home schooling

SugarSpun

reeree wrote: »

Not everything fits each kid, but I really do think that good homeschooling is a hell of a job to take on and that many people think of it as an easy option. Changing schools would, I think, have done my brother the world of good and I think the same would apply to the OP's kid.

no way is home schooling the easy option, it would be much easier to send them to school and let the teachers get on with educating the child, homeschooling as any one who who home eds will tell you is really hardwork after all we are the ones responsible for the childs education so we have to work hard to make sure we get it right

That's exactly what I said, Ree Ree. Homeschooling could be an easy option, but good homeschooling really isn't.

fedupnow

Sugarspun

Thanks for the reply.
Hindsight is wonderful isn't it? Perhaps a different school would have made all the difference to your brother. On the other hand, maybe he would have been equally undermotivated wherever he went... who knows?

If we aren't careful this thread could veer into the nature/nurture debate.

patchwork_cat

Not that it really matters as tbh it doesn't seem as if the OP is participating much!

clairehi

Not surprising really is it!

@SugarSpun, sounds exactly like my brother and he had the full "benefit" of the educashun system including ,somehow, getting a degree. If he had been home-schooled I'm sure he would have been exactly the same.

mumps

I home schooled mine for a few years and then they went into school. I think it is different doing it from the start, lots of home schoolers will refer to "de-schooling" and how children would change during this time. You don't have to do it all by yourself. Some LAs are supportive and will lend resources. The LA where we used to live let us use an old school and we would meet there a couple of days a week. Parents would set up projects using their skills, we also hired people e.g. a local French woman used to come in and teach the young ones French songs, some vocab and lots about French culture and customs. Mine both got A* in French GCSE so I think some of it stuck.

Home schooling covers a very wide spectrum. I met people who were very pushy "hot housing" their kids. Hippies who didn't believe in anyone imposing anything on their kids and lots of people who were just "ordinary" can't think of any other way to describe them.

Lots of the teenagers went to local FE college at 16, they were happy to take them even if they had taken no qualifications as they were generally reckoned to be good students.

I hope it all goes well, my two seem to have survived and thrived and look back happily on their time at home.

pipkin71

reeree wrote: »

no way is home schooling the easy option, it would be much easier to send them to school and let the teachers get on with educating the child, homeschooling as any one who who home eds will tell you is really hardwork after all we are the ones responsible for the childs education so we have to work hard to make sure we get it right

Absolutely, reeree.

It's so worth it though, as you know

red_devil

what kind of day do homeschoolers have? Do they do the same number of hours study? Do they have set times for lunch etc like they do at school and a set finishing time? Set holidays?

If children are homeschooled by parents how do they feel about not getting a break etc? Just curious!

fedupnow

red_devil wrote: »

what kind of day do homeschoolers have? Do they do the same number of hours study? Do they have set times for lunch etc like they do at school and a set finishing time? Set holidays?

If children are homeschooled by parents how do they feel about not getting a break etc? Just curious!

I'm guessing every homeschooling family will have a different answer to this one.

Parents tend to know what their own child needs. Some need more structure than others. Some would never get anything done if left to their own devices. Others thrive and progress with little input.

I can only give an idea of how our day went. Bare in mind, my son was about 12, I think. He wanted to learn and suceed and so I didn't have to push him at all.

We would begin by watching the news channel and the daily business report. We would have looong discussions about current affairs etc. It is amazing how the subjects overlap and can be relevant to everyday news.

The most honest answer is ... it went from there really. We were totally unstructured, we allowed his interest to lead the study. Very often, he would keep going into the late evening. Sometimes, he did nothing all day except go out skateboarding instead.

The history and science channels are amazing. Not for teaching per se, but for encouraging discussion and feeding interest.

Obviously when it came to exams, he had to complete the course work which is the bain of a homeschoolers life. Anybody could have done it so they need to complete some 'assignments' to be marked by an 'independent verifier' so they could confirm the course work was his.

And he had to read certain books for English. We also had to do a round 150 mile trip for him to 'do' his English oral exam (chat about global population).

Other than that, English didn't feature - sounds awful, but reading a lot of good quality classics and writing essays on The Rise of Hitler etc. ensured English just sort of looked after itself.

So, no set times, def. no set holidays ... the way they raise the cost in school hols is appalling. We could go last minute :money:.

Even now, he watches the business report every day so maybe he is a little weird .

I think I'm asking for trouble with this post but hey, I know it worked for us.

pipkin71

red_devil wrote: »

what kind of day do homeschoolers have? Do they do the same number of hours study? Do they have set times for lunch etc like they do at school and a set finishing time? Set holidays?

If children are homeschooled by parents how do they feel about not getting a break etc? Just curious!

Yes, it would be different for all home edders.

We are only semi-structured, so some days will have some routine and regular subjects, other days are flexible and might start at 9am or 3pm [as an example].

Some families work term time only, others work through the holidays, so again the question on set holidays will vary.

Families often find out what works for them and follow their own path. Personally, I like the flexibility as no two weeks are ever the same for us.

loveandlight

Up until a couple of months ago I Home Edded my son for 6 years from the age of 8 (he's now nearly 14) due to severe bullying at his primary school from both the other kids and the teachers who also picked on him. It made him ill as a result. The school wouldn't help and so i pulled him out of school. I was told not to expect any help at all from the school or the LEA so I never did. All I know is I gave the school a bright confident happy child and they gave me back a damaged one who lost all his self confidence and was very depressed and developed major tics to his eyes, neck and head. He also developed a fear of other kids and adults in general.

Home Edding was the best decision I have ever made in my life and I am full of admiration and have the utmost respect for all families who HE and take it seriously.

Most people I would come across were very supportive of me Home Edding. I did come across one or two who kept going on about the socialisation issue (yawn). This was always a problem for others who don't or won't understand Home Edding but never for us.
One mum was so angry at me, I can remember standing there and watching her mouth open and close while she was venting her anger at me and also telling me how much my son was missing out. I remember thinking how ignorant she was and how she knew nothing at all about the reason why I was Home Edding and about Home Edding in general, so she was clearly making the situation all about herself and in fact it had nothing to do with us.

Six years on we moved to a completely new area and now my son is at an outstanding secondary school which I chose carefully and went through two school appeals to get.

He has settled in amazingly well and is very happy there. The teachers are fab and say it is as if he has been there for years.

Academically he is way ahead of his peers and his classmates accepted him from the first day he started.

So I can confidently say Home Edding definitely worked for us and I know it works for lots of other families as well. I think the govt should give some support and resources to families who HE as there is virtually no support at all.