Educating at Home

elaine373

Thanks for all the replies. I have a concern about if my girls are home schooled, how do i encourage their social activites and mixing with other children their age?

elaine373

slobbery wrote:

Hi Elaine

I am just about to embark on this with my 12 year old son, it's his last day of school today!

I have done lots of research over the last few weeks and found the bbc bitesize website particularly excellent. By doing some of the tests it has allowed us to see what work we need to do to carry on with the curriculum in the subjects he wants to continue to study. Of course, there is no obligation to follow the curriculum at all!

There is a home eduction yahoo group in my area http://groups.yahoo.com/group/worcestershirehome-ed/
which I have subscribed to which has meetings/trips/useful links etc - I'm sure there must be one in your local area too.

With regards to Local Authority, my research suggests that keeping a diary of everything you do/books read/trips out etc and keeping any written work the children do will give them enough info to leave you alone!

Good luck for the future and if you want to pm me to compare notes etc I'd be happy to hear from you.

Good luck with that as well. I also would be extremely interested to hear how you progress.I have always felt that i probably wasnt capable of home schooling but now i am a bit more confident that i could.

melt71

elaine373 wrote:

Thanks for all the replies. I have a concern about if my girls are home schooled, how do i encourage their social activites and mixing with other children their age?

Most people who home educate join a group in their area and meet up - it gives them a chance to compare notes and have a chat, and it gives the children the chance to develop the usual social skills that they would get through school. Some of them have days out and specific activities so it would be worth finding out about groups in your area.

Mel

jockettuk

elaine373 wrote:

I am only considering doing this and not definitely doing it. If i do all this, i intend to put them in another school in september.

i hope you get it sorted out. can you put there names down for this other school now and mabey get them in earlier.

elaine373

jockettuk wrote:

i hope you get it sorted out. can you put there names down for this other school now and mabey get them in earlier.

No because it depends on a move to another town. If i dont get the transfer then i would send them to another school in my area. Saying that, if the home schooling went really well then maybe i would do that for longer. My daughters are still at school at the moment but as far as i am concerned, any more issues which result in them being unhappy then i am withdrawing them, and i will home school because i dont want to put them in another school only to move them again in september.

ladywood

elaine373 wrote:

Thanks for all the replies. I have a concern about if my girls are home schooled, how do i encourage their social activites and mixing with other children their age?

I don't have kids but both my sisters have home educated theirs from the start (easier than taking them out of school as you don't have to tell anyone unless they ask!). The social aspect is the one that was most often raised as a concern but I have seen no evidence in any of them that they have suffered socially at all - they took part in lots of clubs and activities (music, drama, hobbies etc) with children of their own age but also had the opportunity to interact with lots of adults and children of other ages as well.

Good luck whatever you decide.

november

Hi Elaine

I started home schooling my 13 yr old son 3 weeks ago. I joined Education Otherwise as someone advised earlier. They have been excellent. There is also stuff on their website about how to write a letter to the school to de-register your children. My letter was as follows (its saved on my computer as evidence!)

I am writing to inform you that I have decided to withdraw my son from school in order to take personal responsibility for his education. Please delete his name from the register in accordance with Education (Pupil Registration) Regulation 9 (1) (c) 1995, as he is now receiving education otherwise than at school.

There is lots of free advice on Ed Otherwise but they also have obtained big discounts for members e.g. for joining Learn Premium.

As for socialisation. Its something I have been told the 'powers that be' worry about but for me its a non concern. My son hasn't lost the friends he had previously His social life is the same apart outside of school hours. In fact home schooling has opened the door for additional socialisation with people of various ages plus other home schoolers (although the latter is not a door he's walking out of yet )

I've had great support from other local homeschoolers although I haven't met any in person yet. I found my group by doing a websearch for home school and the county

Good luck - once you are in it home ed isn't half as daunting as you think it may be before you start!

jet77

Hi,

I have two children aged 3 and 4 (eldest at school, youngest starting Nursery in Sept). I hated school as a child and would love to home educate my children. Is there anyone out there doing this/who knows someone doing this? I have found various w/sites through searching Yahoo but don't understand how u r supposed to cope financially. From what I understand you don't get any help at all. I've got a mortgage to take in to account.
I also have concerns about the social aspect of home educating and whether they wd b bullied because they r different and not going to school like all the other children in the area.

silvercar

Unless you could find a charity to provide some funds I doubt you would get any funding. Its the same as sending your children to private schools; by choosing to take them out of the state system you have to pay for it yourself.

melt71

jpet77 wrote:

Hi,

I have two children aged 3 and 4 (eldest at school, youngest starting Nursery in Sept). I hated school as a child and would love to home educate my children. Is there anyone out there doing this/who knows someone doing this? I have found various w/sites through searching Yahoo but don't understand how u r supposed to cope financially. From what I understand you don't get any help at all. I've got a mortgage to take in to account.
I also have concerns about the social aspect of home educating and whether they wd b bullied because they r different and not going to school like all the other children in the area.

Financial reasons are exactly why home education is not more popular! My daughter loves school but the class size is always around 30 students so she rarely gets any attention from the teacher as she is doing well and is very well behaved. The teacher concentrates his efforts on the children that are either badly behaved or falling behind with their work. I am partly home educating her by following the syllabus that they are doing at school which we do in the evenings or weekends occasionally.

Socially, most home educated children are members of home education groups in their area and meet up on a regular basis. This is obviously important to develop their social skills as they would do in school and I think the parents appreciate getting out of the house and meeting up with other adults or they would probably go mad!

There's a lot of support from other home educators available but none that I know of financially. If your income is needed to pay bills, it looks unlikely that you will be able to do it, which is the reason I'm not doing it. If on the other hand you have a partner, it may be possible for you to downsize and start living on one income. Lots of families do this, it's not easy but the OS board may help you to cut back and live more frugally.

Good Luck

Mel