Home education possibilities [Archive]

hennypenny

09-02-2007, 09:57

Can i ask where you get the resorses from ?is there anything guide to follow to know whet to teach ie what is appropiate for what age etc as i wouldn't know where to star i am considering home education for our son instead of sending him to seiour school he has add dyspraxia and has social problems wich i can see bullying stating so would't want to put him through seniour school at wich time bulling gets worse i feel.

There are various resources for people who want to use them, such as ready made curriculums eg http://www.witsendcs.com/ do a year-in-a-box which is quite expensive and http://www.amblesideonline.org/New.shtml which has the advantage of being free :) If you search online there are loads of free resources.

However my first piece of advice to anyone contemplating HE would be to wait and see how it works out for a while before spending money because most people new to home ed buy lots of work books and then find they do not use them after a few weeks.

A huge number of people come to home education because their child is bullied at school, or has special needs - in many cases the local LEA officers suggest it to them because they are aware school is not meeting the childs needs. They set off expecting home education to work like school at home, however in my experience these people are less likely to be successful with home education than the ones who relax and allow home education to work differently than school education. Being with one child at home is a lot different than trying to fit in with 30 children's needs in a class, so it can look very different. For instance there is no real need to sit a child down to do workbooks each day, maths can be worked into everyday life by playing shops, or going to the real shops, allowing the child to be in charge of the household budget for instance, letting them work out how much to allot to food shopping for a week, buy the food and cook it for the family, depending on their age, can be an educational experience for all ;)

My son learned his two times table from adding up the dots on lego bricks, and from doing complex mental calculations, he learned measuments by pacing out the length of dinosaurs in the back lane, and volume and area by calculating how to double up or reduce recipes and which pans they would need and working out how many tiles we needed to refurbish the bathroom - he never put a pen to paper until he was 12, but passed his Maths (Higher)GCSE at 13.

Science was through walks in the woods, identifying funghi, experiments in the kitchen with bicarb of soda and vinegar, growing plants, watching seeds sprout, making rockets etc etc, - he is now doing a PhD, following a degree in Biology.

English can be learned by reading books together and discussing films and plays plot lines. My daughter has recently seen Midsummers night dream at the City Hall, followed by different interpretations on DVD and has had an interesting time comparing the different productions, discussing how each producer has tackled plot elements in a different way, and reading through the script herself to decide how she would choose to present each part.

Writing can be learned through doing shopping lists and thankyou letters to relatives etc, no need to sit down each day to produce work. An adult is not expected to write an acount of a visit to a farm, for instance, so why should anyone expect a child to find it interesting either? However that same child may quite happily write a huge list of every dinosaur they know, or a complex plot for a roleplay game, so allow them the freedom to choose and they will learn without even recognising what they do as work.

A lot of education is about discussion, we do not do a lot of school type work in our household, but talk endlessly about all sorts of different subjects as they come up, we visit lots of museums, farms, historic buildings, etc etc and talk about news items etc. My daughter is a prolific writer on the computer, writing poetry and stories endlessly, and yet has never been forced to sit down and work on her writing, somehow it seems to improve - I am not quite sure how. My son did not like writing and rarely did any. It has not held him back, nor prevented him doing his degree early and now his PhD and fortunately he has gone into the world of medicine, where bad handwriting is almost a prerequisite;)

Home education allows you to follow the childs interests and learn with them. Anyone will learn well the things that interest them, a parents role can be to keep presenting them with interesting things to learn and they will willingly mop it all up :)

It can look as much or as little like school as you want it too. Some people find school very hard to let go of, do have desks, workbooks and sit down work, and that is their choice. I have chosen to have a child led style and that has worked well for us, but you must work out your own way. One thing to realise is that children can learn far more on a one to one basis, and so full time at home can be much shorter than at school, where a lot of the day is taken up with waiting. One study found each child got 15mins one to one per WEEK at school, so if they have more than that at home you are winning ;)

There is a big home education group in Sheffield and we meet regularly. At the moment there is a drama group, computer group, skating group, music group, swimming meet and a big social meeting once per week, and quite a few other one-off meetings, pm me if you want more details of the local group.

For more information try some of these websites
http://www.education-otherwise.org/
http://www.home-education.org.uk/
http://www.muddlepuddle.co.uk/
http://www.geocities.com/sueincyprus/

I hope this helps. I am happy to answer any further questions :)

Janet

hennypenny

04-04-2007, 21:52

I have had a few PM's asking me about home education, so I thought I would start a thread where anyone interested could ask questions, and I and the other home educators on the forum can try to answer them.

I have been home educating for 21 years now, and have 2 children (one is now an adult) who have never been to school. I think I have come across most questions that people ask about home ed in that time, so if you are curious - ask away :)

Wheezy

04-04-2007, 22:06

Hello there, this week, I got my child into the school that I want. A friend of mine didn't and she is devastated. How easy is it to home educate?

hennypenny

04-04-2007, 22:38

I find it very easy. Some people find it difficult. I think it is all about your style and how confident you are about what you are doing.

The legalities are quite easy, a simple letter of deregistration from the school roll, or if it is at transition to primary or secondary, then she would just need to notify the school that her child does not need the place allocated.

If the child does not have a place allocated at a school then there is no legal obligation to notify anyone.

The style of education of each family is individual to each family - there is no right or wrong way.

Some families follow a curriculum and in effect do "school at home". As one to one teaching is far more effective than 1-30 they find they can get through the same amount of work much more quickly.

Some families do not follow a curriculum but try to keep up to school level with basic subjects, such as English and Maths, whilst allowing other subjects to be more project based.

Some families do as we did, which is to abandon school type education altogether and trust their children to learn the things they need to know, this does not mean abandoning them to their own devices, but to follow the childs lead, facilitating their learning of the things they are interested in, and always introducing them to things that may interest and intrigue them. This style is known as autonomous learning and is the least understood type of home education. Research has shown it works extremely well, but it is suspected by conventional educationalists.

It is as well to learn the law relating to home education and be prepared, so do your research first.

The following sites are good for finding out more about home education.

http://www.education-otherwise.org - this site has a summary of the law and also has sample deregistration letters to copy, and educational philosophies to help you to formulate your own.

http://home-ed.info/ A site set up by a long term home educator whose children are now adults. Very informative.

http://www.home-education.org.uk/ - this site has a comprehensive guide to the law relating to home education and many fascinating articles.

SamMT

10-04-2007, 13:11

My question about this is how do other children and potential employers respond to children who have never been to school. I always wonder about the socioemotional effects. Being 'different' etc. Is there much research about this? Children's subjective experience etc?

hennypenny

11-04-2007, 22:03

In my experience home educated children do not come across as being very different, and so people react to them in the usual way. When on visits with home educated groups, the main differences that I repeatedly find remarked upon is how well they behave, how they ask interested and intelligent questions, and how polite, friendly and pleasant they are.

In Sheffield the children meet up regularly (4 to 5 times per week) and socialise, in groups of 20 -30 at a time, so they have the normal social skills you would expect from any children of this age.

From personal experience, my son went to college when he was 14 and fitted in very well, with no problems, except possibly that he was slightly mystified by the other kids in the class messing about when he was there intending to learn.

I remember at one college parents evening I asked his tutor how he was fitting in as he was 2 years younger than the others, and had never been to school - she blushed and admitted that she had totally forgotten he was younger, as he was so mature that he was the one the others went to with their problems and the one they looked to for the answers. He has always tended to choose to socialise with people older than himself, finding people his own age rather young - however my daughter has friends of all ages, from babies to elderly people, and her favourite place to be is in the middle of a group of girls her own age, so I think that is individual choice rather than a constraint of home education. Possibly it is even a freedom of home education as they have both had the chance to choose, rather than being forced into the company of others their own age, which would have been an unpleasant experience for my son.

Paula Rothermel's research (Home-Education: Rationales, Practices and Outcomes, Paula Rothermel, University of Durham, 2002) shows that home educated children perform well on standard assessments of accademic attainment and social skills:-

http://www.dur.ac.uk/p.j.rothermel/Research/Researchpaper/BERAworkingpaper.htm

The results show that 64% of the home-educated Reception aged children scored over 75% on their PIPS Baseline Assessments as opposed to 5.1% of children nationally. The National Literacy Project (Years 1,3,5) assessment results reveal that 80.4% of the home-educated children scored within the top 16% band (of a normal distribution bell curve), whilst 77.4% of the PIPS Year 2 home-educated cohort scored similarly. Results from the psychosocial instruments confirm the home-educated children were socially adept and without behavioural problems. Overall, the home-educated children demonstrated high levels of attainment and good social skills.

Universities are catching on to the fact that home educated children tend to have a higher level of self motivation and self directed study skills, and in America, Harvard and Yale both actively recruit home educated students.

I believe for my son the presence of HE on his CV led to an increased interest from employers and universities, and was not in any way a disadvantage, he has had no problems getting places at college, university or on his PhD course, as well as doing lots of part time jobs over the years.

drp215

13-04-2007, 22:11

I would like to know, what makes you have the confidence to know that you can educate your child to the high standards he/she deserves, in comparison to a school who have 'experts' in the field?

hennypenny

14-04-2007, 17:55

The same research posted above which finds that home educated children do better than children educated by any other educational system, including private schools. It also found that there was no correllation between the parents socio economic background, income or educational level and the progress of the child.

http://www.dur.ac.uk/p.j.rothermel/Research/Researchpaper/BERAworkingpaper.htm

Zebra

14-04-2007, 19:12

I would imagine that home educated children are already in a good situation, I don't think the kind of parents who are interested in teaching their kids at home are lacking intelligence.
I suspect that the ones who can't wait to turf their kids out of the house in a morning so they can get on with loafing around and watching morning tv, they're the ones who rarely have the intelligence to be discerning about the quality of education or maybe just don't care.
I would conclude therefore, that there is a baseline of education, ambition and common sense which teaching parents hold in common. I would also imagine that a certain quantity of the population fall way below that baseline and would not be capable, nor inclined to teach at home.
I'd be interested to see what the results are for education values, attainment and ambition for the teaching parents compared to the 'schools good for babysitting' sort of people.

Zebra

14-04-2007, 19:17

I would like to know, what makes you have the confidence to know that you can educate your child to the high standards he/she deserves, in comparison to a school who have 'experts' in the field?
But many of the 'experts' really aren't at all. They can have a degree in religious education and go on to do the PGCE in primary teaching for example and rarely teaching religious education at all.
My specialist subject is not a core subject in schools these days yet I have a qualification to teach.
I would feel very confident teaching my kids everything but maths, that's the only one which I think I would struggle with, the teaching techniques are mostly alien to me and my recall of the ability to do trig and algebra etc is low because I don't need it. So, I suppose I'd be book and internet reliant for that.
Otherwise I'd feel fine using resources to supplement my knowledge and abilities.

hennypenny

14-04-2007, 20:00

I read an article recently that gave figures for the numbers of teachers who were actually qualified in the subject they were teaching - I don't remember the statistics, but they were astonishingly low - I can't find the article again now - very irritating!

What most home educators I know have found in practice is that we don't actually "teach" our children. What we do is to help them to learn. A lot of it is parent and child learning together - the parent certainly doesn't need to be one step ahead of the child, sometimes it is the child who is the expert and who teaches the parent. When a child is interested in a subject then they will learn it simply by researching and exploring it for themselves. Left to themselves children will naturally want to learn and make sense of the world around them. In a piece of research done recently :-

"One child had a SEGA megadrive on which he played a game where he explored different planets looking for minerals. From this he learnt a lot about mineral names, developed an interest in geology, visited museums, other countries and mines and made jewellery. This led to an interest in natural history which further expanded his area of investigation.
Another child became interested in the war-time evacuation of children after watching a Narnia film following through with the topic in considerable detail. Yet another child undertook research into the battle of Trafalgar after the bicentennial celebrations and also into the gunpowder plot after one Guy Fawkes’s night."
Ref USE OF ON-LINE AND MULTIMEDIA IN HOME EDUCATION
Manjit Dosanjh
Bournemouth University

Children learn much better in a one to one situation, and even unpopular subjects can be learnt together. There are several online and offline resources which can be used, such as the excellent Maths2XL course, Education city for fun lessons online, Learn Premium etc, and if parents feel in need of more structured help, then there are now several online accadamies which offer school at home. Home education groups usually run various classes, in Sheffield there are currently drama, music, computing, first aid, swimming and skating sessions running, in the past there have been language, history and many other sessions run as children have expressed an interest. The childs progress is not totally dependent upon the level of expertise of their parent, they can access knowledge from many other sources.

Eleke95

28-04-2007, 12:02

I have a family member who has educated all three of her children at home - I don't know how she stays motivated (and keeps them interested!) - that would be my biggest problem I think.

hennypenny

28-04-2007, 18:14

I have a family member who has educated all three of her children at home - I don't know how she stays motivated (and keeps them interested!) - that would be my biggest problem I think.

I think that what happens is that children who haven't been to school don't ever learn that it isn't cool to want to learn, and so they are very motivated themselves. Children learn the things that they need to know incredibly well, after all, they teach themselves to walk and talk! In fact the hardest thing as a home educating parent can sometimes be to step back and let them alone - our instincts are to "teach" them, but actually they learn really well if we just facilitate them to teach themselves by making the resources available to them and allowing them to explore and sort it out in their own time. It is incredibly rare to hear a home educated child say they are bored.

I know one home educator who has 12 children under 14 - now that I would find a challenge!

sheffminxy

30-04-2007, 20:47

Just thought I'd stick my oar in with..

I was home educated :) so I can report on the end result and the perspective of a child in that educational situation..if anyone's interested.

hennypenny

30-04-2007, 21:23

Just thought I'd stick my oar in with..

I was home educated :) so I can report on the end result and the perspective of a child in that educational situation..if anyone's interested.

It is always interesting to hear from home educated adults, although as there are as many different styles of home education as there are home educators, the perspective is also different in every case ;)

Were you home educated throughout your compulsory education years, or only for part of your childhood?

I would love to hear your perspective :)

sheffminxy

30-04-2007, 21:52

It is always interesting to hear from home educated adults, although as there are as many different styles of home education as there are home educators, the perspective is also different in every case ;)

Were you home educated throughout your compulsory education years, or only for part of your childhood?

I would love to hear your perspective :)

Hi :) I was home educated from 11-16 prior to that I attended a state infant and primary school.

hennypenny

30-04-2007, 22:37

Hi :) I was home educated from 11-16 prior to that I attended a state infant and primary school.

Was this in Sheffield? Do I know you?:suspect:

So how do you feel home education affected you?

Wheezy

01-05-2007, 09:02

I'd be interested in hearing all stories possible regarding home education. Not for me, but for my friend. She is really intent on not taking her child to the school she has been appointed (quite understandable) and anything regarding home education would be most greatful.

sheffminxy

08-05-2007, 10:09

Was this in Sheffield? Do I know you?:suspect:

So how do you feel home education affected you?

I don't think so :), I'm not infamous..... Home Education was the best thing in the world for me, it allowed me to grow into the person I am today, it didn't hinder me in the slightest, although I would say with retrospect that it does depend on the personality of the child.

As to whether they'd be suitable for it and indeed it for them.

hennypenny

08-05-2007, 15:03

sooz79

07-08-2007, 19:09

Hi, I just joined the Sheffield Forum. I am the local contact for Education Otherwise in Sheffield and would be happy to answer any questions about home education whether or not anyone is a member of EO. Some home educated children have never been to school, but many more have been deregistered after some time in The System. I have a 13 year old boy who has never been to school; he is educated autonomously without using any textbooks, workbooks, planned curriculum etc. We have a good relationship with Linda Barrett from Access and Inclusion at the Children and Young People's Directorate ( formerly the LEA ) and we have started discussions to change the council website which gives a misleading impression about how much the council might ( or should ) interfere. There is a thriving home ed community in Sheffield with many group activities organised by local parents. I hope this helps. Please get in touch !
Fiona

Hi,i also home educate my two girls who are 9 and 6,we took our girls out of school just over six months ago now and although we have had sort of a slow start i am pleased to say,so far so good :)we had help from fiona (hi ya fiona hope you are ok how are things?)we had our visit from LEA with fiona on stand by on yahoo mess to help us out (which really helped to put me at ease)thank you fiona....we also had a visit from Linda Barrett and i have to say she is a lovely warm lady...my girls are very happy at home and love what they learn,it was very scary at first but i it was well worth it and to be honest there is totally nothing scary about it......lol :hihi:

hennypenny

25-02-2008, 09:02

Following up on this, did any of the people on this thread who were considering home education go on to do it?

I would be interested in what decision you took and why :)

Flutterbyes

25-02-2008, 10:13

i am considering home educating my baby girl, she is currently 17 weeks :hihi:
i think i am quite daunted by the prospect and even though i am certain i can give her a better primary school education than the local primary I am not so sure when it comes to secondary education. ( i am hoping to move house by the time secondary education comes round!)

what if i forget to teach her something fundamental? we use computers a lot at home so what if she is typing loads but can't actually write?? :help:

hennypenny

25-02-2008, 10:28

I made my plans to home educate pre-conception of my kids, so you are never too early to be thinking about it:)

When people first start home education, they tend to think of it in terms of school education, but as time goes on you realise that school doesn't necessarily have the best methods. Who ever decided that the best way to teach kids was to make them sit still and listen, instead of letting them explore as they were designed to do?

With home ed, there is no need to split everything up into subjects and spend an hour on each. My kids learned by doing things they were interested in until they had thoroughly learned everything there was to know about that subject, or until they lost interest. Sometimes this meant that they were doing one thing for up to 3 months at a time! It all balances out, and over time they get a balanced education. If there is something they realise they need to know, they will learn it very quickly.

My son did all his writing on computers, but when he was 11 he had a trial at secondary school. Once there he realised he needed to be able to do handwriting, so within 2 weeks he had mastered a cursive style. He left after getting totally bored within 6 weeks, so he never really advanced with his writing until he got to uni. In fact his writing still isn't too great now, but I have discussed it with him, and as it hasn't stopped him doing a PhD, he just doesn't feel it is important enough to him to bother with. He says if he ever needs it to improve he will spend a week with a caligraphy book and sort it out then.

The big thing is that children are born wanting to learn, we mistake when we assume that they have to be hectored into learning. If they are left alone to choose what, when and where to learn, with us taking the role of helpers or facilitators in pursuing their interests, they have proven time and again to learn incrdibly well. It is difficult to take that plunge of trusting them, but it really does work :) Remember that school is a fairly recent invention, and the human race has advanced over thousands of years without it.

Schools made sense in an information poor society where one person could dispense difficult to find knowledge to a class of 30 at once, but we are now in an information rich society, where all we need to do as parents is let them free to explore that knowledge :)

Flutterbyes

26-02-2008, 09:29

hennypenny

26-02-2008, 15:01

thanks hennypenny

your post has been most inspiring! :D
i think we will ply it by ear, but i am definately thinking about home ed for primary school

you say you did a lot of planning for home ed before your son was born, what did you do???

Oh, sorry I didn't mean I did a lot of planning, just that I was lucky enough to have found out about home ed before he was conceived and decided that when I had a child they would be home ed :)

Planning, to be totally honest, doesn't feature massively highly in my life ;)

If I was starting now with a new baby, I would play lots of games with them, read to them lots, talk to them all the time, etc etc - all the things you would normally do at home anyway. I found both of my children learned to read without any need for formal teaching, simply by having books around us all the time.

We used to do loads of baking and crafts together when the kids were little - I was a childminder too some of the time, so they met loads of others. It is never too soon to get involved with the local home ed group, there are people who have small babies as well as older children who come along, and there are activities for the little ones each week, as well as a huge sand and water play area. There is a pre-no-school group which runs weekly as well, I don't have all the details for that as my youngest is 12, but I could find them out if you are interested.

You would be very welcome to come along to the group, meet the children and parents and just get a feel for how different people do it, and if you think it would suit your lifestyle.

Pm me if you want details of meetings.

mary70

06-08-2008, 08:19

i am quite confident in teaching my child (age 2) the basics of maths and english (eg primary,junior) but not confident in teaching her past that, is there help you can get or groups they can join to be educated past that point and how do u know that your child is keeping up to what they should be doing? do they still have to do exams? are they checked up on to make sure they are keeping up? can they join school later on if home schooling isnt working? are work sheets ect easy to get hold of and are they expensive?do u have to do a certain amount of hours a day on core subjects? sorry for all the questions but i want to be 100% sure that what i do is right for me and my daughter, i have already had one child (now 16 and at college)go through the school system very sucessfully but my daughter is different to him

hennypenny

06-08-2008, 09:01

Hi Mary

There is a lot out there to help. You can get hold of the National Curriculum if you want to be sure your child is keeping up with the work they would be doing in school if you feel they may want to go into the schooling system at some point.

There are various online schools if you feel you need extra help, although they can be expensive. There are also educational sites such as Learn Premium (which is much reduced for Education Otherwise members) and Education City.
Plymouth university does an entire maths curriculum free online:-
http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/primary/default.htm

There are loads of resources, far too many to list. The best idea would be to join some of the home ed email lists where resources are regularly shared. If you want work sheets there are lots to download free, but most home educators find that worksheets bore their child, they prefer to learn hands on given a free choice.

In Sheffield there are a few home ed groups that meet regularly,(several times per week) including a toddler group which might be useful to you at this stage. For later on there are different interest groups that meet, such as for language sessions, singing, swimming, skating etc, or whatever parents organise. What happens is if a child is particularly interested in a subject their parents might decide to organise a few lessons with a tutor in that subject and invite others to join in - I have a Japanese class in my front room every Wednesday :)
Pm me if you would like more details of groups.

The Sheffield group is in talks with the local authority about making exams more accessible, it is possible to take exams as an independant candidate, but can be difficult to find a centre willing to let them sit the exam. A lot of home educators prefer to wait until the child is 16 and then they go to college to do their exams, many have found that the college decides to move them straight on to A levels once they see their level of ability. This happened with my son when he went to college at 14, he was allowed to do A/s level and GCSEs side by side.

In my experience home educated children have no difficulty in joining a school, most that I know have been well ahead in all areas of the curriculum, and if there are any shortfalls they very soon catch up. For instance my son went to school when he was 11 and took a standard assessment test which put him in the top 20 in the year, from 300 new pupils. Although he was not so hot at writing (he prefered to write on the computer), once the school convinced him there was a need to write, he caught up with a neat cursive style within a couple of weeks. He only went for 6 weeks though as he was bored rigid.

One point I would like to make, is that there is no need to replicate school type learning at home. It has been developed for a specific set of circumstances which don't apply at home. In my experience children are able to learn far more effectively through fun and exploration than by sitting and filling in worksheets. Why sit down and write about a visit to a farm if you can be out there milking the cows? Why do sums with toy money if you can go to a shop and do the same with real money in real life?

Best of luck and if I haven't covered everything please feel free to ask more.

Bonny

06-08-2008, 10:34

Hi, my little one is 2 and i'm seriously thinking about home educating him. I'd be very interested in finding out more about what's available in the local area such as the toddler group you mentioned.

lauren84

06-08-2008, 10:42

How many days per week did you home educate them - every day for a few hours, Mon - Fri like school or just anytime when it was convenient?

hennypenny

06-08-2008, 11:49

Bonny I have PM'd you :)

Lauren, the hours spent on home education vary greatly from family to family. In my case, because we followed a very non-formal unstructured approach, I would say we home educated 24/7 :)

We followed a method called autonomous or child led education, with no curriculum, but following the child's interests, which meant that we didn't have a regular structure or regular hours. Really the education never stopped, it took place at any time when a child had a question, or when I had something interesting to share with them.

Some families do follow a more structured approach and have a timetable etc, so it really is down to the individual family.

The law says that a parent must provide an efficient full time education, but it does not specify any number of hours, or any format for how the education is to be provided. That is the parent's responsibility to decide what is the best for their child.

mary70

06-08-2008, 12:09

hi hun can u let me know the times and where the meetings take place that would suit my daughter who is 3 at the end of the month as i would like to talk to some parents thatare planning on home ed around the same age as hannah ty so much

mary70

06-08-2008, 12:33

hennypenny

06-08-2008, 13:21

just been pmd this of a teacher on another site i go on wondered what you thought
I am a teacher in a secondary school and sometimes we get kids who have been home-schooled while younger then they come to us.
All of the ones I have met (and I'm sorry to sound negative) seem to have real problems fitting in, lots of them get picked on, and they seem to be off "sick" for long periods of time. Which doesn't do anything to help.
Maybe they haven't had access to groups like you describe though, i don't know.
But personally I wouldn't home-school my child.
Also, school education is shifting to include more scope for variation and 'hands on' experience.

While it is interesting to hear her experience I do wonder how many children she has actually met who have been home educated. Numbers would be good. I would be surprised if she had actually met "lots" because HE is only recently becoming a big phenomenon, so the chances of their being many starting at any one school is slim. I would expect her to be extrapolating from having met one or two. I wonder if she has met children who have been withdrawn from school for other reasons, possibly to travel to their parents home country or children who had previously been expelled from another school rather than children who had been electively home educated by parental choice.

All I know is my own experience. My son went to school for 6 weeks and I suppose from a school point of view he didn't fit in as he hated the whole experience, he was bored solid by the level of work, he was constantly told not to answer questions as "everyone knows you know the answer, let someone else have a turn" and he found the level of aggression and nastiness which was commonplace and casually accepted, to be most unpleasant. However he coped admirably with the level of work, the teachers liked him and he made friends while he was there who he still sees. He also fitted in very well at college and uni.

I know of another girl who went to school at 11 after being home educated all her life who is completely in her element and loves it, although after the first couple of terms she did negotiate with the school to flexi school as she wanted to still attend the home ed group on Tuesdays, so now she just goes 4 days per week. The school speak of her as the model pupil.

Another home educated boy I know did pack in his college course after a few weeks, but only because they had insisted on him taking a basic foundation level course, ignoring the fact that he already had higher qualifications and had won several awards in film making. This was due to him being in a wheelchair which meant he had to go into a class with other pupils with special needs (Why? Why should his disability affect the level of work he could do?) Not surprisingly he didn't stand this for long, and instead approached Hallam university which was happy to offer him a place on a degree course, where he has just sucessfully completed his first year, winning another award during the year for his animations.

Another HE girl started at college at 14 to do GCSEs recently and has consistently been picked out as the pupil the tutors most enjoy teaching, getting voted student of the year on two different courses.

My daughter is adamant she would never go to school, and yet when teachers meet her they are always very impressed, one wanting her to join in with their gifted and talented classes on Saturdays at a local secondary school - this when my daughter was 9. I don't think my daughter would have difficulty fitting in anywhere to be honest she is incredibly sociable.

As a side note, a lot of teachers are very hostile towards home education - I suppose to some it threatens their entire existence to imagine that parents could do their job. On a practical level, some see it as threatening their jobs, as if more people home educate, there is less need for as many teachers. There are an estimated 50,000 home educated children in Britain, and the numbers are growing, that is a lot of schools which are not now needed.
However another interesting statistic is that around one third of home educated children have a teacher for a parent. Many teachers home educate their own children based on what they see happening in schools on a day to day basis.

Bexstars

06-08-2008, 15:05

I have been looking into home educating our daughter who is 2 and a half for a few months now and the more I read about it, the more im convinced that its the right way forward for us. I guess my worries are that if we home educate right from the beginning, would she feel as though she's missing out on something that most other kids experience and if I would be good enough to teach her, athough I think were doing a pretty good job as she can count to 20 and is recognising letters, knows all of her colours and shapes. I have a while yet before making the decision but would love to come along to a group to chat with other mums of kiddies around the same age

LilMissAlien

06-08-2008, 15:37

I have been very torn over home educating our little boy. Unfortunately I think it wouldn't be a full-time option for us, as once I've finished my MSc I want to do a doctorate and I really have to go back to work to pay my way.

I think the way forward for us would be the approach my parents took with me. My Mum was a SAHM until I went to school, and we went on outings and did arts and crafts at home. I spoke in full sentences by age 2 and we did a lot of singing and educational play. When my Dad was home he was also very hands on and would answer any of my questions, even if we had to go and look up the answer together. One time when I was 3 I didn't want to just play at the seaside, I wanted to know what sand was made from and why the sea came in and out - cue my Dad sitting and explaining rock erosion and the tides to me. I was given full sex education without embarrassment at the age of 5 when I asked and was able to take an active role in helping when my sister was born, with my parents explaining her development to me in ways I could understand. By this point I'd already said I wanted to be 'a brain doctor' (I couldn't pronounce psychologist) and I'm well on the way to that now!

My sister was unable to learn much about the subject that mostly interested her at mainstream school - ancient history and archaeology, mostly Egyptology. My parents encouraged her interests by taking her to museums and exhibits, recording documentaries which were on too late for her, and buying her books and videos/DVDs. She was into the subject for well over 10 years before she was finally able to go to university and study the subject properly. She was never the best student, but she is truly shining at uni and is really in her element. She's about to start her final year now.

Both of us went to mainstream school as our parents both worked, but they made time to help us nurture our interests and we are both much better with self-directed learning than structured learning.

I'd like the same for Jamie, ideally with him going to Montessori nursery next year. If we can support it then we would also like for him to go to an independent school which offers a wider subject choice. We as parents have quite diverse interests and we love to go to places like museums and exhibitions, so he's already starting young and coming with us - we plan to do Bodyworlds in Manchester some time in the next 2 weeks before it closes. If a school environment doesn't work out for him then we would reevaluate and home educate - my partner is very bright but felt school wasn't enough for him and didn't have the support to do much self-directed learning. I did well at school but my constantly being top of the class led to bullying that I was poorly equipped to handle until I was 15. So I do feel schooling is a constant process of assessing how it is working out and adjusting it to get the best possible outcome.

Saff

06-08-2008, 16:04

I'm really interested but I have acouple of questions from the adult perspective, how do you afford it? Considering the resources and outings and the not working whilst youare doing it? How do you teach A level standard subjects that you might not be interested in?
Do you feel like you would be disappointed in your children if they don't turn out how you want after investing so much time in them? Do you feel a big weight of responsibility?
Do you have regular time away from your children to do other things?

I'm not planning on home schooling, but if either my children were struggling for some reason I might consider it.

I also think that for many children the education system here is not suitable.

Thanks for any replies!

Bonny

07-08-2008, 00:54

hennypenny

07-08-2008, 07:37

I'm really interested but I have acouple of questions from the adult perspective, how do you afford it?
Considering the resources and outings and the not working whilst youare doing it?

There is no denying that it is difficult to finance home education. There is no help from anyone, each home educating parent is on their own financially. Obviously it is different for each family, but in the majority of cases one parent works while the other stays home to home educate. It is often the mother, although not always.

Other families have found other solutions, some both parents work part time and share the home responsibilities, some work from home, and some use home educating childminders to help them go to work part time. I did know one single parent whose children went to a home educating childminder full time while she worked full time (with WTC paying a substantial amount towards the childcare), but it was not sustainable for long as parent and children both felt they were missing out. Other families have arrangements where one parent works in the day and the other at nights or weekends.

Personally, we started out with my husband working and me at home, then my husband had a nervous breakdown and we were on sick pay for a while, then he took early retirement due to ill health (at 32!) and we lived for a short time on income support, then we both registered as childminders and worked together at home whilst still home educating, then after 9 years we gave up the childminding and became professional genealogists still working at home, and splitting the childcare. Now my husband still works as a genealogist and I run a small unit selling antique glass. We also work as mystery shoppers.

It will never be easy, but it is something that some parents feel strongly enough about to make the necessary sacrifices. I do think that we were lucky, buying a house in the 80's and so do not have the huge mortgage commitment that many parents have now. I do feel very sorry for young parents now and I think it is a more difficult choice.

How do you teach A level standard subjects that you might not be interested in?

My son chose to go to college at 14 to do his GCSE's and A levels, but some parents do home educate to this level, by working with the child through the syllabus and organising a teacher to mark the work. It is hard but has been done.

Do you feel like you would be disappointed in your children if they don't turn out how you want after investing so much time in them? Do you feel a big weight of responsibility?
Do you have regular time away from your children to do other things?

I don't have expectations of my children and I think they are amazing people, so I doubt I would ever be disappointed in them, no matter what they choose to do with their lives. I don't feel a weight of responsibility because I see my role as freeing them to learn, not to teach them, I see that they are doing really well at educating themselves and I would be happy if they went into their adult lives only armed with the amount of knowledge they have right now.

When the children were little we were both with them very intensively, we don't have nights out etc, but that is our choice. As they have got older they are more independent and I get more time to do my own thing. For instance my daughter is off out meeting friends to go shopping today and I am off out to trawl second hand markets :) I have never looked at my time with them as an investment though, just doing what was necessary to meet their needs at any given time.

I don't feel the need for a lot of time away from my children as they are such nice people who I love to be around. My children are my best friends.

My son is an adult now, and has grown into a strong, successful, mature, intelligent and fantastic human being, achieving all he wants to do and is very happy and stable. I have no regrets :)

hennypenny

07-08-2008, 07:49

Firstly, I guess i'm very fortunate in that I don't work and haven't been able to for four years now so we've made all our financial decisions and adjustments based on one income.

If we could afford it I would probably consider Montessori or private education. In my mind the mainstream education system is too rigid and not flexible enough to meet the individual needs of each child.

There are a lot of home educators who base their education on the Montessori methods. If you join the early years home ed group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EarlyYearsHE/ email list you will find many other parents of young children doing various methods.

I want to do whatever is going to be best for my son and so I want to find out as much as I can about all the different options so we're able to make an informed decision. The child-led approach appeals more to me because I have a long held belief that every single person is good at something and has a natural talent or leaning towards particular subjects/interests. I don't feel the current education system accommodates this and so restricts learning to a certain extent - even putting children off learning to a point where they lose all interest.

Absolutely :thumbsup:

My son has always been interested in music and dance but I know very little so whether he's home educated or not i'll do everything I can to support and encourage his interests, I guess that's probably going to mean paying someone else to work with him because I simply don't have the musical skills. I don't know if the home education network has something like a 'skills swap' amongst home educators. But these are all the things i'm researching at the moment. I must admit i'm encouraged by how many other parents are considering or undertaking home education (and quite a few on this side of the City too).

There is a home ed music group for young children based on the Kodaly music method once per week currently running. In the past there have been singing lessons, percussion lessons, music, dance and drama sessions and guitar sessions, I am sure there will be more running again in the future. What usually happens is that a child is interested in a certain skill so their parents set up a session and invite others to join. There is a home ed drama group which has been running for several years and the children produce a play at the end of each year in a theatre in front of a paying audience :)

Edit: forgot to add - I don't think I could ever be disappointed in my son, I don't have any pre-set agenda for achieving any academic qualifications. I want him to be happy and enjoy life. If I can encourage and facilitate him doing something he loves doing then that's my motivation I suppose.

Sounds about right to me :)

hennypenny

07-08-2008, 07:52

waxonwaxoff

07-08-2008, 10:07

Just wanted to say great thread Hennypenny. Infact thinking back, it was probably you and the others answering my hundreds of questions that helped me make the decision 5 years ago.

To all those considering home education it is a hard decision to make and not one to be taken lightly but neither is any decision you make concerning your child's life. However if you do make the step it is extremely rewarding and feels bit like you have set your family free in a way. There are days when you dont feel so confident but usually one of your children shows you something they have done that makes you feel totally proud and happy you have done the right thing.

Saff

07-08-2008, 14:35

Thanks Hennypenny for such an informative response:)

mmmspecialk

07-08-2008, 19:42

Hi I've been reading the thread and would like to let you all know about our new playgroup for families considering or already home educating. Its primarily for under 5's but older children welcome (I have just started a games box for bigger kids). I've been home educating my 3 girls since birth! and as seen as learning is lifelong I thought I'd carry on the way i've been going they have learnt so much in their first 5 years with me I didn't want to hand them over to a stranger to 'teach' them what they think they ought to know!

I've set up the new playgroup recently so my younger children could play with other HE kids and i could meet other parents in the same boat. We're on a break at the moment but restart on Thursday 4th September at St Oswalds church hall Abbeydale rd 10am - 12 noon £1.50 (50p per extra child) covers snacks & drinks for kids and tea/coffee & biscuits for us! plus a craft activity. There is space for babies to explore and large area for bigger kids to play on trikes etc plus a quiet room for jigsaws, books etc (97a stops right outside or drive your car up into car park at the back) so come along for a chat & play hope to see you there

RozeePozee

09-08-2008, 18:25

What a fab idea. I've been wondering about HE (my LO is 21 months) but the more I think about it, the less confident I become in my ability to home educate, and scared of the level of responsibilty and commitment - then I read henny's posts and think I'd be crazy not to, so I'm all over the place at the mo! As you point out, we all home educate from the moment our children come home from the delivery ward and I take a keen interest in learning and child development and OH has just completed his initial teacher training (tho his subject, ICT for 16-19 year olds might be a bit advanced for our boy at present!). I'm signed up to the Yahoo HE group and keep meaning to go along to the meet in Heeley but never seem to get round to it. A playgroup somehow seems more accessible as I spend a lot of time at those already. It's in my diary. See you in September!

mmmspecialk

10-08-2008, 18:50

Great Rozee look forward to meeting you in September, its a lovely group with several parents who are just at the 'considering' stage so you will be able to talk about any of your fears and hopes with other like minded people. Your little one will love it too there is lots for him to do. I'm sure you'll begin to feel more confident the more people you meet who are home educating, it worked for me!

anniec

10-08-2008, 19:56

Threads merged, same topic

treadlightly

12-08-2008, 19:31

I'm thinking of home educating my lo, who is currently 17 months. I have found a "school" of thought / way of thinking which advocates something called "unschooling" which basically allows children to learn in just the way they want to, and as a consequence the learning done is much more solid and fulfilling. I was intrigued by this, as this is how I believe everyone learns best, and how I used to run my nursery (cos the system actually allows this flexible approach in the early years) I met someone earlier this year who home educates her 4 children in this way, and they are revelling in it. One of them is even writing at novel and has only just reached his teens!

As my lo is still quite young, I'm not doing much serious looking into it yet, but I definately would like to hook up with other HE to get a feel for it. Unfortunately I run my baby signing group on Thursday mornings so I can't make the group which has been mentioned, but I'm sure I will be able to juggle things later on which'll mean I can come along - great idea BTW!:D

hennypenny

12-08-2008, 19:37

undacovaplay

13-09-2008, 23:24

if i was you dont bother
my friend did it and it put him behind massivle and now he is behind 2 whole years int he long run its a waste of time

hennypenny

14-09-2008, 06:46

if i was you dont bother
my friend did it and it put him behind massivle and now he is behind 2 whole years int he long run its a waste of time

That surprises me immensely as all the research shows that home educated children are usually way ahead of their schooled peers.

Who is measuring this child's progress, and against which scale? Have they measured his confidence and self worth as well as his academic progress?

Did his mum join any home education groups and go to all the activities on offer? I would have thought that it would be really difficult to keep a child back from learning unless they kept him alone and didn't offer him any learning resources, and why would any parent do that?

bones123

14-09-2008, 19:02

hi i have just come across this and read some off the things u do with your children while home educated i didnt no anybody could do it my son is 12 and i mite have done this with my son but 2 late now hes just started notre dame high and he loves it plus hes top in all he does at the min dont no if he will keep it up hope so, i love to read how other parents wor together with their kids i do a lot off 1 to1 with him still.when he was young i did alot with him before he start school he could read and write before he was 4 then at first the school seemed to hold him back, but we are pass that now look fore to reading more

mfdiprose

16-02-2010, 11:21

To Sheffield Home Educators.

My name is Dr. Michael Diprose and I am trying to contact The Sheffield Home Educators Group regarding Science Week 2010.

On behalf of the Institution of Engineering Technology (formerly the IEE), for Science Week, I am running a series of one day workshops at the aircraft museum at Doncaster Aeroventure, entitled 'How Aeroplanes Fly'. The Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of Science Week are already booked for primary schools, but the Saturday, the 20th March is open to families.

The event starts at around 10.00 and goes on until about 15.00/15.30. It is free, but participants have to provide their own lunches. There is space for about 30/35 children plus their parents. It is suitable for an age range of around 7/8 to about 11/12

The day is concerned with learning how aeroplanes fly, through talks, demonstrations and experiments for children to do. They come away with a balloon helicopter and a glider which they have assembled during the day. The topics include how wings work, how engines work, and an experiment on how best to launch a rocket, which involves measurements. There are question trails involving exhibits in the museum and what has been learned.

Several years ago, Home Educator groups attended the workshops and said they enjoyed them. I have not run them for several years but am doing so this year. I have lost contact with the person who I dealt with then, so am trying this forum.

For further details please contact me at;

mike.diprose@spectrum-tec.co.uk

It is free, but I will need to know who is coming for numbers. Please pass on this message to Doncaster/Rotherham Home Educators or please e-mail me a contact. Thank you.

Mike Diprose (CRB cleared)

hennypenny

16-02-2010, 11:47

mfdiprose

16-02-2010, 12:11

Thank you.

Mike Diprose

flower79

22-02-2010, 10:50

Hi, I am really interested in home education for my children and would like to know if there are any groups around the south Sheffield area or any parents in this sort of area who also home educate? I have been reading up on home education and I am quite impressed with it. My son just finished at his infant school last year and we also moved house so he had to start at a new junior school separate to his friends back in September. The new school has quite a good reputation but it has let me down on so many levels and my youngest child is due to start there soon but I am not wanting him to go there at all and would prefer to home educate them both. I am from North American and my husband was raised in the U.K., I find the education system here to be quite different to how it was when I grew up (like the fact that children start school so early here). My family is quite culturally diverse and the school that my son currently attends has no other children from diverse families. I never thought that this would be a problem in this day and age, but we have been exposed to some racist remarks from other children at the school and their parents have also made some inappropriate comments. My son has been subjected to bullying by children there as well and I don't want to have to move him into another school only for it to be an issue again. He is a very sensitive child and the thought of starting new at another school is quite upsetting to him but I feel that I do not want my child to continue on at his current school. Please if any one can help me out with information regarding home education and what groups there are to join as well for the socializing aspect please can you reply. Thank you!

hennypenny

22-02-2010, 22:17

Hi Flower

I think most of the activities tend to be in the south of Sheffield, so you should be ok :)

The biggest meeting is at Highfields Adventure Playground on Tuesdays 12-3pm in term time, if you come along to one of those you will soon meet lots of others in your area.

Other activities running each week at the moment are skating, swimming and trampolining, plus there is usually some visit out each week - for instance the group went to Chester to the Anne Frank exhibition last Monday. There are also a couple of under 8's activities each week, I don't have details for those as mine are all older, but someone at the group would know.

For legalities you are best checking out www.education-otherwise.org

If you have any more questions please ask, and I will try to answer.

I have been home educating for 24 years now, and never regretted a minute :)

flower79

26-02-2010, 13:15

hennypenny

26-02-2010, 14:04

Hi Hennypenny, thank you for replying! I am glad to see that there are groups in and around the Sheffield area and that they do get together. I am quite convinced that home education is something that I would like to do for my children but for now my eldest attends our local junior school and I have not yet registered my 3 year old for nursery. I would prefer to home educate them both as we aren't 100% sure we are staying in this village and I know starting a new school might cause them both upset, but my husband isn't 100% sure he likes the idea of home education. I have been trying to show him all about it with articles etc., but he thinks that our two children would feel they aren't socialising enough. Hopefully I can convince him that home education opens up loads of opportunities for socialising and is better than forcing them into a school where they aren't happy and are being bullied. As for further questions I am interested in finding out more about the curriculum that most parents use, do you find they follow the national curriculum closely? What kind of resources are available for free to parents who choose to home educate their children? I've read up on the education-otherwise website that in order to take my eldest out of state school I would need to write a letter to his head teacher informing her that we wish to home educate and would like to with draw his name from the register, do you find that once this is done that the local education authority then starts harassing parents as to why they aren't sending their child to public school or are they quite understanding and supportive of a parent's choice to home educate? Thank you!

It always makes me laugh when people talk about socialisation - I always say that must be a real worry for those whose children go to school! Shut up all day with 30 others the same age and being told to shut up as they are not there to socialise - lol.

I don't worry about home educated children socialising because they aren't shut away, they can talk to anyone they meet regularly without having to ask permission. They are not limited to being friends with one age group - my daughter has friends ranging from 4 to 80! With the amount of activities run by the local home ed group it would be difficult to stop them socialising. Yesterday for instance we started the first of 8 sessions at the Hillsborough leisure centre, 40+ children attended, then were free to play in the swimming baths afterwards with no time limit, no having to pack up just when they were in the middle of a game because it was home time :) There is some activity every day, socialisation is very unlikely to be an issue.

I have never used a curriculum myself, preferring not to be limited in that fashion :)

There are school in a box type curriculums available at a price. Some people do use them, and there are email lists for every taste, you may be interested in joining one for structured home educators, or you may prefer to investigate autonomous (child led or "unschooling") learning and go that way instead as we have done.

I haven't had visits for quite a long time, after the first 10 years they decided we knew what we were doing and left us alone, but I haven't had any awful reports of them being rough on new home educators.

There are a lot of people doing the same as you at the moment and deciding not to send their children to school at all, so there are also several pre-no-school groups that you might like to visit to meet up with others in the same situation.

This is one:-

FREE RANGE PLAYGROUP

Thursdays
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Abbeydale, Sheffield, S7
Home Ed Informal group for families with young children
The group is held in the large hall at the back of the church, there is car parking at the top of the drive or bus route 97 or 97a stops opposite.
£1.50 (50p per extra child over 6months)
Lots of play equipment for under 6's some activities for older siblings. Snacks and drinks provided
Large hall with quiet room
(In addition once a month there will be a breastfeeding group in here starting 10th Sept 09)
For more details contact thebeadoir@hotmail.com

eeejay174

26-02-2010, 15:53

hennypenny

26-02-2010, 16:31

im considering home ed for my eldest, hes has a range of issues, asd, severe dyslexia and is basically some where in between with ability. He is currently in an intergrated resource, basically they are struggling to meet his dyslexic needs, as they are autism focussed, not a broad range of sen, but the problem is that they also feel he is too able for special school, so that basically neither school meets his needs. He hates being away from home, he has no friends, and not much of a social life as school dictates much if not all of his time, as the transport bus puts another hour on his school day.

Just wondered how many parents of children with significant needs were homeschooling and what sort of education profile they followed, what resources they felt they were able to access more because they were at home and not school?

thanks for any input
emma

There are a *lot* of children with special needs being home educated, probably because these are the children who school lets down most often.

In my experience parents with children with ASD tend to follow more structured programmes as that is what their children often prefer. More child led programmes can leave the child feeling lost and insecure, so most families settle into a semi structured routine.

We are very lucky here in Sheffield to have an experienced home educator qualified in teaching dyslexics who has a very good success rate. A good deal of the local group take their children to her for private tuition.

I have found ASD children often prefer to meet up with friends on a one to one basis rather than joining in with the group, as they find the noise and activity of a large group slightly overwhelming sometimes. As there are so many children in the local group this is not usually a problem, there is usually someone near they can contact to meet up with on an individual basis. They can also access all the other activities as they want to. Currently we have a dancing session each week, there are also social, trampolining and swimming sessions each week, and also regular skating and tennis sessions. We work with the countryside rangers once per month on a nature reserve too. There are regular visits out to various museums and educational centres, and any parent can tailor a visit around their own child's particular interest and be sure that others would come along.

I don't myself have experience of home educating a child with ASD or dyslexia, although my daughter does have ME so I do know some of the limitations of home educating a child with special needs. I hope someone will come along and answer who is home educating a child with ASD and dyslexia - there are several in the local group.

There is also a national yahoo email list for parents home educating children with special needs. You may find their web site helpful

http://www.he-special.org.uk/

wendy222

01-03-2010, 07:12

hi im thinking of taking my 13 year old son out of school as he says he dont like school and is getting picked on ,this is the second school hes been at and is very un happy he in top in is classes but says hes board and dont want 2 go, and as hes 13 cant force him if any body can help with more infor please pm me thanks , it really gettin us all down

hennypenny

01-03-2010, 08:56

Hi Wendy

If he is very unhappy then I would say that he can't be learning very well where he is, as people usually learn better when they are happy and unstressed.

It is really down to you all as a family to decide whether you are willing to take on the responsibility of getting him an education outside school.
Things to think about:-

He might need a time for deschooling, basically a rest to get school out of his system.

Is there someone who would be at home with him? This is not essential but is best. There are home educating childminders, but he might feel a bit old for that.

What are his interests, how would you be able to follow those with him?

Are you willing and able to take on the financial burden of home education? There are lots of activities on offer with the local home ed group, such as swimming, skating, dance, tennis etc, but as there is no financial help from the authorities then these work out at around £15+ per week per child, depending on what they do.

Would he be wanting to do exams?
Exams are possible, but can be expensive, texts books for each subject are usually around £30+ each, exams cost from £85 upwards to sit. Distance learning courses are available in each subject but usually cost around £200 per subject. Of course offsetting this are the costs of school, dinners, uniforms, class trips etc.

The majority of home educators are not particularly well off, so don't be too put off by the previous costs, most of us manage by buying second hand text books, helping each other out with tutoring in subjects we know well, sharing child care, joining together and sharing resources etc, it is possible :)

At the moment we have a preponderance of teenage girls in the group, so he would certainly be welcomed ;)

The benefits are that home ed kids are usually happy, confident and enjoy learning, they hopefully become self motivated and able to work alone.

The legalities of removing a child from the school roll are covered at www.education-otherwise.org

Please feel free to ask any more questions you have.

wendy222

01-03-2010, 09:03

hi im childminder my self hes likes art ,iceskating he use 2 be so happy but not now, hes depress which he been 2 doc and attack

hennypenny

01-03-2010, 09:21

hi im childminder my self hes likes art ,iceskating he use 2 be so happy but not now, hes depress which he been 2 doc and attack

Hi Wendy

We used to child mind too! Actually a lot of child minders end up home educating, not sure why but it does seem to go together. I guess it is because they are all parents who have decided to be at home for their children, maybe?

It is so sad that he is so unhappy. I am trying not to pressure you in any way, but I have to say if it was my child I would just get him out of there asap! How could anyone be learning if they are spending all their time feeling stressed? He would not be alone in the group, there are several children who are home educating because they have had such a bad time at school. I have had several parents who have told me that they think they might not have their child alive today if they had been forced to stay in school.

It is the compulsory element of school that annoys me so much, adults would not be expected to turn up to work each day if the job was so stressful it was making them ill, and if they were being targeted by bullies etc. Sometimes people say children have to be made to carry on as it will make them strong, well in my experience it just makes them vulnerable and believing that they have done something wrong to be targeted in this way. They get their strength back at home, where they feel safe and secure.

Why not come along to a meeting and talk to people, get some idea of what home ed is like, and find out that we are all (or most of us - lol) perfectly normal parents just trying to do their best for their children.

If you do decide to deregister your son, this is the letter you would need to send to the school
http://www.education-otherwise.org/HE/DeregSpecSchl.pdf

You would probably then get contact from the school or Educational Welfare Officer to check your reasons for removing him from the register. The Sheffield Home ed group can help you with your contact with the LA if you have any problems with them, but they are usually ok.

Keep asking questions, and I will do my best to answer :)

wendy222

01-03-2010, 09:23

were are the groups and meeting thanks

hennypenny

01-03-2010, 10:08

I have PM'd you with details.

flower79

04-03-2010, 10:50

Thanks for replying again hennypenny. Well I myself am still convinced that home education is something I would like for my children but my husband still is against the idea so if I was to do it I first need to do a lot of convincing! All the groups and activities you've mentioned sound great but they are a bit far away from us, as we are located near s20/s21 and so are looking to see if there are any other parents nearer to this sort of area with groups. I tried looking up home education in Chesterfield or Rotherham as they are a bit closer but can't find anything or anyone in those areas either. Perhaps there are loads of parents in those areas doing the same but I just haven't stumbled upon them yet.

I do like the idea of doing some of the box type curriculum but also the child led way as well, I think I would probably do a bit of both, some days doing some structured learning but most days concentrating on things that my sons wanted to learn more about. When my eldest first started nursery he loved it and loved school until he entered year 1 and had a very impatient teacher who sort of killed off his love of school, something that really upset me as I felt disappointed that at the young age of 6 he had his enjoyment of school crushed. He went onto year 2 and had a brilliant, kind teacher who restored his liking of school and learning but now I see him disliking school once again due to the fact that he had to start somewhere new and that he has been bullied. I don't want him to be one of those children who just passes on each year and really dislikes going to school and then gives up on learning all together. I think home education could really help him rediscover how much learning is fun and make him much happier. He does enjoy the social aspect of school for the friends he does have aside from the handful of pupils who do upset him with some bullying, but I think that the fact that he has been bullied has also made him less interested in trying at school as he doesn't really feel comfortable there. It goes in a bit of a cycle, some days he is happy and has his friends to play with at school and that makes school more tolerable to him, but then he has days where a few children upset him and then he just hates school and it becomes a battle.

Do you happen to know of any other pre-no school groups that are available? My youngest is now at the age of starting nursery but I am holding off a bit longer as I really don't know if I want him to go to our local nursery and also start school here, I honestly believe that home education would be better for them both. Thank you!

hennypenny

04-03-2010, 14:19

Hi Flower

If you join the local home ed email list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SYHEC/ then all the various activities are posted there regularly, and they are marked on the calendar at the group home. There is a praise and play toddler group every week, the Free-range one, a regular Saturday morning toddler cinema group followed by soft play at Burger king, a monthly soft play at Monkey bizness and I think there is another regular soft play every month. My youngest is 14 so I am not up to date with the toddler activities, sorry!

The best bet is to join that email list, and perhaps some national ones, then ask on there if there is anyone near you so that you can meet up. I certainly know there are people in your area, and I am pretty sure there are groups running in Rotherham and Chesterfield.

There is a good email list for the early years at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EarlyYearsHE/

and a good website is http://www.muddlepuddle.co.uk/Additional%20Mapping%20Pages/HE%20MAP.htm

Bexstars

04-03-2010, 17:14

Hi Flower

I go along to freerange group every thursday, its a lovely group and you would be very welcome to come along. I know when I was considering Home educating, I found it really helpful to chat with other mums who were also considering it or had already decided :)

wendy222

05-03-2010, 17:48

hi bexstars wot is freerange group and were is it thanks

hennypenny

05-03-2010, 18:05

Hi Wendy

It is a playgroup:-

FREE RANGE PLAYGROUP

Thursdays
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Abbeydale, Sheffield, S7
Home Ed Informal group for families with young children
The group is held in the large hall at the back of the church, there is car parking at the top of the drive or bus route 97 or 97a stops opposite.
£1.50 (50p per extra child over 6months)
Lots of play equipment for under 6's some activities for older siblings. Snacks and drinks provided
Large hall with quiet room
(In addition once a month there will be a breastfeeding group in here starting 10th Sept 09)
For more details contact thebeadoir@hotmail.com

How is HE going so far?

wendy222

06-03-2010, 09:29

hi hennypenny ok i think im still lookin at all the infor and im goin 2 send the form of 2 school on monday hope i no wot im doin still a bit scary doin this

wendy222

05-10-2010, 12:57

im havin a really bad time with me 13 nearly 14 year old took out of school may this year

hennypenny

05-10-2010, 13:20

Maybe you need to have a really good talk with him about what HE wants to do? It sounds as though he is refusing everything you suggest, but still blaming having nothing to do on you?

I would be very tempted to tell him to set out his barrow - say he can tell you what he is interested in and then you will support him in getting it. If he can't think of anything he wants, then he has to agree to do the things that you think he should do until such time as he comes up with his own ideas.

It is still early days, he has spent a long time in school being told exactly what to do every day, it is difficult to get out of that mind set and think for yourself, but he will get there one day and surprise you :)

wendy222

05-10-2010, 13:37

thank you hennypenny i get fed up and down i keep tryin 2 talk 2 him it goes in one ear and out the other xx

hennypenny

12-11-2010, 20:51

Reviving this thread out of interest. Did any of the people who expressed an interest go on to home educate their children?

I am near the end of my stint as a home educator with only a year of compulsory education left to go, but it looks to be booming as loads of younger children are coming to the group now.

ceevee

12-11-2010, 21:09

My kids learned by doing things they were interested in until they had thoroughly learned everything there was to know about that subject, or until they lost interest. Sometimes this meant that they were doing one thing for up to 3 months at a time! It all balances out, and over time they get a balanced education.

You can't believe how relieved I am to hear that!!
We home educate our son (he never went to school...only nursery for a short while) and one of our biggest worries is that he is uninterested in some subjects, but lives and breathes others.

Often this changes after a month or so...I'm glad to hear thats 'normal'.

The only other thing we worry about is the yearly visit....
We often feel a little intimidated...as if being tested...:(

Our son is definitely better off 'socially' in my eyes. He does mix just as well with adults as children.

hennypenny

12-11-2010, 21:46

It has worked out really well for my two anyway :) Even though they seemed to spend ages on learning one thing at a time, whatever their current interest was, they still seem to have an astounding amount of knowledge on all kinds of different things. We have found that they can get through all the work they need to pass a GCSE in about 6 months so I stopped worrying.

My son has just been awarded his PhD this week, so we did something right :D

You do know that you don't have to accept a yearly home visit don't you?

Do you come to the home ed group meetings at all? There are lots of younger children come along now, and loads of different activities for them to do.

ceevee

12-11-2010, 23:35

Well done there!

We never came to the meetings..no.
Most we did was the Puss in Boots panto!!

What are the meetings like? What is the usual agenda?
Re. yearly visit....
Don't we need some kind of education assessment though? To make sure we are meeting all the legal requirements?

hennypenny

13-11-2010, 09:17

There are several different meetings, so each is different in character. There is a weekly meeting at an adventure playground where the agenda is to play, sometimes there are craft activities too, depending on the weather.

There is a monthly meeting at a Monkey Bizness, a soft play area, where the children play and adults chat.

There are regular skating, swimming, tennis and cricket sessions, plus language classes, computing classes, art sessions, music sessions, cooking sessions, wild life and conservation groups, outings to the panto,cinema, Disney on ice etc etc. There are museum visits and all sorts of other activities going on from time to time. Are you on SYHEC, the local email list where all these are discussed and arranged?

The home visits are LA policy, not law. The law states (paraphrased) that it is the duty of the parent to provide an education suitable to the age, aptitude, ability and any special needs of the child by full time attendance at school or otherwise. There is no monitoring duty laid on the LA, as the duty to provide an education is laid on the parent not them.

The only duty laid on the LA is to make informal enquiries into the educational provision IF THEY HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE THAT NO EDUCATION IS BEING PROVIDED. Case law states that a parent would be unwise to ignore such informal enquiries. You can meet your requirement to satisfy their informal enquiries by various means, a visit is only one of them, you can choose to send in a report, meet with them somewhere other than the house, etc etc. There are lists of different ways on the home ed websites. There is no provision in the law for them to continue to make enquiries year after year unless they have a reason to believe something has changed, some LAs say that the passage of time is enough reason to enquire again, but there is no legal reason why that should be annually, that is simply what Sheffield LA has settled on - in some LAs they have parents thinking it is the law that they should be visited every week, and have work marked by a teacher, and they have to have a classroom to work in and provide weekly lesson plans etc etc, - really the LAs make it up as they go along.

Social services are a different matter, they have right of entry to the home, so you have to allow a visit if they are involved, but they should not be routinely involved in educational matters unless there is some other suspicion of neglect or abuse.

In our case we had visits for our oldest but for our youngest we wrote to the LA and said that in view of how well our oldest was doing (he had GCSEs by 12 and went early to uni, was the youngest ever entrant on his PhD course etc), they could have no reason to believe we were not providing a suitable education and we would prefer to have no further contact. They said that was fine, so we haven't had anything to do with them in the role of parents since then, although I have been meeting with them for years as a representative of Sheffield Home Education Network, so I am not unknown, but they hadn't met my daughter until recently when she did GCSEs English Lang and Lit using their office as an exam centre, so they met her then.

We chose not to have visits as we are completely autonomous in our educational practice, ie, our children lead their own education and we simply facilitate by helping them to find out about the things they want to know. We never did any formal study or divided the world of knowledge into subjects, forced them to read or write etc. Although this educational theory of trusting children to learn the things they need to know has a long and illustrious record of good outcomes, it does not fit easily into conventional educational practice and we found that LA visitors wanted us to fit into their methods and to force our children to do things like writing and studying subjects they had no interest in, which we did not want to do. When we did have visits the poor souls were bemused as we had no conventional work to show them at all, and they could not understand such things as for instance my daughter going from doing no written work whatsoever all her life to completing a GCSE English Lang and Lit in 5 months (2 years earlier than her peers) and getting A*, simply because she was interested and self motivated to do it. If we had had visits during her non-writing years I think they would have found it hard to understand that children are quite capable of learning well without showing visible evidence, so we chose to dispense with that pressure.

Some people think that if we don't have visits from the LA then we could be all abusing our children, but there are lots of other safeguards to prevent this, our children are out and about in society and are seen by dozens of people from shopkeepers to guide leaders, neighbours and football trainers etc etc, who could report any signs of abuse. Being seen by a teacher every day doesn't prevent the abuse of hundreds of children each week, so why would a yearly visit prevent it in home education?

JoanCrawford

14-01-2011, 14:10

hennypenny

14-01-2011, 15:03

The responsibility laid on the parent is to provide a full time, efficient education, whether at school or at home. There is nothing in the law that lays down the time of day or even the days of the year that education takes place, so if you want to educate her in the evenings and at weekends then that is your choice and no one from the LA has any right to question that. When you start to analyse the school day, with all the breaks and sitting waiting for everyone to sit down and get started, I believe the actual learning time comes to something like 2 hours per day or less, so you only have to do that much to keep up, as well as the fact that children learn much more efficiently and quickly one to one, so you do not have to schedule in anything like as long as a school does to pick up any topic. It would probably be worth taking a few days off to accompany her to home ed meetings so she gets to know some others, then after a while she might feel confident to attend them on her own, or with her new friends, the home ed community do look out for each other and I am sure she will find people to spend time with while you are at work.

It will not be easy, but if she has not been in school since October and you have managed since then, I am sure you will be able to manage in the future as well.

If you decide you do want to home educate her, then you are best to deregister as soon as you can, because as long as she is on a school roll the law that applies is truancy law, but once she is not a registered pupil of a school then completely different law applies. You need to write to the proprietor of the school and tell them that you wish her name to be taken off the register as she is now being educated at home (make it the present tense, not future as there have been problems with them saying you are not educating them at present.) Go to one of the home education sites such as www.home-education.org.uk or www.education-otherwise.org.uk to get the legal wording for a deregistration letter.

JoanCrawford

14-01-2011, 15:15

Thank you so much, that is really useful and very reassuring. Will have final chat with her tonight and hopefully get that letter sent off on Monday! Thank you again :)

JoanCrawford

14-01-2011, 15:20

Oooh one more thing, where/when is the best place to meet some of the other parents and their kids - would be particularly interested in similar age to mine?

hennypenny

14-01-2011, 16:46

What age is your daughter again? What area are you in?

At the moment, there is a meeting on Tuesday afternoons that is a general play meet, Tennis in the morning on Tuesdays, there is a Spanish class on Wednesdays that is looking for new members, there is swimming every alternate Thursday, skating on some Fridays, trampolining on Tuesday evenings, gardening at Unstone Grange on Wednesdays, a workshop with the rangers at Shirebrook nature reserve 1st Wednesday in each month, there are a couple of toddler playgroups, but you won't be interested in those, ermmmm, I am trying to remember, I am sure there is more, but we don't go to as much nowadays as my daughter is older.

The best idea is to join the SYHEC yahoo email group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SYHEC/ where everything is posted up, you can look on the calendar on the yahoo group home site there (although people can be dozy about updating it). You will get about 10-15 emails a day from the group, but it is where all the events are arranged so it is worth joining.

You are welcome to pm me for more details on any of these, or if you want a phone number to ring for a chat, or any more questions etc :)

Best of luck :)

Janet

wendy222

14-01-2011, 16:54

JoanCrawford

14-01-2011, 17:08

Have joined the yahoo group, and confirmation has just come through so will have a look at what's on there. My daughter is 12, she'll be 13 in April, and we are in S7. Looks like there are some wonderful activities going on, I feel very encouraged, thank you.

hennypenny

14-01-2011, 21:14

hi hennypenny just had a call cant get jack back into school he wants thr full so need 2 appeal so back 2 hd till we can get him sorted he is so board anything i do is not rite and he dont no wot 2 do so were goin round in circles thinkin of gettin a tutor for him as he wont let me help :( hope you are well

Hi Wendy

Sorry it hasn't worked out for you so far. I really would recommend leaving him alone to get bored, eventually he will find something he would rather be doing than sitting being bored all the time, when he does find an interest then help him follow it through. Education doesn't have to look like school, it could be that his interest is cooking, or doing up old cars, selling things on ebay, deciphering pictograms or any of a thousand things, but the important bit is that he is able to follow his interest, not anyone elses. It is far easier for him to say he is bored and leave the responsibility with you, then he doesn't have to think for himself, but if you refuse to tell him what to do, and let him realise that he really is responsible for himself, it is his life that is passing by and no one elses, and no one is going to bail him out, eventually he will come to find something out of sheer self defense against the boredom.

I know it is really hard to do, but trust me I have seen it happen dozens of times, when kids are allowed the freedom, first of all they are scared and do anything they can to put the responsibility back onto their parents, often getting quite nasty in the process (thinking for yourself is scary!), but eventually they realise that it really is up to them to sort their lives out and no one else can do it for them, and they usually do get on with it brilliantly.

Is there something he would like to buy? Does he want a new video game that he can't afford? Help him to work out a plan for how he can make money, maybe he can go around car boot sales and buy items which he can sell on ebay to make the money. Maybe he can call at the wholesale market at buy fruit and veg to sell at a boot sale? Could he get a paper round? Help him to see that the future doesn't have to be something that just happens, but that he can shape it to how he wants. If he does go round boot sales, then help him to research old china, glass or wood items so he can learn to get the best items for a profit, if he decides to sell fruit help him make a business plan and work out how many items he can sell to make the best profit, could he enhance the value by putting strawberries and cream together in a paper bowl and selling them for far more than in a punnet? Bounce ideas off each other until you find something that is achievable for him.

Help him to think of ways he can achieve, and praise everything he does achieve no matter how small, get him to feeling that life is positive and that he can do whatever he wants to do. He will get there one day, trust in him to know when he is ready.

I hope something clicks for him soon, or that he gets his school place if that is what he wants. If there is not a place at a school for him, would the LA provide a tutor? I hope things get better soon.

wendy222

15-01-2011, 08:39

thanks hennypenny i will leave him 2 do is own thing till he is ready again thanks x

Hartless

11-03-2011, 10:51

Hi,

My girlfriend home educates her 6 year old son in Manchester and is linked into the home-ed community there. We are currently house hunting in Sheffield to move in together and have been told there's quite a vibrant home-ed community in Sheffield that she can access. Can someone please pass me any information?

Thanks.

sasha81

15-05-2011, 20:22

Hi

I too am interested in finding out about any home schooling groups in Sheffield, is anyone still home schooling or know anything about any groups in Sheffield to support home schoolers? ta

hennypenny

15-05-2011, 20:53

Yes, Home education is still thriving in Sheffield :)

There are meetings and activities most days, too many to list here. The best route is to join the yahoo group email list http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SYHEC/ where local home educators talk and where upcoming activities are posted.

GreenKiwi

19-06-2011, 18:27

hennypenny

19-06-2011, 18:34

Hi Greenkiwi

Welcome to home education, you will not regret it :)

Once you have got on the Syhec group, you will be able to access all the activities which are ongoing.

Have you deregistered the children yet? You just need to inform the school that they need to take the children off their register as they are being home educated, they have to do so unless it is a special school where the rules are slightly different. There are sample deregistration letters on the education otherwise site.

Enjoy the rest of your lives without the school bell :)

treadlightly

19-06-2011, 18:37

Thank you HennyPenny (and others) for all your various comments about Home Educating! We're moving from Hillsborough to Beauchief in August and haven't been able to transfer our kids to the school we wanted as it's full. Instead the LEA have told me they need to stay at their current school, for which I'd need to do 2 1-hour round trips a day. Er, no thanks!

I've always liked the idea of home educating and having just taken voluntary redundancy, it seems like the perfect opportunity to give it a go!!

I've asked to join the SYHEC group and am feeling much happier and more confident about the whole idea already :)

Ooh lovely GreenKiwi, the relief after making the decision is fantastic isn't it. A friend of mine has recently made the decision to home educate after a long while of deliberation and you can see the weight removed from her shoulders! I look forward to seeing you at a home ed thing sometime... I don't go to many things yet, as my son is only 4, but we do go to the free range playgroup on thursdays, and some trips that are relevant. SYHEC is a great place to find out what is going on locally. What age are your children btw?

myeagle

20-06-2011, 21:00

i have thought about home educate both my sons but thinking it might be a big challenge as well as it might cost a lot in looking for suitable resources. been looking on the websites and found that they are mostly expensive

wendy222

19-01-2012, 19:24

Hi Wendy

Sorry it hasn't worked out for you so far. I really would recommend leaving him alone to get bored, eventually he will find something he would rather be doing than sitting being bored all the time, when he does find an interest then help him follow it through. Education doesn't have to look like school, it could be that his interest is cooking, or doing up old cars, selling things on ebay, deciphering pictograms or any of a thousand things, but the important bit is that he is able to follow his interest, not anyone elses. It is far easier for him to say he is bored and leave the responsibility with you, then he doesn't have to think for himself, but if you refuse to tell him what to do, and let him realise that he really is responsible for himself, it is his life that is passing by and no one elses, and no one is going to bail him out, eventually he will come to find something out of sheer self defense against the boredom.

I know it is really hard to do, but trust me I have seen it happen dozens of times, when kids are allowed the freedom, first of all they are scared and do anything they can to put the responsibility back onto their parents, often getting quite nasty in the process (thinking for yourself is scary!), but eventually they realise that it really is up to them to sort their lives out and no one else can do it for them, and they usually do get on with it brilliantly.

Is there something he would like to buy? Does he want a new video game that he can't afford? Help him to work out a plan for how he can make money, maybe he can go around car boot sales and buy items which he can sell on ebay to make the money. Maybe he can call at the wholesale market at buy fruit and veg to sell at a boot sale? Could he get a paper round? Help him to see that the future doesn't have to be something that just happens, but that he can shape it to how he wants. If he does go round boot sales, then help him to research old china, glass or wood items so he can learn to get the best items for a profit, if he decides to sell fruit help him make a business plan and work out how many items he can sell to make the best profit, could he enhance the value by putting strawberries and cream together in a paper bowl and selling them for far more than in a punnet? Bounce ideas off each other until you find something that is achievable for him.

Help him to think of ways he can achieve, and praise everything he does achieve no matter how small, get him to feeling that life is positive and that he can do whatever he wants to do. He will get there one day, trust in him to know when he is ready.

I hope something clicks for him soon, or that he gets his school place if that is what he wants. If there is not a place at a school for him, would the LA provide a tutor? I hope things get better soon.

hi lv just waiting now for jack 2 start year 10 in hillsbrou collage we should no in about 4 -6 weeks thanks for your help wendy

hennypenny

19-01-2012, 19:48

hi lv just waiting now for jack 2 start year 10 in hillsbrou collage we should no in about 4 -6 weeks thanks for your help wendy

I am glad you are getting something sorted that suits you both :) My daughter is doing a Maths GCSE at Hillsborough, she enjoys it there, I am sure Jack will too.

wendy222

19-01-2012, 19:58

hope so hes going for 18 hours a week doing maths english IT and art and design just need 2 hope thre say yes jayne bridden then he will start xx

hennypenny

07-02-2012, 09:50

For anyone who is interested my family and I were in a radio show discussing home education this week. It is available on play again until 11th Feb. We appear at 14.20 mins into the show :)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00n5b98

*cj*

28-02-2012, 08:24

I've read this thread with great interest. Such useful information. I wonder if anyone could offer advice on my situation?
I have a daughter in Y8 and a son in Y7. They are terribly unhappy at their comp, low teaching standards, bullying and general dicipline problems are common.
I managed to transfer my son to another school, but my daughters year was full. I am now waiting for an appeal date. My daughter is very distressed and I'm forcing her to go to school every day. She is gifted and talented (something else to be bullied about) and really used to enjoy school.
My question is:- Is it worth taking her out for home education for (hopefully) a few weeks until I can either get the appeal sorted or find another school? I don't have the confidence to home school her permanently, but want to get her out of the situation sooner rather than later.
If I do take her out, does this have any impact on my transfer applications or appeal?
Thanks to anyone who can offer advice

hennypenny

28-02-2012, 11:38

I would have thought that if she is under a lot of stress and unhappy at school then even if you did nothing at all with her for the next few weeks it would be preferable to her being so unhappy. People don't tend to learn well if they are under stress. It might be a good time for her to unwind and calm down a bit before a new start.

As mine have never been to school, I don't have the experience to comment on whether this will affect your appeal, you might be best joining the local home ed email list and seeing if anyone there has experience of that.

There are a lot of things going on with the home ed group at the moment, this week there are Yoga, dance, French lessons, Forest school, visit with the park rangers, tennis sessions, soft play, sports, skating, skiing and swimming to choose from. You could dip into some of those with her for a few weeks.

Coming up over the next few weeks are a visit to Eureka, visit to National coal mining museum, visit to Yorkshire Wildlife Park, skiing lessons, art sessions and visit to Magna, as well as the usual weekly sessions, so there is a lot you could do with her.

Both my children have been in the gifted and talented range and I have found that home ed worked exceedingly well for them because they were able to be self motivated to find out about the things that interested them, and everything did, so I didn't need to know everything, I just needed to help them to find it out for themselves.

I hope you work something out to suit your family.

MrMoran

28-02-2012, 14:48

Hennypenny, can you give me some advice? My daughter hasn't been to her school since mid-October, she was bullied and can't face going back. Tried to get her transferred to another one but we heard yesterday that they have said no. The schools that do have places in Y8 are not the sort of schools I'd want her to go to, and she doens't want to go to them and they are physically too far from where we live to get her there. The schools nearer us that we could consider are all full. Education and Welfare people are pressurising me to send her back to her old school but this is not an option for us. I want to home educate her, even if it is just a temporary measure until a decent place comes up, but I accept that a place may not come up. I am a trained montessori teacher and am well educated myself, I do know from what i've read that my daughter would benefit from a home education at the moment. BUT, I am single and have to work full time. So would I be able to work with her in the evenings and not have the LA on my case? Do I de register her from school now? Any help or guidance would be great, thank you .

I was in a similar situation recently.
Child bullied, school not doing enough, misserable an unwell child as a result.
I took her out of her old school as you have done but i was fortunate enough to fins her another school, a good one local so i didnt have to home schjool for any time at all really.
I would pursue an appeal with the schools that have said no and see where that leads. If youd rather not and just divert your energies into home schooling then you need to derigister your child as soon as.
Sadly it seems the edicaton and welfare people are more happy to pursue parents of bullied children rather than make the school deal with the bullies.

Good luck with whatever you do :)

*cj*

28-02-2012, 16:56

hennypenny

28-02-2012, 17:13

Your duty in law to your daughter is (paraphrased) to provide her with a full time education suitable to her age, aptitude and ability, and any special needs she may have, either at a school or otherwise. (Some people argue that parents who send their children to school should be prosecuted as schools often don't fulfil this duty!)

Full time has never been defined, but child benefit accepts 12 hours per week of directed study for over 16's as criteria for full time education, and when a child is receiving tuition at home from a local authority it is often as little as 2-4 hours per week, so there is a lot of leeway.

A lot of time at school is taken up by queuing, waiting for the teacher to deal with other children, break time, lunch time, waiting for equipment etc etc. In fact a video diary of a school class over a term found that each child received an average of only 15mins one to one contact with the teacher per week! So I have always thought if you manage more than 15 mins per week you are winning :)

The full time education can be provided in whatever form you wish, at whatever times you wish. If you want to say that 6-9pm is learning time each day that is fine, if you want her to be with grandparents or childminders that is also fine. I know of several grandparents who home educate their grandchildren. It is your choice how to fulfil your duty.

You can do formal school at home, or more informal child led, interest led education, it is up to you, the LA does not have the right to dictate how you fulfil your duty. They may make informal enquiries into your provision IF THEY HAVE A REASON to believe you are NOT providing an education, otherwise they have no role. You do not have to answer their informal enquiries, but you would generally be advised to do so, hoem ed groups will help with this.

If you decide to go ahead, you need to formally de-register your child from the school. There are de-registration letters available on the Education Otherwise website and other home ed websites.

I am happy to answer any more questions - good luck :)

*cj*

28-02-2012, 17:19

Hennypenny, thank you so much again. It's beginning to sound like a real possibilty. It will be a weight off all of us to see my daughter happy again. I'm off to do some more research and make some decisions. But I really do want to thank you :)

sooz79

16-03-2012, 18:50

hi all..well I haven`t been on this tread for quite some time now, since 2007 lol but here`s a little update...home ed was all going fine but the girls who were 9 and 6 at the time, decided that they wanted to go back into the school system after about a year of being home educated...now they are 14 and 11 we are considering taking them out of school again in September due to stress the school seems to be putting on our eldest to reach targets and actually getting detentions ect for not reaching their goals even though she is top set for most of her subjects...another issue is now that our youngest is due to move up to comp and join her sister she has been refused a place at that school and instead offered a place at parkwood (i think not)...we will see how things pan out and i will of course keep the thread posted :)

hennypenny

17-03-2012, 00:42

Hi Sooz,

I hope it works out for you whatever you decide.

14 is a difficult age to change things because of exams, but it is very possible to still do exams whilst home educated if that is what you want to do. Most home educators opt to take IGCSEs as they are exam only so we don't need to worry about the supervised coursework element of GCSEs. There is an exam centre at Dronfield which takes external candidates, and also Sheffield LA is doing a pilot scheme where 14-19 year old home educated kids can go to college for several different subjects, however if you are thinking of her going into college to do anything in Sept 2013, then now is the time to be organising it, they do it very early in the year.

Best of luck :)

sooz79

17-03-2012, 09:50

thanks for the info Hennypenny :) our girls have plans already for their future as I had to have a sit down with our eldest and come up with a plan of action as she was totally beside herself due to the (I believe) torment she was and is getting from the teachers telling her that if she doesn't do well in her gcse`s and get good grades then her entire life and future is completely ruined ect...I myself was home educated and I personally never sat an exam in my life and its never seemed to hold me back, I have a fab job which I love a wonderful family life ect so its never done me any harm lol....

If we do decide with our girls (it is mainly their decision) to go back to home ed then it will be their choice if they want to go down the path of sitting gces`s but for the career`s that they have in mind they are already on their path to achieve their goals as firstly life guards then on to swim teachers ect with those skills under their belt they can work any in the world and generate quite a good wage :)

but we will see what happens, we are all taking our time in thinking about the decision and really don't want to rush into anything...

thanks again for the info its very useful to know :)

Pacha

19-03-2012, 18:01

Hello all,

I wanted to say hello to those of you educating at home as I have had a couple families come to Pyjama Drama who home educate now and thought perhaps it is something you may like to come along to.

We learn about the world through singing, movement and drama and every half term we follow a different theme. Amazing me, The great outdoors, Animals for example.

There is much more information at www.pyjamadrama.com including class times should you be interested.

All the best,

Gemma

skyelark

22-04-2012, 19:41

Hi

We have several children that are home schooled attending weekly sessions at the Kip McGrath Education Centre, Sheffield. We teach children aged 6-16 English, maths and secondary science. Our teachers are fully qualified and CRB checked, we're also Ofsted registered.

If you'd like a little extra support or to attend a free assessment, please feel free to give us a call on 01142 700 303 or visit our website.

Thanks
Nicola

cairn

28-05-2012, 22:14

[QUOTE=hennypenny;5975367]Hi Wendy

It is so sad that he is so unhappy. I am trying not to pressure you in any way, but I have to say if it was my child I would just get him out of there asap! How could anyone be learning if they are spending all their time feeling stressed? He would not be alone in the group, there are several children who are home educating because they have had such a bad time at school. I have had several parents who have told me that they think they might not have their child alive today if they had been forced to stay in school.

It is the compulsory element of school that annoys me so much, adults would not be expected to turn up to work each day if the job was so stressful it was making them ill, and if they were being targeted by bullies etc. Sometimes people say children have to be made to carry on as it will make them strong, well in my experience it just makes them vulnerable and believing that they have done something wrong to be targeted in this way. They get their strength back at home, where they feel safe and secure.

Hiya i just wanted to say I had a terrible school experience, I was bullied from a very young age and as I started senior school it increased until I was desperate not to go to school I was called names I was followed around by groups of others who were taunting me and threatened...my parents went to school and were told that there was no bullying at that school, they didn't really know what to do so I was left to my own devices and I ended up walking out at 14.

The bullying had a knock on effect and affected the next 10 years of my life, I won't go into details but bullying can even ruin lives, leave you with no confidence and make things in life less accessible and can be a downward spiral into other issues.

I don't think that the leaving school affected me at all it was the prolonged build up to leaving that caused me many years of bad consequence. I have also found in life that many so-called 'Accredited' courses or qualifications are not worth the paper they are written on tbh....Anyway I have no formal GCSE's or A Levels but I did do NVQ's in Dressmaking, Advice and Guidance and an Access in Community Theatre which led me to apply to University to read English Literature and get an unconditional offer.

I am doing things in my life however over 10 years later than the people I grew up with due to the circumstances that followed as an effect of the bullying I endured...now my daughter is 11 and experiencing difficulties and I have decided to Home Educate...I wouldn't want anyone to go through what I did as a child...I have pulled through...not everybody does...

I think that school tries to convince you that that is all there is and the only educational route...I did...although I had played with home school ideas in my mind for around 2 years or so, I didnt really think it was an option however circumstances have prevailed and I have suddenly had to consider this and actually I am very surprised and happy at what I am discovering and feeling actually that a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders as this last few weeks I have been almost at a loss as to what to do and now it is not as bad in the slightest as I thought.

Chicklette

15-06-2012, 16:36

This is to test the waters a bit...

Hennypenny, as a home educating parent, how useful would you, or any other EO parents, find it to have small group tuition for your children in literacy and numeracy for primary school aged children and up to GCSE level in English and English Literature?

I feel I'm the other way round from home educating parents in that I love teaching, but really don't like working in regular schools! I've been an English tutor for 2 years, as well as working in school, and I'm wanting to start regular tuition groups. Please get in touch if this could be useful to you or other home educating parents.

Cheers

hennypenny

15-06-2012, 17:20

Hi Chicklette

It is not something I would have used myself as we didn't really do formal learning until GCSE stage. so wouldn't have wanted this at primary stage. I think at GCSE stage there might be a demand for it, but there is a home ed parent who does distance learning courses for English which are very good and much used by home educators, so whether anyone would want supplementary or alternative tuition to that I am not sure. There are also a couple of specialist dyslexia tutors known to the local group who get anyone needing that service.

The main problem for people wanting to set up classes for home educated kids is financial, as HE parents don't have any help from anywhere, and have to meet all costs themselves, whilst also staying at home with their kids which means they lose one income, so basically they are usually pretty skint. Most parents are already paying for their child to do various activities each week, such as swimming, skating, tennis, art groups, language classes etc, so finances are usually already stretched. Any classes have to be very cheap and very valuable to make a go of it.

In spite of all that, it has to be worth a go. There are a couple of hundred or more home educated children in Sheffield, so maybe you could find enough interest to get a class together.

If you want to write a notice advertising your services, I could post it on the local HE list along with your email addy so that anyone interested could contact you, that way you could gauge interest levels.

Best of luck :)

Chicklette

17-06-2012, 16:10

Hennypenny,

Thanks for the reply and your advice - it's good to get an inside opinion :)

I'll put together a notice and send it to you via email or such like. It would be nice to get something off the ground if there's enough interest.

:)

GrayFace

17-06-2012, 16:30

If I do take her out, does this have any impact on my transfer applications or appeal?
Thanks to anyone who can offer advice

taking them out does NOT have any impact on your appeal in my experience ive been trying for a statement(my kids on special needs and i home schooled him for a term but he got isolated, i felt he may slip through the loop and be forgotton about seems the case either way again in my experience) BUT eventually ive been granted an assessment, previously i got naught,
you have to keep mithering them, try parental partnership (theres a link to them on google with a host of invaluble info and them-PPartnership- in theirselves are a godsend
good luck xx

hennypenny

07-09-2012, 14:14

Revisiting this thread as it is September and there may be some people agonising over whether to send their children back to school this week. This thread is here to ask any questions you may have about home education.

wendy222

13-09-2012, 11:33

well hi my son will not go back college hes pasted is maths test with flying colours but hes not happy and so back 2 home education well hes 16 in oct hes just dont no wot he wants out of life so and the teacher at college telling him 2 do this and do that hes told them he dont no wot he wants but its falling on deaf ears xx

atz333

16-09-2012, 22:54

hennypenny

17-09-2012, 09:12

I took my daughter out of school before the school year started and have been using a structured timetable to teach her. Usually from 9-12 is her study time. She is only (almost) 6 and I'm stuck for ideas on how to make things more fun for her. So far she is loving it but I want her to continue enjoying it. If anyone could give me ideas I would be really grateful!

The brilliant thing about home education is that it doesn't have to look like school. If structured stops working, then you can throw it away and do things a different way. Learning takes place through conversation, exploring, touching, experimenting, listening, out and about etc etc - sitting and writing is only one aspect of learning.

Are you in touch with the local home ed group? There are always activities going on, skating sessions, tennis lessons, language groups, art groups, swimming, dance, social meetings etc etc, so if you plug into those you will find lots to do. You can also join home ed email lists on Yahoo groups, and home ed groups on facebook where people chat about the activities they have been doing and give ideas and links to websites etc. PM me if you want more details.

Many people do themes around the seasons, or around a specific interest of the child, for instance when my son was about 5 he got very interested in dinosaurs, so everything we did was based around that interest - he learnt how many brontosaurus would fit on our road, we measured them out along the pavement, he learned about fossils and bones, we visited museums and quarries looking for fossils, he learned about history and where dinosaurs and humans fitted into it, we made a timeline that went right round the room, we looked at dinosaur footprints and made pictures with his own footprints, we looked at the food they might have eaten and the food we eat now, we looked at the places in the world where they lived, what the climate was like and went on to investigate how climate changed and clouds were formed etc, we looked at volcanoes and did experiments making our own model volcanoes, etc etc. If your daughter has any specific interests you can research how you can bring lots of different things into the range of that interest.

Learning can be so much fun that you feel as though you are cheating! I found it helped to keep a simple diary of the things we did, as I would often think we hadn't done much but when I recalled the conversations, the books we had read, the visits we had done, I realised we had covered a huge range without really noticing :)