home schooling

fedupnow

No, you're right. She asked for advice because those evil teachers wouldn't let a bad kid start afresh. Boo. Bloody. Hoo.

I'm sorry but if the parent refuses to teach that there are consequences to actions, then the school must. And if the parent doesn't like that, then she can remove her son and save the better kids a lot of hassle from a badly behaved, and disgusting waste of space.

Fran,

you are very rude in my opinion, my son is not badly behaved now or is he" A DISGUSTING WASTE OF SPACE " and it has nothing to do with you what my qualifications are, as at the end of the day i own my own house, have a nice car, a loving spouse, have nice holidays and foremost go to the toilet in the same way that you probably do:D :rotfl:.

It's my son's future that i have in mind and with my support and commitment i want him to do very well in life.

I will be there for him for all the hours he needs as i am currently of work for the unforeseeable future and before you ask it's my back had one op that has not worked and need another soon, so will have plenty if time to spend with him. Me and my son have discussed this at great length and it some thing that he would like to do he tells me he would feel better doing this than going to school in the way that he would have one to one quality time.

OP
You musn't let this person upset you. It is only one opinion.

There is always one.

Most people will understand how stressful it can be to have an unhappy child at home. It's horrid, we love them so much and would probably give our lives for them let alone our time. Even those who don't support the idea of home schooling, are trying to make valid and appropriate suggestions. (okay ... all but one.)

Try the other options first. Ask at the school to have a meeting. Arrange a time with the head of year when you have his/her full attention and explain your concerns - that you feel your boy isn't getting the chance he deserves. Make sure you know what you're going to say before you go in and ask them what they intend to do to rectify the situation.

It may be a good idea to take your son with you so he can feel as if he has had some say. It will also give you a chance to see them interact, see for yourself how each behave towards the other.

There is no need to make any hasty decisions. You can remove him anytime you choose ... middle of the day if you want to. So, have a couple of weeks off, take some time out where you can relax.

Maybe then you can contact other homeschoolers in your area and see how they are getting on and pick up a few tips. Again, take your son so he can see what is involved. Many homeschoolers ignore the school year. They may well just learn as and when they choose all year round.

Also consider a change of school, it may be worth a shot he may like it.

By September, you and your son will have a much sounder idea of the level of commitment required by all of you. Our family took to it like ducks to water ... we had great fun and would do it all again in a heartbeat.

It can be done, you don't have to be qualified, he won't turn into an anti-social weirdo, but please make sure you (and he) consider all the options.

Good luck.

fedupnow

7891368 wrote: »

Marrbett, You seem a lot more level headed about the issue.

OP appears to not want her child in school and foresees that she is better qualified to do so.

She has not mentioned tutors nor any qualifications of her own.

My Mum's friend took her daughter out of schooling at 11 as she didn't get into grammar school. She has 3 gcse's and works at Tesco, her Mum sounded just as stubborn as the OP.:money:

No offence to anyone that does work at Tesco; but from how she performed at Primary School she should have better qualifications and has far from achieved her aspirations. Home schooling was definitely the wrong decision for this mentioned individual.

In fairness, lots of kids leave mainstream school with less than 3 gcse's after having done well in Primary School. It happens, we can't all be rocket scientists. Somebody has to work the tills and sweep the streets etc.

Also, far from sounding particularly stubborn, the OP has said precious little.

PicnicBasket_2

The OP is taking responsibility for her child who has behavioural difficulties. If teachers are still hostile to him then there is a good chance he is still struggling to manage himself in secondary school.

She could leave him there and have him struggle away his formative years or she can take him out for a bit and see how it goes. As others have said, there are other schools he could be readmitted to if it doesn't work; it does sound like this is his best chance of success right now, and he's lucky to have a mum who is prepared to put her money and time where her mouth is, and take responsibility for his education.

She's got him on her side and that is more than half the battle - if he wants it to work, then it probably will. It certainly doesn't sound like conventional schooling is working in his case.

Fang_3

PicnicBasket wrote: »

The OP is taking responsibility for her child who has behavioural difficulties. If teachers are still hostile to him then there is a good chance he is still struggling to manage himself in secondary school.

She could leave him there and have him struggle away his formative years or she can take him out for a bit and see how it goes. As others have said, there are other schools he could be readmitted to if it doesn't work; it does sound like this is his best chance of success right now, and he's lucky to have a mum who is prepared to put her money and time where her mouth is, and take responsibility for his education.

She's got him on her side and that is more than half the battle - if he wants it to work, then it probably will. It certainly doesn't sound like conventional schooling is working in his case.

Is that what we're calling it now? Save the PC bulltish please.

PicnicBasket_2

Fang wrote: »

Is that what we're calling it now? Save the PC bulltish please.

Only if you stop being so abusive to posters about their children - you drive me to use the gentler language to counteract your harsh writing-off of a child you don't even know. Which of our approaches is more likely to lead to an improvement of the situation for the OP and her son? Yours seems to be solely to make you feel as if you are superior to others on here, but just comes across as ranty and unhelpful.

It's like you're playing a role.

Fang_3

PicnicBasket wrote: »

Only if you stop being so abusive to posters about their children - you drive me to use the gentler language to counteract your harsh writing-off of a child you don't even know. Which of our approaches is more likely to lead to an improvement of the situation for the OP and her son? Yours seems to be solely to make you feel as if you are superior to others on here, but just comes across as ranty and unhelpful.

It's like you're playing a role.

Here's the thing, even though the OP posted the thread, she and her son are not the ones that I have the sympathy with. Other children who do not mess about will have had their education disrupted because of the OP's son. They are who I feel sorry for. They've done nothing to deserve it, and perhaps if the the OP would teach her son that there are consequences to his actions and to stop messing around totally, then perhaps her son might have a shot at gaining an education in school. But don't be fooled, the only person responsible for his education being disrupted is him.

fordmax

...Just wanted to say my eldest child was home-educated at primary schol level for several years. She is now back in school (secondary) and i'd say the experience was generally a positive one.
There are plenty of on-line G.C.S.E courses the mum could look into, if she needed help in certain subjects. The rudeness of some posters on here takes my breath away.
My youngest child has struggled at a bit with teachers attitudes at school, but for a different reason (she too, has just gone up to secondary). She is ultra-polite and a bright child, but there are several teachers who treat the children like they're all potentially about to create havoc and shout/yell at them for no reason other than they're probably jaded and burnt out from stress. I try to tell my child not to take it personally, but she does. I can well imagine if the child was actually annoying how they would target that child.
On another point, i don't happen to agree that school is an important place for honing social skills with their peers. In this way, school is actually a very artificial environment; at no other point in life will we be expected to solely mix with a specific age group. When we get jobs/careers, we work with a mixture of younger and older people. The stress of dealing with your peer groups insecure and narcissistic behaviours is something not all children can manage easily. It causes some children no problems, whilst others become introverted/extroverted.
I say hats off to this mum who cares enough to try and make a difference for her child.

PicnicBasket_2

And here's the other thing, I agree that children who disrupt the education of others should be managed so they don't/can't. And that's one of the reasons I'd support the OP to take her child out of school - but I don't think he's a 'waste of space' just because he's having a hard time and making sure others do too. If school isn't for him, then good on the OP to have the courage to take things into her own hands and try to help him to turn himself around. I would have done the same for my kids if they'd messed up when they were years under the age of adulthood; I would have done anything in my power to help them turn themselves around and aspire to positive future.

He sounds like a very redeemable kid; he's been trying to improve, he's agreeing that he might do better out of school, so he clearly isn't determined that his mission in life is to interrupt the education of others for as long as he can. He deserves what's best for him as much as anyone else in the school. He doesn't deserve to be called a 'waste of space'.

patchwork_cat

Marbett you are saying home ed is not 'weird and whacky'. Whilst not being weird and wacky per se it is unusual and most parents given issues with one school would rightly research alternative schools and try them before deciding to home educate. I am sure that most parents who home ed would say it is hard work and not the easiest thing in the world and should not be entered into lightly. Therefore I feel that without at least giving another school a try the OP is jumping at Home ed.

In education Key stage 2 SAT results are used as a predictor of likely GCSE results, I would be interested to know what SAT results the person quoted in 789368's post got as if they got for example 3 5's they would be expected to get a lot more than 3 GCSE passes at above C. For example a child that receives a level 5 in yr 9 should if they continue to progress get a C at GCSE. ( admittedly that is vague! with lots of ifs) . I would say that a child that was considered good enough to sit a grammar school entrance (provided parents were not delusional!)should get at least 10 GCSE passes at C and above.

'According to the Department for Education, Level 5=33 points, Level 4=27 and Level 3=21.
You need the average of the three.

'At GCSE, A* =58 points, A=52, B=46 and so on, with an interval of six marks between each grade. The conversion scale, which is based on the eight best GCSEs pupils achieve nationally, equates average scores at Key Stage 2 with total GCSE points scores as follows: 21=202, 23/24=236, 25=272, 27=311, 29/30=338, 31=368, 33 and above = 404.

My DS surpassed his target for his best 8. Although he did 13 and so I think had he done 10 he would have aced it ( also feel I was a bit naive and should have done some home ed in DT!)

Now CAT test results for a home schooled cohort would be interesting - to see the predicted and actual GCSE results.

You see above I mention home ed as I don't know about other parents, but I do work with my kids independently at home - as I say sometimes targeting which subjects is a bit off. I should have helped him with DT as it turns out his teacher was useless, but I think he could have walked an A.

fedupnow

Fang wrote: »

Here's the thing, even though the OP posted the thread, she and her son are not the ones that I have the sympathy with. Other children who do not mess about will have had their education disrupted because of the OP's son. They are who I feel sorry for. They've done nothing to deserve it, and perhaps if the the OP would teach her son that there are consequences to his actions and to stop messing around totally, then perhaps her son might have a shot at gaining an education in school. But don't be fooled, the only person responsible for his education being disrupted is him.

You have offered your opinion, it has been noted.
Thank you.
You don't need to keep repeating the same thing over and over ... we get it.