Anyone homeschooling Uk

[littlemisscreative]

hi

I'm thinking about homeschooling but I'm not sure whether or not to take the plunge I'd really like some insights into how it works, what are your thoughts and basically the pro and cons to this.

Yes, sort of... my eldest isn't compulsory school age until the next academic year, so it's very low key at the moment.

I'd recommend joining Facebook if you're not already on it. There are lots of active and helpful home educating groups on there and I've already learned a lot from them (including that "home educating" is the preferred term in the UK).

How old are your children? Agree with PP Facebook is definitely where people seem to find each other. People’s experiences seem to vary quite widely by area and the local groups will be able to say what you can expect from the LA etc.

thank you for your responses at the moment one is nearly going to be 4 and the other is a newborn.

I'm going to check out fb groups hopefully it will make it less daunting

FB is good for local information about the community around homeschooling / home educating in your area (contrary to what some people believe, both terms are absolutely fine to use and are widely understood). Lots of home educators in IG also if you use it, I found lots of inspiration there in my early days as I didn't know anyone in real life who made this choice and it was helpful for me to see what their days looked like.

My 2 cents in response to your questions - cons are the cost, in terms of how your own ability to work is likely to be impacted to an extent and the fact that no financial support is on offer. There are budget options (e.g. free groups, library etc.) but in reality there are also many costs. Pros is everything else! Your family time, your children's freedom to pursue their own interests, not being dictated to when you can have a holiday, freedom for tests and targets and expectations. It's not the right choice for everyone, but it can be a great lifestyle.

There is a MN homeschoolers board which is probably better for info/advice than here.

The main disadvantage is the cost of not having both parents working as many hours as they otherwise might, and of course the potential impact to their careers. You can still work, and most of the home ed parents I know do work. But without the free childcare which state school provides, it is more awkward or expensive. Some people are not at all affected by this, if they would be home anyway - for example if on maternity leave, or too disabled to work, or preferring to be a SAHP.

The direct costs of home ed are not so high, and you can pretty much spend as much or as little as you can afford. Those costs are insignificant compared with the childcare or lost income costs.

Advantages: one-to-one attention means learning is more effective and efficient. That gives kids more time to play or relax: my two spent most of their time playing, which itself is a good way to learn. You can tailor your approach to how they learn best, giving them choice. No pressure to meet standardised age-linked targets, so if your 4yo isn't ready to sit reading and writing you can postpone it until they are. They can go out to different places over the course of a week rather than spending 30 hours a week in the same place with the same people doing the same things. More choice of friends, for example they aren't restricted to being with kids of exactly their age. I could go on LOL. My "children" are now 23 and 16 and it has been brilliant for them.

There's a home ed board here on Mumsnet: www.mumsnet.com/talk/home_ed but it's true that much more happens on Facebook.