My daughter is going to 'Unschool' her DD

un schooling is just another way of describing education child will still learn just in a diffferent way. children learn absolutely loads through play and talk and visits. especially at four.

children are often taught things very early here in the uk. formal education does not start until seven in many places. children in these places are not behind their peers here. they ofetn learn things quicker as they are ready. many four year old children still can not distinguish sounds, blend or segment when learning to read and it is much better to go at the child's pace and do early reading skills until they can hear the sounds and build words for themselves. (love of language and books, rhyme, rhythm, listening, following print left to right, top to bottom etc)

unschooling is fabulous if done well. you will find it is more likely to meet her needs than the rigidity of the new curriculum which has lost a lot of its flexibility since your dd was at school. this as an ex teacher with own children who have additional needs.

as for the benefits. well.. one can teach a child more in an hour 1:1 than in a day at school. there is very little direct input to individual children as the teacher is spreading themselves out between thirty or more once in key stage two. learning does not have to be in the school day and term time. it can be at weekends. the child needs to be educated but not necessarily during school hours. child care can be used for work time and learning can happen out of work time.

the local authority has no legal mandate to inspect a home educator unless they think that the child is not getting educated. there is no requirement to stick to the national curriculum. there is no requirement to do a specific number of hours as long as the child is learning and receiving a suitable education.

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Reported

It always amazes me , apart from cases where children are sort of " special cases" , (no offence perhaps autistic or Special Needs and parents don't want a mainstream school), that anyone would have the temerity to think that they could educate their child to the same standard as a trained, focussed professional.I'd be terrified of disadvantaging my child because of my own incompetence.You'd literally have to have the same amount of focussed available teaching time, on a regular basis, as a professional teacher . What about other demands on one's time ? The household? Work? Other Children ?

Reported again Jaxjacky!

I feel we don't know what The mother is thinking.

"Unschooling" as others have said, is hardly possible if the child hasn't been.

11 year old post

Jaxjacky

*11 year old post*

Ha ha!

ZOMBIE alert!!!!!

I spotted the date on the original post, 11 years old.

I would be interested to know what happened to that little girl who will now be fifteen.
Fifteen years ago I was on a course which included some Travellers children, talking about their schooling, or lack of it. One girl was deliberately kept away from school by her mother who had hated her schooldays, and in the end it became an outright confrontation between the mother and daughter, who wanted to attend school. She did manage an education of sorts, and was looking to start at a college in an attempt to catch up, with help from social services. She struck me as an intelligent girl who had been deprived of education by her mother, and I sometimes wondered what happened to her.
Sad.

I understand that some Home Schoolers prefer not to teach children to read before 7. The methods pushed in state schools now put far too much emphasis on testing phonics which are only part of literacy.
However I hope all children get the opportunity to enjoy books, both with family members and alone. Love of books should precede the actual decoding of print.

I hope BlackeyedSusan wasn’t / isn’t responsible for teaching children how to use capital letters effectively in their writing!

Other matters aside, I don’t think it’s a bad idea to leave learning to read until 7. From all I’ve ever read or heard, children will be that much more ready for it when they’re a bit older.

I think you should inform your daughter that not teaching reading until the age of seven means reading from fun books aloud to the little girl so that she learns that reading is fun. The at the age of seven she can gently be introduced to reading for herself if she has not already done so spontaneously.

Applaud your daughter for having the courage of her convictions but at the same time tell her she knows little about child education, and should be guided by the professionals.

Labradora

It always amazes me , apart from cases where children are sort of " special cases" , (no offence perhaps autistic or Special Needs and parents don't want a mainstream school), that anyone would have the temerity to think that they could educate their child to the same standard as a trained, focussed professional.I'd be terrified of disadvantaging my child because of my own incompetence.You'd literally have to have the same amount of focussed available teaching time, on a regular basis, as a professional teacher . What about other demands on one's time ? The household? Work? Other Children ?

You should get over your amazement, L. Teachers have long known that the ignorant believe that anyone can teach. There is no general know;edge at large about how children learn.

This thread is 11 years old the child is probably out at work by now 🤣🤣🤣

Does that matter, BlueBelle? It is an interesting topic especially the general attitude that Lathyrus referred to.

I tried BlueBelle 😏

Children in most of Europe don’t start school until they are 7. Before then they go to Kindergarten where play and socialisation with others is at the forefront. Learning to read comes later.
( yes I know this is a very old thread but thought it interesting that childcare in Europe is so much better organised costing families very little compared to costs here in the uk. )

Mishap

I am not sure that is right. I know people who home school and they submit their plans to the LA. I would not say that the inspection process is faultless, but it is definitely there.

I home schooled for six years. Never had as much as a phone call from the LA.

I am not a teacher, but as I understand it your daughter will still have to follow the national curriculum and will be regularly monitored by the local authority. And what about the little girls social education, ,making friends and mixing with other children from all sorts of backgrounds, a lesson for adult life.

I’ve just seen this is an old thread. I would be interested to know how the child is now?

Hello Fishandchips,
I just wanted to say hello and welcome to this forum.Hope you find some answers and support here.

Me too. Where are you now little child?

About that same time, a friend left her DH and thought she could still receive state benefits so she could continue to Home school her 2 DC and go out to work.
The State said No, there are perfectly good schools for her DC.
After saying how unfair it was, the children were sent to a small RC school and the mother waxed lyrical about it!

Those DC are almost grown up now and have managed to navigate the world and their rather wacky parents.

Children can be quite resilient, and they are well loved.