Home schooling

[mum22ttc#3]

Also, sorry

Have any of you faced negative criticism from other family members an how do you deal with that?

Obviously me an OH would be on board but already when talking about finding DD a school placement I told how I have only put one school down, if she isn't accepted then the decision of whether to homeschool or not will be made for us. I was meet with the answer 'well a not so good school would be better than no school', actually no it wouldn't.
I suppose I just know others aren't going to support the decision if we come to it.

 

[summer rain]

Sorry another question.

How many hours do you actually spend working i.e on textbooks? When DD1 was out of school for year I mentioned earlier, we probably actually only spent about 1.5 hours and sometimes even less on textbook work.

Alot of the other time was spent on practical bits i.e arts and crafts, science bits we found on the net etc.

I just worry that if we was too choose this option then it wouldn't be adequate, I would have visits from the education authority's as 2 out of 3 are already in the system. We only had one last time but she did seem pleased with what we had been doing but did say that it would be followed up with another appointment with somebody else.

I know that the time spent was plenty for DD1 as even now she is above average in all areas but am just worried the authority's wouldn't see it this way iykwim?

Sorry for all the questions.

We spend a similar amount of time on workbooks per day and the home education lady from the council thinks it is an astounding amount, last time she wasn't able to look at it all-I believe they really are looking for quality not quantity as well. There have been a couple of terms (and our LEA is a rare one that does come every term-most don't)-where the kids have all been ill on various occasions and such as when I had my youngest, where I feel like we just haven't done enough but when I've gathered all their work together (including art and craft work) I really have been pleasantly surprised.

With regard to your other q; my family were a bit so-so about the idea of home educating and my in laws were completely against it, one they thought it was illegal to home educate and just couldn't believe it wasn't, two they just couldn't see how children could learn as much if not more at home, and three they were baffled as to why I wouldn't get the boys out of my hair at the first possible opportunity. It only took a few months though to prove that home education was working extremely well for us with my eldest; but then the same doubts were raised about my second eldest as he is a whole different character, very artistic and imaginative but not conventionally 'academic' like my eldest, again thankfully we have managed to prove things otherwise to the extent that both mine and OHs family are very encouraging. My second eldest didn't even recognise letters properly a year and a half ago; now he has beautiful handwriting and can read really well too, and he has started to do really well in maths-finishing an entire term's worth of maths worksheets in less than two months. I honestly think the best way is just to appear confident in your abilities and that this is going to work; even if you don't feel it, and then just show by example how it works as time goes on xx

 

[Wriggley]

There are more home schoolers than you think

again, its a decision YOU have to make based on your own circumstances, but if you are prepared to pay for 2 activities/clubs a week and take advantage of the wide variety of free activities that are on offer, then it really is a diverse lifestyle

there are i think 4 home schooling groups within walking distance of me, and a multitude more within driving distance, If children in certain groups dont get on, then generally there are other groups to go to.

Most homeschooling groups/activities I know of are either free or they ask for a small voluntary donation to cover costs, I am talking less than £5 a session here and it is usually voluntary. Also my children mix with non-home-educated kids as well as home-educated ones, outside of the usual school hours. I don't restrict them to mixing with other home-educated kids or to activities designed for other home-educated kids only xx

summer rain can i ask what part of the south east you are in?

I ask because im very keen on home schooling my LO but my OH has issues around the social side. and we are in the south east too.

I would love to build up a knowledge of what is available in my area in regards to home schooling activity/groups etc...

Ive done a bit of googling but so far have not been successful in finding anything to make the idea of home schooling feel less icolating

because we could seriously consider hone schooling we need to know what is available for us out there.

Also examwise - how do u go about putting them through exams. i would still like my LO to gain the correct qualifications to be able to further his education to university/degree level is this possible if we take the home schooling route?

 

[mum22ttc#3]

^^ We are in the South east too and I have also tried having a google but again can't seem to find much.

 

[Wriggley]

^^ We are in the South east too and I have also tried having a google but again can't seem to find much.

where abouts in the south east are you hun?

 

[summer rain]

I'm on the borders of London and Essex, there are quite a few things in this area but not sure about other areas. Education otherwise has info on most groups/activities that are about and they have recently cut their family membership price to just £17 a year-which is nothing really. When you join they send you several newsletters a year; lists of home-ed groups and individuals/families who are home-educating and they have an online forum as well just for members. As for exams I think that has been explained earlier in the thread-some private schools will allow home educated children to take their exams there, and I have heard of sixth form colleges sometimes allowing younger home educated children who are already at GCSE/A level before most children are to do those courses at college. Some home educating parents do not enter their children for exams but most further/higher education institutions will accept other forms of evidence than formal qualifications, such as recommendation letters from those in the community, examples of work, LEA reports etc xx

 

[summer rain]

Just looked on EO's site and some of the details of groups are available to the public.

https://www.education-otherwise.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=106&Itemid=86

PDF is at the bottom of the page xx

 

[OnErth&InHvn]

Also, sorry

Have any of you faced negative criticism from other family members an how do you deal with that?

Obviously me an OH would be on board but already when talking about finding DD a school placement I told how I have only put one school down, if she isn't accepted then the decision of whether to homeschool or not will be made for us. I was meet with the answer 'well a not so good school would be better than no school', actually no it wouldn't.
I suppose I just know others aren't going to support the decision if we come to it.

At first YES!! My parents thought i was LOONEY! Then i showed them what DD was doing and how it worked and now they are on board. Dh has been on board from the beginning.

 

[sophxx]

There are more home schoolers than you think

again, its a decision YOU have to make based on your own circumstances, but if you are prepared to pay for 2 activities/clubs a week and take advantage of the wide variety of free activities that are on offer, then it really is a diverse lifestyle

there are i think 4 home schooling groups within walking distance of me, and a multitude more within driving distance, If children in certain groups dont get on, then generally there are other groups to go to.

Most homeschooling groups/activities I know of are either free or they ask for a small voluntary donation to cover costs, I am talking less than £5 a session here and it is usually voluntary. Also my children mix with non-home-educated kids as well as home-educated ones, outside of the usual school hours. I don't restrict them to mixing with other home-educated kids or to activities designed for other home-educated kids only xx

summer rain can i ask what part of the south east you are in?

I ask because im very keen on home schooling my LO but my OH has issues around the social side. and we are in the south east too.

I would love to build up a knowledge of what is available in my area in regards to home schooling activity/groups etc...

Ive done a bit of googling but so far have not been successful in finding anything to make the idea of home schooling feel less icolating

because we could seriously consider hone schooling we need to know what is available for us out there.

Also examwise - how do u go about putting them through exams. i would still like my LO to gain the correct qualifications to be able to further his education to university/degree level is this possible if we take the home schooling route?

i dont live near you but if you look on yahoo groups theres loads of home schooling groups in different areas.

also gcses can be done through oxford open learning or some la like ours run a alternative school where they can pick there work up for gcse x

 

[marley2580]

There are more home schoolers than you think

again, its a decision YOU have to make based on your own circumstances, but if you are prepared to pay for 2 activities/clubs a week and take advantage of the wide variety of free activities that are on offer, then it really is a diverse lifestyle

there are i think 4 home schooling groups within walking distance of me, and a multitude more within driving distance, If children in certain groups dont get on, then generally there are other groups to go to.

Most homeschooling groups/activities I know of are either free or they ask for a small voluntary donation to cover costs, I am talking less than £5 a session here and it is usually voluntary. Also my children mix with non-home-educated kids as well as home-educated ones, outside of the usual school hours. I don't restrict them to mixing with other home-educated kids or to activities designed for other home-educated kids only xx

summer rain can i ask what part of the south east you are in?

I ask because im very keen on home schooling my LO but my OH has issues around the social side. and we are in the south east too.

I would love to build up a knowledge of what is available in my area in regards to home schooling activity/groups etc...

Ive done a bit of googling but so far have not been successful in finding anything to make the idea of home schooling feel less icolating

because we could seriously consider hone schooling we need to know what is available for us out there.

Also examwise - how do u go about putting them through exams. i would still like my LO to gain the correct qualifications to be able to further his education to university/degree level is this possible if we take the home schooling route?

As I said earlier, I was home educated until I was 15, at which point I decided to go to a further education college. I was there for 4 years doing various things and came away with an HNC, I then did 4 years at university and came away with a 1:2 honours degree. Home education actually helped me to get on my courses as the interviewers all said that it was proof of being able to work independently. My brother, on the other hand is not academically minded at all and chose to go straight into the workplace. He has an extremely well paid job on the oil rigs now, so exams aren't everything.

Some links about socialisation:
https://www.educationsense.com/articles/A0209002.asp
https://www.underhill.nildram.co.uk/article_1.htm
https://www.classroomfree.co.uk/SocialisationandIndependence.htm
https://learninfreedom.org/socialization.html

 

[marley2580]

Sorry another question.

How many hours do you actually spend working i.e on textbooks? When DD1 was out of school for year I mentioned earlier, we probably actually only spent about 1.5 hours and sometimes even less on textbook work.

Alot of the other time was spent on practical bits i.e arts and crafts, science bits we found on the net etc.

I just worry that if we was too choose this option then it wouldn't be adequate, I would have visits from the education authority's as 2 out of 3 are already in the system. We only had one last time but she did seem pleased with what we had been doing but did say that it would be followed up with another appointment with somebody else.

I know that the time spent was plenty for DD1 as even now she is above average in all areas but am just worried the authority's wouldn't see it this way iykwim?

Sorry for all the questions.

Just to reassure you there are loads of home edders out there that don't use any text books at all. I only use maths and writing ones, and then only when the kids ask - so at most once a week. You can keep a note of the books they have read, the places they have visited etc to use as evidence.

 

[mum22ttc#3]

^^ We are in the South east too and I have also tried having a google but again can't seem to find much.

where abouts in the south east are you hun?

We're in kent

 

[feeble]

Also, sorry

Have any of you faced negative criticism from other family members an how do you deal with that?

Obviously me an OH would be on board but already when talking about finding DD a school placement I told how I have only put one school down, if she isn't accepted then the decision of whether to homeschool or not will be made for us. I was meet with the answer 'well a not so good school would be better than no school', actually no it wouldn't.
I suppose I just know others aren't going to support the decision if we come to it.

This is exactly how i feel and what i was (trying) to say in my post that got jumped on by various people

There are good schools and not so good schools and actually, if you think you can give your child more than a not so good school can offer, why would you not give it a go?

xx

 

[Wriggley]

^^ We are in the South east too and I have also tried having a google but again can't seem to find much.

where abouts in the south east are you hun?

We're in kent

me too! lol

 

[marley2580]

Kent home ed groups:
https://www.flags-education.org.uk/
https://www.southeast-home-educators.co.uk/
https://education-otherwise.net/index.php?option=com_contact&view=category&catid=61&Itemid=101

 

[RachA]

Also, sorry

Have any of you faced negative criticism from other family members an how do you deal with that?

Obviously me an OH would be on board but already when talking about finding DD a school placement I told how I have only put one school down, if she isn't accepted then the decision of whether to homeschool or not will be made for us. I was meet with the answer 'well a not so good school would be better than no school', actually no it wouldn't.
I suppose I just know others aren't going to support the decision if we come to it.

This is exactly how i feel and what i was (trying) to say in my post that got jumped on by various people

There are good schools and not so good schools and actually, if you think you can give your child more than a not so good school can offer, why would you not give it a go?

xx

You definitely have to give your children the best start in life and sending them to a school that is awful isn't doing that. We are very fortunate in that our area has a lot of good schools so it hasn't been an issue for us.



One question - almost a tangent really - if we were to all take our children out of the schools that are failing wouldn't that just make the situation with the school worse?

 

[feeble]

Depends if your more concerned with societies failings or protecting your children really...

Personally i think that with the current system, it wouldnt make a blind bit of difference either way, sensitive, generous and caring children are often hurt into becoming very different and so on and so forth... I wouldnt want to do that to my child so if they do not fit school they will not go there, regardless of how good it would be for the school x

 

[RachA]

It's a hard one isn't it really. I really wouldn't want to send my child to a failing school either but something does need to be done about those schools.
I know that it doesn't take them away form the bulling etc but we did consider private schooling for if we couldn't get lo into a good school. I can barely organise getting meals on the table and housework so i don't think home schooling would of worked lol

 

[mum22ttc#3]

Also, sorry

Have any of you faced negative criticism from other family members an how do you deal with that?

Obviously me an OH would be on board but already when talking about finding DD a school placement I told how I have only put one school down, if she isn't accepted then the decision of whether to homeschool or not will be made for us. I was meet with the answer 'well a not so good school would be better than no school', actually no it wouldn't.
I suppose I just know others aren't going to support the decision if we come to it.

This is exactly how i feel and what i was (trying) to say in my post that got jumped on by various people

There are good schools and not so good schools and actually, if you think you can give your child more than a not so good school can offer, why would you not give it a go?

xx

You definitely have to give your children the best start in life and sending them to a school that is awful isn't doing that. We are very fortunate in that our area has a lot of good schools so it hasn't been an issue for us.



One question - almost a tangent really - if we were to all take our children out of the schools that are failing wouldn't that just make the situation with the school worse?

Personally I would rather take my child out of a failing school and let it get worse than keep them in and let them be dragged down by it too, education wise that is. Selfish maybe? but most definitely in the best interests for MY child.

I'm lucky that DD1 was accepted into a good school, (even though it does have its bad parts 2 i.e other children) but education wise it is very good. If DD2 is accepted then I'm not sure what we are going to do. If she isn't then for me there is no option as to whether to send her to a failing/bad school. I just don't see the point when I know I could do better at home.
The question for us would be whether to also take out DD1 and homeschool her too or leave her in school as she is now. Probably the 1st though TBH.

 

[RachA]

I would say give DD1 the choice of what she wants to do if she asks. It may not be something that she wants to do as she is already at the school and presumably settled.