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Louizalass Thu 12-May-16 21:16:25

My daughter home schools our granddaughter (now 7) and will also home school our grandson(2) . It's working very well (though obviously hard work for my daughter!)

Granddaughter also attends ballet and so gets to meet other children her age. She's a bright, sociable child and has never known bullying (something which most of us go through at school and which can affect your self-esteem for the rest of your life) and she can enjoy the things she's interested in without her peers telling her she's a dork (or whatever cruel jibe used to belittle a classmate because they dare to be different).

Her home school curriculum is varied and interesting. She can read well, has neat cursive handwriting and can do simple sums. She's learning a little Latin (because she wanted to) and can read music. She loves crafts and is developing a real creative streak.

Of course, children in school can also get the chance to do all those things but it's highly dependent upon many factors and not all children get the same chances. My daughter decided to make sure her children will get a really good grounding and develop self-esteem. As they get older, if they want to pursue subjects in which she has little knowledge then they would have the opportunity to go to school if they wanted.

Lots of home schooled children attend public school later on. If that throws up any problems they'll cross that bridge when they come to it!

hildajenniJ Thu 12-May-16 20:25:39

My DGD who is being home schooled was enrolled in an art class on Saturday mornings. She loves it, and they are holding an exhibition of their work in June. I have been invited to attend and am looking forward to it. My DD wouldn't know how to teach art either Leticia.

Leticia Thu 12-May-16 17:35:10

I don't think it is 'better' than school. It is just a different way to be educated and is better for some and worse for others. It depends on the personalities and circumstances of those involved.
It was obviously best for Vanessa Ronan, but it doesn't follow that it is best for everyone. I would have hated what she describes.
She was also lucky that she and her brother gravitated to the subjects that parents were qualified in. I couldn't have managed my son up to university physics when I dropped it before 0'level and had no interest. I am also useless at art and so would have been no help to my artistic son.
I can see a lot to be said in keeping them home to educate in the very early years, when many now start aged 4yrs.

hildajenniJ Thu 12-May-16 16:32:23

My DD home schools her children due to the fact that the boys are on the high end of the autistic spectrum and were being left behind in primary school. When they moved into the city my DD asked them if they would like to go back to school and there was a resounding chorus of NO! My DGD who is 9 went so far as to say that she was learning far more at home than she ever did at school, doing it in her own time and studying subjects that interested her in much more depth than school could ever do. My DD has an Anthropology degree which she has never used, so just recently they have been studying Henges which has enthralled the children. Yesterday, as part of the lesson, they made a Stonehenge cake for tea. This also taught them weights and measures and timing.

Luckygirl Thu 12-May-16 15:11:56

I am a great supporter of home education. For some children it is perfect.

Some thrive in a school environment, but others do not and there is no reason why we should assume that "one size fits all."

It is not an easy option, but here in the UK there are lots of supportive organisations like "Education Otherwise" and most home-schooling parents get together with other like-minded parents and share skills. There are online modules to help with subjects in which parents feel they lack expertise.

LucyGransnet (GNHQ) Thu 12-May-16 14:48:23

Why home schooling is better than school

Would you be happy to see your grandchildren home schooled? Author Vanessa Ronan was home schooled by her parents and maintains that it was the best, and most empowering, decision they could have taken.

Vanessa Ronan

Why home schooling is better than school

Posted on: Thu 12-May-16 14:48:23

(80 comments )

Lead photo

Is homeschooling better than normal school?

When I was little and other kids found out I was home schooled, the first thing they'd always ask was "Do you get to sleep in as late as you want?" Usually followed by the next question: "Can you go to school in your pyjamas?" Most of them were jealous I got to stay home all day. What they didn't seem to realise was, even though I was home, I was still working hard too!

My parents started home schooling my brother and me intending it only for a couple of years till we moved "someplace better". It didn't take long for us to move; in fact, we moved many times as I grew up, but we ended up home schooling all the way until college. My parents were both literature professors, so there was definitely a strong emphasis placed on our writing from a very young age. That being said though, my brother and I naturally gravitated more towards that side of our studies. Writing stories and poems was almost like a game for us, and we’d read and edit each other's work from a very young age. We lived in Patzcuaro, a colonial village in the mountains of central Mexico for two and a half years. I was nearly eight when we came back to Texas, but I remember clearly how my parents sat my brother and me down and asked us if we wanted to go to 'normal school'.

If one particular subject matter fascinated, we were allowed and encouraged to study it to the fullest of our capabilities. It is only as an adult that I have realised what a truly remarkable gift that was.


In many ways, home schooling kept learning fun. When we were little, we were given breaks throughout the day to play for 15 minutes while my mother prepared our next lesson. Or else, we would be rewarded with getting to read a storybook just for fun! We then would come back to our studies twice as attentive, excess energies exhausted, minds ready to absorb again.

Home schooling let me learn at my own pace. I started at four, completed third grade in three months, graduated high school when I had just turned sixteen. I think I would have gotten bored quite easily had I been forced to adhere to the pace and rules of a classroom at too young an age. Bullying was never really an issue for us, but, through sports and activities, we still had friends.

Of course (especially closer to college), there were government requirements of certain things we were expected to learn, certain tests we had to take, but, as we grew, by and large my parents empowered us to study what truly interested us. If one particular subject matter fascinated, we were allowed and encouraged to study it to the fullest of our capabilities. It is only as an adult that I have realised what a truly remarkable gift that was.

Our creativity was nurtured and empowered though home schooling. We were encouraged to be ourselves. We were taught to think for ourselves. And yes, sometimes we even got to go to school in our pyjamas.

Vanessa's book The Last Days of Summer is published by Penguin Ireland and is available now on Amazon.

By Vanessa Ronan

Twitter: @VRonan