What are your views on home-schooling?

[Littleraysofsunshine]

Just out if interest

Kewcumber.

I think it could be because many H.edders may feel demonised, on many posts people ask questions about H.ed to gain knowledge, then somebody comes along in response to a genuine answer and asks but what about x? I could say that because I haven't experienced any drawbacks of H.ed you think I'm one of those who won't admit there are any. Where in fact that is not my view, as I'm sure there are. I can hardly comment If I haven't experienced any. I don't think H.ed is the best education for many dc, it just happens to be working for us. But of course there are people who will doubt or question anything a H.edder says.

Kew I scent a difference between your philosophy of parenting and mine. If my dc says she is being abused mentally by a certain teacher I'm going to believe her. I went to the school and discovered that the teacher had a record of such abuse; it was ignored by the Headteacher in a meeting so we had to remove her.

I agree that bad parents should not H.E. but who is going to make that decision?

"Kew I scent a difference between your philosophy of parenting and mine. If my dc says she is being abused mentally by a certain teacher I'm going to believe her" thats a really offensive statement. What on earth have I said to make you believe that?!

WHat philosophy is mine then "The school are always right and my child is a liar"?

this thread asked what peoples views on Home Ed are.

I think it very unreasonable to accuse people who point out that there can be drawbacks as being superior or demonising anything.

Sorry if you think I was being offensive it wasn't meant to sound like that you were talking about the DC who was H.E. and you didn't think she had the maturity to decide for herself. She could 've done badly if she'd attended full time school.

It is difficult. The problem is that education is a work in progress- none of us know how out children are going to turn out. We can all quote anecdotes- I could talk about my own experience, or that of one of my nieces, who has been made miserable in adult life by choices she was allowed to make for herself at 13. Or my nephew......but I won't go on , because I know that extrapolating from the particular to the general is a bad idea.

But I can't stop myself commenting when I see what to me are obvious red flags- "my 8 year old isn't sporty" "there are loads of people who've done really well in life without qualifications" " the dcs learn how deal with all sorts of people, they go to loads of HE groups" to name but 3.

HE is fantastic. But there are downsides. And it helps no one, least of all the children, to ignore, paper over or minimise them. And it does not, somehow, damage your role as a home educator to acknowledge them.

No, she didn't have the maturity (IMO - she was a very close member of the family not someone I met in the street) to assess what her options were and she was given the choice of two options - stay in the situation you are currently in or be HE'd. Of course she chose to HE - but there were many other options which hadn't been explored and weren't presented to her. So her choice was not well informed and she wasn't very mature.

Yes she could have done badly at full time school. I only know that HE had a long term affect on her education.

If my child told me they were being abused (by anyone in school) I would certainly believe them. Would my next response be to HE? No. That doesn't mean I wouldn't take action and it may be that finally a decision to HE might be taken. I'm not saying you did that before you extrapolate that from my answer.

Seeker,
I don't mean to be difficult but why the red flag?
My dss weren't very musical or arty, but were and still are sporty. All children are different. I am not labelling her just stating a fact. She would rather visit the theatre than attend a football match. She does support her friends and dbs at their sporting events so its not like its an alien concept to her. Also as I stated if she decided to try some sport I would encourage her, but if you consider this to be an "obvious red flag" thats up to you.

It's right to give the DC the options (it's difficult if not impossible to drop certain courses at school at age 13 or 14 to concentrate on specific GCSE courses) that's another plus for H.E. if the parents are on the ball of course; because often the teachers don't have the time to help each DC properly.

We had to H.E. her for 5 months or so till another school was able to take her because the Head refused to change her class. She wanted to go to school.

I'm another one not keen on labelling an 8yo as not sporty/arty/academic/whatever.

The same happens in schools though of course. I guess the advantange might (emphasis on might) be that children have to do sport/art/science at school, like it or not, so there's a chance that a child will find an aspect of that area that grabs them. I imagine that's also possible with HE, but that it's more difficult.

ppeatfruit.

I totally agree and what my 2 dss experienced was very few choices in GCSE subject, due to time table. They had to choose a subject from each column. They also had to do P.E which of course they chose as options anyway, but the less sporty would rather have done something else. Its ok to talk about balance of all subjects in education but I don't know anybody who gained a good GCSE in a subject they couldn't stand, with the exception of Maths.

Thanks morethan I just remembered what a farce the GCSE boards have put the DCs through this summer. TBH the 5 or 6 A* passes that were so common never seemed right to me anyway.

To be considered for practically any higher/further education course, or practically any job you need 5 GCSEs including English and Maths. If you don't have them, many doors are closed to you.

If GCSE's are so important why are they not regulated better. It is a shame that parents are worrying about their childrens future, and the children are worrying about the value of these results in years to come. I do think that government use children as guinea pigs where the ed system is concerned. I think one of the benefits of H.ed is the ability to find other exams/ courses at level 2 and 3, as an alternative to GCSE's and A levels. Of course the down side is the cost.

Seeker.

I am a qualified teacher F.E. and you are talking absolute tosh. Many of my students didn't have 5 GCSE's, some had 2 or 3, many didn't have English and Masths. They did a level 2 City and Guild alongside their course. There are no doors closed to people without GCSE's. You can even teach without them, as I am evidence.

Off the top of my head: you'd be hard pushed to get into medical school with no GCSEs and you need GCSE Maths and English (as well as everything else!) to get onto a PGCE course.

There will be courses that accept students through alternative routes; perhaps by demonstrating an exceptional skill in something. I'd say that HE might make that route easier, as you'd have more time to focus on an exceptional talent. But for most, KS4 level qualifications are pretty important.

fwiw I left school with no GCSEs at all, and got my degree after doing an Access course. But even for that you had to sit GCSE maths and English before the university would admit you. And of course I had to be 21 - there was a looong gap between leaving school at 15 and returning to FT education.

Jenai.

I'm afraid you are ill informed many of my peers who completed their PgCE (more academic than PGCE) had no GCSE's. I have two PG quals both carrying atr least 180 points towards Masters. I didn't fancy any more dissertations, and wasn't going to attract a higher salary. [hgrin]
My students were starting F.E at 16 continuing to 18 before going on to Degree level courses. I am qualified to teach my subjects up to and including Degree.

PGCE course entry requirements (as well as a degree, obviously)from education.gov.uk - you need : a standard equivalent to a grade C in GCSE English and mathematics. If you want to teach primary or key stage 2/3 (ages 7-14), you must also have achieved a standard equivalent to a grade C in a science GCSE

When I was looking into it back in the 90s, it was the same (although I don't if primary students needed science back then).

The will be equivelent qualifications that are acceptable and sometimes tests you can sit in lieu, but as a rule, you need GCSEs to become a qualified teacher in a school. I understand that the situation is different for FE teachers, and will depend on the subject they teach.

Ignore my typos, sorry.

Jenai.

I know that is what it says but there are plenty of teachers who would beg to differ. I left the profession for exactly this reason. With a Post Compulsory PgCE I was expected to teach secondary, not just cover but to teach for the forseeable future. One of the subjects was Maths and believe it or not also further Maths. My line manager, suggested that although I hadn't passed a Maths O'level I'd be fine all these years later.
People still argue the system is good.

Jenai.

Sorry, I meant to say, I was employed in a 6th form of a high school. The colleagues in the same position as me who went down the Union line, are still there with the same conditions. It is appauling, but makes me laugh when people think that Goves suggestion of unqualified teachers is something new [hgrin]

So are you saying you don't need GCSEs to study medicine or law or be a tesco management trainee, or be a nurse or..........

I don't know about medicine or law, I know a nurse and a tesco manager who haven't any. I think I was talking about Teaching if you were referring to my post seeker. As Colleges and Uni's are inclusive now, many qualifications at level 2 are used as equivalents to GCSE's and as many for A level/ level 3.

You don't need to sit 10+ GCSEs at 16 to do any of those things, Seeker. You may need to get 5 GCSEs A-C grade, including maths, english and science at some point but that may not be essential as most requirements are guidelines and are frequently not adhered to 100%.

The competition is so intense these days so it is silly to shoot yourself in the foot by missing things out! You want to open doors easily- not have to struggle against the odds.