Home schooling

Good point, and I agree. But there might well be some who just are either not up to the job, or just don't care- resulting in total neglect. Perhaps rare, but should not be allowed to even be a possibility, in my book.

Soontobe, I so agree. This is what we aimed for with ours- adding lots of art, music, sport, nature observation, travel, etc , etc, outside school and in holidays- achieving a great balance between more formal schooling and natural and observational education.

But I'll take my hat off to those totally dedicated parents who make an excellent job of home-schooling and achieve great results. Not a choice for me/us though- and each to their own- as long as the childrens' welfare is uppermost.

There are certainly some who are not up to the job! For the sake of the children it should be regulated. Wanting to do it isn't the same as being able to do it!
Those who manage it, and there are many, are to be commended. It isn't an option for many. I would never have got the level of interest and achievement that different adults got out of my children. And,I for one, am glad I didn't have to battle to get them to do the basics- I was just able to cherry pick the best bits- the creative, fun, visits etc- that all good parents do. The school day is short and leaves plenty of time to do them.
Personally I like learning with lots of others doing the same - and I like having at least some my own age.
As many parents are not suited to home education there are also children not suited to it. I am useless at it- even at my age! I need a class and timetable if I want to learn.
Having said all that I can see situations that would have led me to home school my children- luckily we never experienced them.
It is nothing new- my mother (aged over 90yrs) had to be home educated for a few years, because of circumstances, and she hated it and she still doesn't like telling people.

Well said, Leticia, I think that's the most commonsensical post I've read on the question of home schooling.

There should indeed be proper regulation, alongside proper support. The support element is lacking in school inspection too, which is a big shame, and leaves schools feeling under pressure rather than taken by the hand and helped to improve, which is what they all want.

I do not have any experience of home schooling parents who are not dedicated to the task; so inevitably I will have seen excellent results. It is to be hoped that any regulation of home schooling that does exist should be concentrated on those (should they exist) who are not dedicated to the task and undertake it halfheartedly; although it is hard to imagine anyone actually doing that.

We are in a situation where LAs are having to cut back and inevitably they will prefer people to educate their children in schools (economies of scale) and will not prioritise supporting home educators. But the fact remains that home education is allowed under the law and they have a duty to regulate this; and hopefully some will discharge their duties properly.

* concentrated on those (should they exist) who are not dedicated to the task and undertake it halfheartedly; although it is hard to imagine anyone actually doing that.*

Some are dedicated to the task but have the most strange ideas-that they believe to be true!
Thank you, Ana.

We have had threads on Home Educated children before and I have said similar before but will repeat it here.

Anyone can choose to home educate. These families will range from those who have a real commitment to do so and who have the wherewithal to support their children to be excited and eager to learn all sorts of things and become well rounded and happy young people to those who just CBA to send kids to school (yes it does happen!).

My DH visits HE pupils to check on the progress/standards they are achieving. He sees more failing HE kids..who stay in bed, whose parents have lost control etc. than the very positive ones who are en route to a very positive adult life. Some are kids whose parents took them out of school before they were excluded & did not understand that this put them at the bottom of the list for a place at another school. That is because either a) the school did not explain carefully enough to the parents what the consequences were or b) parents did not engage with school.

Free education is available to all children. It is an individual choice to use it or lose it. Think of the scenario if the majority of parents chose o home educate.

Thank you Penstemmon for saying as it too often (tragically) is. I used to teach in comprehensives with some very 'challenging' families- who took kids out of school who ended up in such a mess, half in bed, half on the street selling (and taking drugs) etc. Hence my use of the word 'abuse' earlier.

Yes, it is difficult to imagine- that some parents feed their kids cr** day in, day out, beat them, ignore them, and worse. That does not mean it does not happen.

The cost of properly supporting homeschooling would be massive, and tot he detriment of all the other childrens' education.

I guess that it is unlikely that the majority of parents would choose to home educate, so that is not a very likely scenario, but I do think it is right that the option should be there.

It sounds as though the parents that your OH has visited are using the smoke screen of home education to justify their CBA attitude - a great shame.

I think my aim in this thread was to reassure the OP that it can be done well and that there is support out there, not necessarily through the over subscribed LA, but through organisations like EO and the networks of home educators that exist.

Just Googled 'home education and neglect' and have been amazed at the number of really worrying articles that came up. An (tragic) eye opener.

I think that everyone should have the right to home educate but they should be registered and they should have to be inspected regularly.

Mishap I do know kids who have had a good time being home educated and done well. Sadly there is a growing number of youngsters not getting any sort of education because their parents do not always have the skills to manage their behaviour. It is a sorry situation.

There are parents who do not want to 'manage their behaviour' - it is against their parenting philosophies.

There are also children that the schools, Education Authorities, CAMHS etc have let down. My DGC being one of them. Parents have been fighting to get help for over 12 months and apart from a couple of phone calls saying your on our list they have had nothing that they haven't had to pay for themselves. They would love DGC to go to school but as the school have no resources available to help the poor child is left to cope alone. It has been a nightmare of a year and everyone concerned is exhausted with the worry.

Commiserations Crafting - I too have experience of how a child with special needs can be spectacularly let down by education authorities and CAMHS. A family member finished up doing more education at home than at school simply because the special help required was not forthcoming. And the mother in this situation has worn herself out over many years of banging her head against a brick wall trying to get the right help and education. The CAMHS system seems to be in disarray - whenever I hear anything about it is is sadly always negative. Such a shame, as help early can set a child on the right road.

Crafting sorry to hear abut your DGC. What stage of education are they at and have they had any assessment of the specific learning needs? There will be various support groups that you /the family could tap into for particular needs as well as the more generic home education organisations.

Good luck and I hope the family gets the support they need to help your DGC to learn, develop & make progress emotionally as well as in learning.

Thank you Mishap and Penstemmon for your kind thoughts. Yes DGC has been assessed and does have many needs but still no help being provided. Referred to CAMHS over 12 months ago but still not been seen by them as their services are so overstretched. Parents doing everything they can and exploring every avenue for their much loved child.

The situation with CAMHS is becoming critical. One branch to whom my young relative was referred only had secretarial staff there - no psychiatrist no CPNs or SWs - nowt. So what is the point of making a referral? Some CAMHS are owned by Virgin for goodness' sake.

The Ed Psych assessed this child, but the school could not supply what was needed, so that was that. He went without. Really - it seems unlikely, but that was how it was. There was a very great deal of assessing going on, but no actual provision.

I am afraid that your family will have to fight. I can understand how frustrating and tiring it must be for the parents. They must value your support.

If it is any consolation, things have been a bit better after the age of 16 - colleges seem to be more open-minded about their students - more relaxed and accommodating of quirks and problems, less quick to judge and label, and more able to put in the right support.

I have just finished the first year of home schooling with my grandson, aged 13 next month.
I teach him three days and his mother the other two.
We do this because the school he was at made him so anxious that he was like the white rabbit, being afraid that he was always late for the next lesson.
He goes for 10k runs twice a week with his mother, and plays in a football team twice a week, which he was not getting at school.

The thing about home schooling is that you can teach at the child's pace. He was supposed to have one-to-one help at school but never got it in the high school.

Maths, he has just been multiplying two decimal places by two decimal places. He can also divide decimals by decimals, although I have no idea why he will need it. He can look at my shopping bill and work out percentage discounts for me, which could come in handy when deciding which computer games are best value.
He has decided what job he is going to do, and discovered what qualifications he needs to get an apprenticeship when he is 16.
He reads voraciously now, having discovered the books he enjoys, and we are making our own dictionary. He studies history, geography, science, bakes bread and pastry, learns lots of things that will be practically useful.

Crafting, my grandson has had a statement since he was four, as he has ASD. Last week I took him to the DLI museum, and he did printing for the first time. He concentrated for nearly three hours on one thing, even though he was asking if it would take longer than twenty minutes when we went in.

You will find once you start thinking about it, that you have lots of resources available.

We used a programme called www.uk.ixl to start with, but realised it was just testing. There is a programme called www.topmarks.co.uk with lots of ideas and worksheets, all graded and with lots of links to other programmes.
The important thing to do is to let the school and the local authority know, send them a plan, and keep a diary in case anyone comes to check up.

Although the school gets extra money for teaching a child with a statement, the money does not follow the child when homeschooled.
It can be quite expensive, with all the trips out and materials.

leticia

leticia Have you home schooled your own children?

If not, then please do not comment on my situation as you know nothing about it.

Please don't just post on here to antagonise others as this does not go down well and only causes tension when none is needed.

I have great faith in my children, one already went onto University, graduated 8 years ago and now works as a Youth Centre Manager and my son is doing his A levels to go onto University to become a Paramedic.

Answer posts by all means but do not put me or my children down by insinuating that I have no faith in them!

I was not commenting on you in particular rubylady - sorry if you thought that. It is just a fact that it always makes me smile when people think children who go to school enter a sausage factory, act as sheep, or can't be individual. They are exactly the same as home schooled children- their own quirky, individual selves. Home educate for whatever reason you like, but not because you fear you might relegate them to being sheep if you leave them at school- it simply won't happen!
I can't tell the difference between a home educated or schooled child once they are adults - although sometimes you can when children. The home educated ones can be more precocious, depending on personality. ( but that is only an observation from the ones that I know personally.

I wasn't commenting on not having faith in your children- merely the worry that they can't be individuals in school. I have faith that every child can be an individual in school. It is what every teacher wants and goes into the job for- I would be terribly boring teaching them if they were sheep like and accepted things without question. It is the quirky, questioning, creative minds that make the job worthwhile and interesting.

Under our current circumscribed system I am not sure that the "quirky, questioning creative minds" that are so satisfying to teach do get a good deal in school. I think this is why so many teachers are stressed and disillusioned - their creativity in responding to these youngsters is limited by tight criteria, curricula and the emphasis on statistics and data - and paperwork by the bucketload!

Neither do I think that the children in school become sheep - but they do have to fit in to these tight criteria and the peculiar environment of so many young people thrown together in large comprehensives. I am not sure this is a good thing and would like to see much smaller human-scale schools. I know that there are economies of scale by having large schools but I remain unconvinced that this is good for either staff or pupils.

I remember my school days in a large grammar school - I had no problem with the work, but hated the regimentation and my life felt stultified. It felt like a waste of what I had to offer and of my youth. Looking back, it was a very bleak time.