if you could take a year off before DD goes to secondary school.....

[dadwithadaughter]

What would you do and where would you go if you had the luxury of taking a year off with your child before they start big school?

ShanghaiDiva thank you for some excellent recommendations, both for NZ and for China. If DD takes up Mandarin at school then we will clearly make China a priority. Guilin, yes, thats the place I have wanted to get to between business trips, but its not worked out yet.

This thread is setting my mouth-a-watering for adventure with the dc's! My eldest is summer-born. Does anyone know how possible it might be to either defer a place/sit 13+ pre-test entry exams a year late with an end of July child? I fear I may be thinking the impossible, but I have always wanted to take the time to travel with the whole family. I've always questioned whether DS might not be happier and more emotionally in tune with the year below cohort (he's fine academically in current year group). This would open a gap of travel time. DD might need a different plan though.... And DS would go to a senior school where no-one would know him from his old school, hopefully softening the social effect of swapping year groups. The seed of an idea is beginning to grow.

What a dream! Don't shake me awake too roughly.

Have you tried posting in HE section as well?

We took dd out of school for year 6, (but were not in a position to travel). It was something I would definitely recommend; a wonderful year of being with our child and a fantastic break from the education treadmill.

It took some thinking about and putting the letter in to school was quite a daunting step, but with dd now happily settled in senior school, we are glad we did.

Ooh just what did you do? I suspect if we do it it will be less world travel and more fun things for a year.

Educating a child 121 takes a lot less time than 30 learning altogether, so there was lots of time to get the teaching done in the morning then go out in the afternoon. There are lots of groups and classes for home ed children now. One of the favorite things was meeting other parents in the park and letting the children go den building while the mums or dads chatted.
One of the big differences I noticed was that play dates from schools will involve one other child coming round, whereas, with home ed, children of all different ages tend to play in groups.
There are also concessions for taking your child on educational trips. So for days out, it is worth asking the place you are planning to visit what they offer. Generally they will ask for the letter from the LEA as proof you are home educating. Also places are less crowded than at holiday time.

What made you send her back to school after? We'd like to take the time to learn a new skill or see new things but just playing sounds fun too.

The home ed groups were quite welcoming to you doing it for just a year? I always got the feeling the ones around here were quite ideologically anti school so might be hard to slot into for a year! It sounds you had a lovely year :)

I sent her back to school because I don't think I am capable of teaching her all the GCSEs to the same standard as secondary school. You also get a feeling of what would suit each individual child and taking her out of primary seemed right for her, as did putting her back into secondary.

I found the home ed groups to be very mixed and very fluid. Some were home edding long term, others for a short time. There were also quite a few, so I could find one we liked. One I phoned even invited us along in the holidays before dd had left school to see if we would like it.

May I suggest you try posting on the home ed section, then you will get more views than just mine to help you decide.

Thank you :)