My daughter is going to 'Unschool' her DD

I think all children should be given the chance to go to school but at the moment we are living with the result of what bullying and exclusion has done to my DGC. Some children can take it others can't. I just hope we get through this it breaks my heart to see what our happy loving GC has been reduced to.

I still think your DD should at least give school a try. My other GC love it and would miss so much by not being there. I only wish the school had acted months earlier to help then we might not be having the trouble we are now in.

This child is being raised in the expectation that association with other children will lead to her being bullied. That is so unhealthy. How is she ever to socialise with her peers if kept apart from them?

I can't be certain but don't you need to register a child for education and if you are home schooling you have to show the authorities the type of education you are teaching.

But the showing can just be a written report- the LEA only visit by invitation. Some home educators welcome visits but others refuse them.
My friend had a lovely inspector and yet he had a terrible job - some of the families used to speak to him through the letter box to tell him to go away! A most dreadful example to their children! They could at least have opened the door and been civil.

I had to resort to Home Schooling for my son when he became school phobic at 14.

I was a adult education tutor so I knew how to approach the authorities. lesson plans, scheme of work etc.,

I was reluctant to do it at the time but my son is now a very successful Business Analyist - so no harm done there.

I think that a lot of people have to resort to it, I can think of circumstances where I would have done it.
However this child has had no choice, she hasn't tried it to know the choice and her mother is making her scared of other children by assuming that she will be bullied- with no evidence that this would happen. If she is going to do it she will need to let her child socialise with home schooled groups, Brownies, etc and she is just as likely to meet bullies there- human nature is the same the world over and they are not all 'little Angels' because they don't attend school!
It also sounds, from tne term 'unschooled' and her views on 'the system' that she will have the autonomous approach where the child chooses what to do ( or generally what not to do) and then somehow get herself to Oxbridge!!
This is the type of home educator who won't have a written plan and is less likely to allow home visits. They also slip right through the net if they never get into the school system.
I wouldn't worry about it too much. There is a lot to be said for not starting school until 6/7yrs. She is making a huge commitment if she intends to do it for 11yrs. Her circumstances may well change, she may get bored, find it too much- and since she is intending to do it in benefits I can't see how she will be allowed to- she will be expected to work.

You also have to allow for the personality of your granddaughter, FishandChips, at the moment she is young so her mother gets it all her own way. She may well rebel and have ideas of her own.

I thought, though I may be wrong, that a parent is expected to start seeking work when a child or youngest child reaches school age or benefits will be stopped.

I now see Leticia had also made that point.

I agree with the comments about Home Schooling for the whole of the child's life. My son was school phobic through no fault of his own but he enjoyed the social interaction for ten years before this happened.

I wouldn't have opted for Home Schooling at the age of 4 but then again as some people have pointed out, the child may decide to want to go to school as she gets older and sees other children going there.

My son was school phobic as well Falconbird. I haven't met many others so I'm always interested to come across one!

I have mixed feelings about this. I wouldn't have chosen to home school my children but I would be more likely to consider it now, with the benefit of hindsight, because I know from bitter experience that school doesn't suit all children, and that they can turn out very well without going to school or even having much structured education. I would, like the OP be concerned if I thought my DD or DS had not thought this through and was not necessarily doing it for the right reasons. However, I would try to keep my opinions to myself and be ready to offer support however it turned out. It's very early days, and a lot can change.

Really, the pros and cons of home-schooling for very specific reasons should not be discussed here- we should be responding to a specific post re a mother who is has no intention of even trying school for perceived and bogus reasons. Very different perhaps?

I know of two families who home school-one mum is a qualified primary teacher with a family of 5. The other has a family of 4 and follows a bought in curriculum/teaching plan with her family. She was homeschooled herself and is now a qualified professional. There is an active home schooling group in the area who get together for trips and outings to places of interest, museums, theatre and social events. All these children take part in outside groups, like Brownies, sports groups. It seems quite structured but I wonder how these mums will cope with the more demanding secondary curriculum as all their children are currently under 12. Both families belong to evangelical churches which play a big part in their lives.

Whatever the reasons I admire parents who take on this responsibility - it's a massive commitment to make. I know I couldn't have done it.

I think that it is very different.
I have looked it up and the mother will be coping OK as the child is only just turning 4yrs and doesn't have to be legally in education until 5 yrs. Once she is 5 yrs the mother will have to apply for job seekers allowance which means that she will have to be looking for work and available. Maybe she doesn't understand this, not having got to that stage.
Rather than discussing the actual education OP I would concentrate on the practicalities and finances. Encourage her to go to the CAB and find out her position- sooner rather than later because it is pointless making plans she can't carry out.
She needs to know her options. Steiner schools have fees- they are not making profits, but the cheapest appears to be £1000 a term and rises as they get older.
She will have to be realistic and find a school that she likes while she has the time. I am sure that her plans are unrealistic - the days where the state is going to pay her to stay at home with a normal, school age child are long gone!

Maybe I have missed something but is it fair to call "Home schooling" , "Un schooling"? My highly intelligent (and precocious) Chinese niece was home schooled up to Secondary School age and while it was not ideal in respect of her parents' relationship, she is a very successful young lady who has already passed her AS French at the age of 14 and is also an accomplished violinist and singer as well as confident and articulate with predicted A* for all her GCSEs in Singapore where she lives.
I wouldn't have done it, but there are circumstances where it is the right thing to do.

The OP describes what her DD means by 'unschooling' as children teaching themselves with computer games and life experiences. Not the same as the more usual method of home schooling which has obviously been a positive experience for a lot of children.

I doubt whether this "hippy" lass will be leaving this child to educate herself online. It does not go with the image.

Unschooling is explained here
OP is describing the exact method her DD is going to use- it isn't a derogatory term of her own!
You can do it without computers- it just happens that generally children, left entirely to their own devices, will play computer games for hours.

It is possible to learn lots of skills when playing computer games.

It may be that she wants to go for this "unschooling" option, but she will still be obliged to register what she is doing with the LA once the child is of school age; although to be honest the inspection is a bit hit and miss.

Some children simply do not suit school and it is good that the parents can choose another option. But one of the problems is that, even though the motives are good, if home schooling is not done well then children may miss out on opportunities. It is a difficult balance to strike. There is a lot wrong with our schools (and a lot that is good) as they struggle under government edicts and political point-scoring and children sometimes find it hard.

Fishandchips - try googling Education Otherwise. You may learn some stuff that will help you to give a bit of tactful guidance from the sidelines. And you can provide experiences to enrich this little one's life if you stay on the right side of your DD and bite your tongue over some of her practices, as long as the wee lass is safe, cared for and well nourished. You could play appropriate games with her, take her to the zoo, museums or whatever.

Could a young adult then sue their parents and the LEA for not enabling them to get a decent education. Imagine a young adult wanting to go on to study at Uni- and realise that it will be impossible, or take huge effort and years and years of study for them to achieve this.

This is the reason given, as well as the lack of socialisation- for why it is not allowed for parents to do this here.

Thanks for the link Leticia. I hadn't heard of unschooling but now I see that it is exactly what my son did after refusing to go to school for most of his life. However he didn't unschool himself until he was well into his teens. I can't see how a 4 year old could do it, at least not without careful parental guidance.

I have to say it did my son no harm, he is halfway through an MA and loves education now. He also has many friends although he had none at primary school age and had very few opportunities to develop social skills. He in fact developed social skills through playing computer games. I echo what Mishap said, just be around to offer support and have faith that all will work out in the end. There are many years ahead for your daughter to change her mind and even if she doesn't - children can survive and indeed thrive without school.

I think that Mishap is right, but I still think that the mother doesn't realise that the situation with benefits won't allow it.

The EducationOtherwise website does cover the benefits position, and the mother will certainly be required to sign on for JSA and apply for jobs, although it seems that she would not be expected to take up any work which would require her paying unreasonable childminding fees.

JC staff are apparently instructed to be sensitive to such cases.

She wouldn't need childminding fees - school would be free!