things.
IE my children visit the Science Museum with me, they go again with the school. The school visit is an entirely different experience than a family visit, because they are being shown it through someone elses eyes.

As I explained up-thread, we had no choice but to HE; there are literally no suitable schools that can meet her SN. Believe me, we spent years trying to make school work' for her.

Reading the recent posts on this thread has actually upset me: HE kids being portrayed as weird and social inept. Did it never occur to any of you that some of these children may have social problems because of a SN? My dd has Asperger's and requires a huge amount of support and reassurance in social situations. I would hate to think that other parents are looking at her and thinking 'HE kid- she's odd.'

Also, I am not 'flaky' and neither are the mothers I socialise with in our HE circle.
They are wonderfully dedicated and committed to giving the children the best education they can- and does it really matter if that's at home or school?
In every environment, there are good and bad parents and good and bad educations.

All I ask is that other people hold back on judging- they haven't walked in our shoes. Once you have seen a crappy school life drive your child to self-harm and talk about suicide, HE doesn't seem so 'weird'.