Feral Families....anyone watching?

[DeloresJaneUmbridge]

DH is sat and muttering at the screen

Me...I am “live and let live” in attitude.

Would like them to revisit these kids as adults and see if they thought their upbringing was good.

I did think it was really unfair that the family could go off travelling but the schools make such a fuss if you take your dc out of school for a couple of days' in term time.

Are the families not accountable to anyone to check they are educating their dc if they are not in school

I did think it was really unfair that the family could go off travelling

I think that was said for the benefit of the programme. I doubt very much it will happen.

Are the families not accountable to anyone to check they are educating their dc if they are not in school

There are supposed to be checks in place.

I did think it was really unfair that the family could go off travelling but the schools make such a fuss if you take your dc out of school for a couple of days' in term time.

That's a totally false equivalency. The reason why schools make such a big deal about term time holidays is because a teacher has 30 children to take through a set curriculum. If children are regularly missing school it can impact the whole class as the teacher has to go back over lessons that the other 28-29 kids did during the missing two weeks. That mightn't seem like it matters too much but if it happens repeatedly with different children missing for two weeks at a time and the teacher spending half the year going back over old lessons to account for another pupil's holidays, it slows everyone down significantly. Term-time holidays aren't forbidden for the benefit of the individual student but for the class as a whole.

When learning one on one, there is no need for a child to spend anything like the amount of time 'at work' as a schoolchild does. The primary curriculum in particular is really basic and there is very little to it that a child won't learn by osmosis during normal day to day life if given the right opportunities.

I've never taken mine out of school but it did strike me that there was such a sharp contrast between the two scenarios.

Of course there is a sharp contrast though. As a homeschooler I get to make my own decisions for my family and don't have to take into account how it affects 30 other children in my child's class. And as weird as it sounds I also get to benefit from others not having that freedom. I take my DS on many holidays each year, that together cost less than one holiday would during school holidays. They are also more enjoyable because we don't have to deal with crowds. In fact many aspects of childhood life from playgrounds/softplay to theme parks, cinema trips etc are more enjoyable as they are always chilled out and quiet. Even just driving is more enjoyable as I avoid the school rush and driving at 9.30am is a whole different experience.

Stepping outside the system is not at all easy but the benefits are numerous and go beyond the educational. It's a whole way of life rather than just an educational system.

Im just watching this now and am so disappointed that Ch4 chose to call this ‘Feral’ Families and in the first 5 minutes talk about HomeEd in 3 or 4 different ways. In these days of short attention spans, many people will start watching this and draw loads of really misplaced conclusions based on only a few minutes viewing.

We live in an affluent area with amazing state schools with places for all local children. But theres a massive HomeEd community and loads of community activities for them and many of those children are those who dont ‘fit’ into state education, have learning disabilities and dont meet special school criteria, or have been severely bullied and then withdrawn. The homeEd parents I know would be the last ones Id describe as feral family enablers!!

The programme does get better and rather more sensible. I love those kids who want to go to school despite that mum who worries they’ll be “bog standard”. My kids manage to have ethics and morals even though they wear uniform and follow rules

Sensationalist title and trailers. Booo to Ch4 for pandering to the lowest common denominator.

Lots of home ed families travel, some travel around the world, some go to Europe, some around the UK. We don't travel as such but we do go away in the UK during term time.

Schools 'make a fuss' because when you send your child you agree that they will attend. Home educators haven't opted in to that agreement.

I'm confused how they can all afford to live like that, I'd bloody love a huge garden and be able to have seven kids.

Lots of home ed families travel,

I know. But I still doubt that family will be going travelling anytime soon.

I still think it is unfair that someone who takes their dc out of school is so heavily penalised in some cases as they are missing out on education yet no one in the LA is worried that a 13 year old who is supposed to be HE? is unable to read or write.

I know he is out of the system but surely there should be some standards that have to be adhered too.

I still think it is unfair that someone who takes their dc out of school is so heavily penalised in some cases as they are missing out on education yet no one in the LA is worried that a 13 year old who is supposed to be HE? is unable to read or write.

Seriously. They aren't fined for missing out on their own education, they are fined to stop them from messing up the teacher's timetable and the negative impact it has on the rest of the class. No child's education will suffer because they take a few weeks off to travel. In fact they may learn more while abroad. The problem is that they can't pick up where they left off because the rest of the class moved on and that makes life very difficult for the teacher and holds their classmates back.

Think of it this way, do you think it's unfair that children in most of the rest of the world have much longer holidays? At primary level in Ireland summer holidays are 9 weeks long, at secondary level they are 13 weeks for non-exam year students. Something that Irish families take advantage of if they want to take holidays in the UK.

Millions of people take their families on lovely picnics, let them be free, educate them while they're at home, enrich their lives, play with them, treat them with respect, teach them morals and let them have fun AND send them to school too...the two things aren't mutually exclusive...which I thought the parents of the 7 kids seemed to be implying.

I heard the mum of seven give an interview on Radio 5 before the broadcast, and I found her reasons for their lifestyle fairly compelling.

However, I was less convinced on actually watching the show (and I appreciate there is creative editing). I thought the family were basically lazy, tbh (in mind and body). I would have expected their house to be a lot tidier, for example, if 9 people are living there 24/7. It's a pity they didn't show a lot of the actual learning the children do (on the radio, the mum said she was preparing the children for English and Maths GCSEs). It was good that all the children could read, and that they went along with the school trial.

I felt that Archie's mum was bordering on neglect. Thank goodness for grandad.

Self-directed learning is a big part of many school systems, where the child decides what they need to learn and then creates a path in how to get there. I didn't see a lot of this going on in any of these families - where they have a learning goal and pursue it.

Ffion I was if exactly the same mind when I heard the R5 interview with Gemma and then when I watched the prog just now it didn't come across how diligent the parents were about preparing the kids to take exams in Maths and English. Editing for headlines.

I'd be LOTS more interested in watching a TV programme about genuine HEdders. One that isn't so skewed!

it was obvious the children were never going to last at school too much pressure from the parents and the other children at home.

Nothing wrong with home education but whats that got to do with having no rules and doing what you like. I don't think having no rules at all is a good idea as later on in life how are they going to fare?

There are rules in society and also at work. Not a bad ideafor children to have a bedtime either otherwise they get so tired perhaps the parents wanted to lie in in the morning and wanted them to sleep in as well. I also thought the heading feral was strange.

Watching the programme now. Can't believe the alien comment. How unsupportive!

This isn't really about home schooling. There's a lot,of families home school, who are successfully bring up children in a freer environment and proving necessary education (reading, writing maths).

I have dcs in years 11 and 13, so we are contemplating futures (six form, jobs, uni etc). I can't really see anything where basic skills aren't needed. What are the children going to do,in the future?

Big thumbs-up to grandad.

Do you think the mention of travelling is a reaction against the English lessons etc.

Spike - I also wondered the same thing.

The lad who wanted to give School a go was set up to fail, his DM and siblings were putting so much pressure on him not to like it. DM's comment when he returned home from his first day at school 'oh who is this alien in our home? Ohhh smell him, he smells like a stranger'....and yet she was spouting nonsense about her DC having freedom to choose etc. She was very manipulative and her choices very much controlled them.

I'd like to see a decent documentary on home schooling, particularly how it works out with older teens. Some success stories, might not be as entertaining to watch though .

It would be interesting to do a follow up in five or ten years time.

I can't believe how unsupportive the family is to those two children, I'm disgusted and the truth is for all the parents preached the kids don't have freedom and the mum wants to control their decisions.
Archies mum was just a lazy cow from what we saw.

Just watched this- I felt really sorry for Archie. IMHO his mother is completely deluding herself. Where have the authorities been for the past 6 years? It doesn't seem like he's learned a whole lot since he left school!

I think some people do a great job and programme was clearly biased- BUT I would be quite worried about potentially uneducated parents being left to teach their kids whatever the hell they like.