Home school supplies...

azjh77 · 10 May 2007 at 6:44AM

I am looking to home school my children as I am very unhappy with the education available locally, especially at the senior level (12% GSCE pass rate, 25% pupils non-English speaking, etc)

I am hoping to 'kit out' a room as a dedicated school room - working on the same principal that when you work from home you should actually 'go' to work or people assume you are 'at home' and therefore available.

I have found plenty of work sheets/lesson plans on the internet, but I am looking for the right furniture. All of the sites I have looked at will only supply to businesses.

What I would like is :- a white board (chalk is just nasty!) , a bank of drawers (so the children can each have a draw with their names on to keep their work in. The ones I've seen tend to be designed for toy storage and don't hold A4 sized folders) and finally, I would love a book case that folds in half. Not sure if can explain this...when I was at school the book case was in the corner -on the carpet- and you had covered wire (such as you would use to hang net curtains) holding the books up, which faced outwards so you could see all the covers. These book cases were hinged on the sides and could be closed. Some schools still have them so hopefully some of you will know what I'm talking about!

Does anyone have any ideas as to where I could buy these things? 'Home- schoolers' must get their supplies from somewhere. Does anyone here home school?

Thanks for reading.

Hapless_2 · 10 May 2007 at 7:25AM

I home educate but not in that way, we don't stick to curriculum and there is very little "sitting round a table"
I get my books and stuff from normal book shops or amazon.

What parents must provide is "efficient full-time education" suitable to their children's age, ability and aptitude and any special educational needs.

Our education method is child led, we pick a subject and work as many things into it. We go shopping during the day, don't have set times, don't have set terms and most definately NO timetable of subjects.
I suggest you contact Education Otherwise for advice on deregistering the children from school.
You get no money from the govt/LA for home educating/home schooling. going it alone means exactly that.
Most Home educators/Home schoolers go child led.
Many home schooled children go to university, some don't. Many don't take any exams at all, very few are unemployed, very few get into trouble.
I will warn you though South Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire county council are coming down hard on Home schoolers since the Eunice Spry case, so be prepared for some heavy handedness. Be prepared for questions from people like "shouldn't they be in school", "what about their soicial life" and comments like "weirdo hippies" and the image in many peoples mind of we don't send our kids to school because we are abusing them!
It's a huge step and not one to be taken lightly.

Education is compulsary..School is NOT
I recommend reading this report from the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6636569.stm

devizes18193 · 10 May 2007 at 8:29AM

Hi I would 2nd the poster above's advice Education otherwise is a must . You might get funture from ebay or maybe your local free cycle . I live in wiltshire and have picked up pc's tab;es etc that way .Wh smith do good ranges of books on exam subjects and the "horrible range of books is great and covers history and science etc . "
We've been home schooling for about 7 years now and it can be done but cost wise your on your own .
lastly a great way of buliding up book mars for lesson is by using https://www.stumbleupon .com

BillScarab · 10 May 2007 at 10:27AM

Do you have a Staples near you? They sell whiteboards and I'm sure they would have suitable drawers or filing cabinets. No idea about the cupboards however.

jrrowleyws · 10 May 2007 at 12:31PM

Try Viking Direct office supplies. They even have school style chairs and tables, and whiteboards!

Beware of whiteboard markers, usually expensive and can be very poor quality.

azjh77 · 11 May 2007 at 6:40AM

Thanks everyone. If I was just schooling my girls I would go with the more spontaneous method, but my son is autistic and I want to have something a bit more structured. I aim to do a minimum 1 hour per day of literacy & numeracy (very unimpressed with the handwriting skills of my children currently) and other lessons will involve 'field trips'. I am also going to use Martin's book and teach the 'evils of compound interest on debts'. (Why were we not taught that in maths?)

We are hoping to move counties (well country really, we're going to Wales) and wondered: is not registering them at a new school in a new area the same as 'deregistering' them?

Hapless_2 · 11 May 2007 at 7:00AM

yep, you do not have to register the child at school at all or inform the Local Authority that you are there. On the home ed mailing lists there are many parents with autistic children. some use the Sonrise programme, some just go their own way.

http://www.home-education.org.uk/menu1.htm

I strongly recommend these books...

Home Educating our Autistic Spectrum Children: Paths are Made by Walking
Terri Dowty (Isbn 13: 978-1843100379 )

Free Range Education: How Home Education Works terri Dowty
(ISBN-13: 978-1903458075)

and School is not Compulsary (from Education Otherwise.).

As for "Field Trips", even taking them to the supermarket is a lesson in economics, nutrition and budgeting

ckerrd · 11 May 2007 at 7:05AM

Is there an Ikea near you? Lots of their offic type furniture would suit I think.
As mentioned above Staples is also good.

purplepurple · 11 May 2007 at 7:43AM

I'd second what ckerrd has said about Ikea.... lots of office stuff (white boards, drawers, bookcases etc) and they do online shopping now (in most areas). They've also got a reward card now so the more you go there the higher the discounts.....

The main catalogues we use at School are GLS and Hertfordshire Supplies... maybe you can enquire about ordering for home schooling?

Good luck!

azjh77 · 12 May 2007 at 8:43AM

Thanks everyone, didn't think of Ikea. I shall have to look up all these new websites too.

Home school supplies...

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