Home Education

I have been home educating my 3 for the last 7 years. There are lots of groups on FB that support local and nationally. Not aware of anything on this forum though.

If you call places that you want to visit they will usually offer the same discount that they give to school children. Many will not insist on group bookings, but some will. You could organise a large group via your local HE groups though.

Hope you find the support you are looking for. If I can help please do shout.

Enjoy your time with your daughter. Our own family's experience of home education is a memory to treasure.

I have already drawn up timetables and have lots of lovely exciting things for us to do together including educational outings too.

However much I agree that education and learning should have an element of fun, I also think that a big part of education is about teaching dealing with routine, self-discipline and learning to face and cope with stressful events, which clearly is not fun.

I have always considered school education to be about gaining academic knowledge, but as much if not more, preparing gradually kids to the reality of adult life. Learning to make friends, to adapt to groups, dealing with a demanding workload, preparing for exams and dealing with the anxiety of wanting to do well, coping with authority, even when you don't agree with it, all those things are in my view essential to preparing a child to the inevitable reality of adulthood.

My experience of home education is that some parents are very good at incorporating all those skills in the learning their kids get home, but I also know parents who have removed their kids for the exact reason of removing them from this part of the learning process and I really feel these parents are doing them a massive disfavour.

I very nearly removed my year 6 child from school due to such violence and nastiness in the class. Things have settled slightly so hope to get through the last few weeks!
Is this a permanent move or does your child have a secondary school lined up?
I can see a place for home education ( learning a range of things not covered in schools and protection from bullies etc) but there are aspects other than the learning that are important. How to deal with conflict, how to negotiate, how to assert yourself, compromise, team work, mixing with people from other cultures etc. You can't do that effectively at home. As uncomfortable as it is we need to teach youngsters to be resilient and have coping strategies. There is also a reason why schools can't just employ anyone. You may be great at teaching English for example, but are you as competent in Science, Maths, Religion, IT etc? Secondary education is more than reading textbooks. Your child could inadvertently get left behind academically and socially. I may have just rambled as it might well be you have as secondary place lined up! I get the impression that's the case? Good luck and hope everything works out.