Home education possibilities

[sooz79 10]

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 10]

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 http://www.pyjamadrama.com including class times should you be interested.

 

All the best,

 

Gemma

[skyelark 10]

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 10]

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 10]

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 10]

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 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 10]

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 10]

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 10]

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 10]

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!

[hennypenny 10]

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