Home Education and benefits issue....

AliBambee

Funny my two went to state schools they are both doing well in life, I didn't have a choice whether to work as a single parent in the mid 80's I didn't fancy living on the pittance that was the lot of a single mum after my ex left. Sadly the state can't afford to subsidise the choices of everyone and to be honest it's more than reasonable to get supported for 7 years.

Please read my earlier posts. She has been teaching the children for a year. Before that she was working for some time. At night. All-night very hard and busy care work. The children stayed with us overnight and she would take them to school the next morning before going to bed for the day. I have mentioned that twice. She had to give up the job in the end because doing the night-work and trying to run a home and family left her absolutely exhausted. She never expected to be a single parent, but it was dumped on her and she has just had to do the best she can.

She doesn't not want to work now. It's trying to find something that would work around the kids' schooling and give her enough income to support them that is the issue. My argument is that there is no leeway or concession for people in this situation that would make it a bit easier for them either to find suitable work or to have other options. Everyone is herded into the same process whether they can manage it or not. Even if ones' children go to school, finding work that would fit in between school hours is not easy. And what happens if and when children are ill? The more children you have the more likely that is. What happens if you have no one to pick up or drop children off at school? What happens if you have no one who can look after them when they are sick?

This is an issue for any single parent with children, whether they are home educated or not.

There is an anomaly here. As far as I am aware, you are not legally allowed to leave children on their own under the age of 11. Therefore, no mother - or father if it is his responsibility - should be forced into work until the youngest child reaches that designated age - unless you are able to find work that will fit and you elect to opt into that yourself.

Besides, with something in the region of 3 million unemployed people out there scrabbling around for what few jobs there are on offer, is there really much point in adding even more to the heap?

Sorry - couldn't resist that......

GlasweJen

AliBambee wrote: »

She doesn't not want to work now. It's trying to find something that would work around the kids' schooling and give her enough income to support them that is the issue. My argument is that there is no leeway or concession for people in this situation that would make it a bit easier for them either to find suitable work or to have other options.
There are other options, it's known as state education!

Everyone is herded into the same process whether they can manage it or not. Even if ones' children go to school, finding work that would fit in between school hours is not easy. And what happens if and when children are ill? The more children you have the more likely that is. What happens if you have no one to pick up or drop children off at school? What happens if you have no one who can look after them when they are sick? Do you think that people who aren't single parents don't have sick children? The school used to phone my gran when my parents were at work and they would look after me until mum came home. You don't work and you said you're happy to help with child care, you just get signed up as the emergency contact and the school will even taxi the kids to your front door in case of illness

This is an issue for any single parent with children, whether they are home educated or not.

I think it's an issue for all parents. I'm sure we would all love to send our kids to private school or be paid to stay at home and educate them ourselves. The reality is that there is only so much money in the pot, the government pay for the basic package (state school) if you want a premium package (private ed) or a custom build package (home ed) then you need to self finance.

It's not a vendetta against single parenting, it's about wanting what you can't afford and turning your nose up at what's available.

AliBambee

You say your daughter is not work shy because she used to work 3 hours a week 7 years ago, hardly busting a gut is it?

Oh, for goodness sake - doesn't ANYONE read the posts properly around here??? She worked 30 hours a week a year ago!!!! AT NIGHT.

Oldernotwiser

From what you have said, neither you nor your daughter have qualifications to enable you to have a career so that you can progress and be independent from public funding. That doesn't seem to me to be any kind of advertisement for home education.

You seem to have passed your personal dislike of school on to your daughter and now your grandchildren; now that is toxic!

AliBambee

Thanks Sixer for the Ideas. I will make a note of those.

Kind of wish I hadn't mentioned the home-education thing. This was always more about being forced into work and the issues of trying to find work to fit your situation whatever your circumstances.

GlaweJen - I said, what about those who don't have anyone they can call on? You had a Gran. My daughter has me. Not every single parent has anyone they can call on. It's even more difficult for them. Whilst we love our daughter and will willingly look after them when we can, neither I nor my husband keep very good health and it is not always practical for us to have the boys. That can make things more difficult. There is no easy answer here. Even if they were at school, finding work that will fit into school hours is still never going to be easy.

Oldernotwiser - Where did I say that I or my children were home educated??

I didn't need to pass on my disdain of the school system - my daughter found that out for herself. I sent both my son and daughter to state school. I hoped maybe it was better than when I went, but obviously not. It let me down, and it let them down too, and I am sure there are a lot of other people it has let down over the years. Undoubtedly, some schools, and some people are the exception and I am glad that they have succeeded, but that has not been my experience or that of many others.

I had few qualifications when I left, simply because my strengths were not encouraged or nurtured, and my weaknesses were not addressed. I left as soon as I could, out of sheer frustration. I wanted to be a journalist. I could not be a journalist because I did not have O level English. Why? Because my maths was weak I was dumped in the third stream and only the top two could take GCE O level. I was the only one in my class who consistently got 20/20 for spelling, and 10/10 for most of the essays I wrote. Because of my love of books and reading I was the only one who could spell words like phlegm and catarrgh and diarrhoea! :oD

My only option was CSE English. I had to do 25 essays. I was so confident, I did 15 of them the night before the exam and STILL sailed through grade 1. But it was not enough to get me a journalistic career. My teacher knew I was good at English - why did she not push for me to be allowed to do O level? I didn't 'get' maths until about 6 months before I left school. I had never been taught the right way - for me, and couldn't grasp it until it was too late.

Is it any wonder I left the minute I could get out of the door....

Any qualifications I have gained since, have been through my own hard graft and motivation. I have worked through my life - except when the children were small (but then I have a husband), my daughter has worked up until having her children (for the DSS at one point!) and for a while since they were born as circumstances allowed. My son has worked since leaving school and has never been out of work. He is a systems analyst.

I am ending this thread now. Got fed up with people either not reading my posts properly, or reading more into them than necessary.

I have had some work suggestions and that is what it was started for. WORK ideas. Not benefits.

Indie_Kid

AliBambee wrote: »

This was always more about being forced into work

No-one is forced to work.

GlasweJen

I had 2 parents who worked and gran who died when I was in first year at high school. We lived about 30 miles away from mums family so our neighbour who didn't work would look after us. It's not just a single parent issue and as your daughter does have someone who can take the kids in case of an emergency then I think you're making a mountain out of a molehill in order to bolster your argument for funding your daughter to home educate and receive benefits.

sp1987

Are the children scholarship material? I had a scholarship for a very good private school after attending a perfectly good state school that didn't provide the subject choices I wanted (which did allow me to accept all different people much better than the private school where everyone was overly nice, which isn't how the world is normally). If she could get them scholarship/bursary funded then she could have her day free to work and have them in what I call 'out on a happy cloud' school. The constant 'you can do anything, anything' mentality is the type of positive encouragement some kids need (I didn't need it, but it isn't unpleasant obviously). If the children were a bit overwhelmed by the school they were at this may assist. It would also solve her work time problems.

What I can say is despite being degree educated, I don't know if I could provide the educational across the board support that a teacher can at least set out (if not implement). I know if my son struggles I can perfectly keep pace with reading, writing, maths, science but I would find it easier to see the work standard he should be at before going to low or high in the process. Seeing how the other kids cope is a good way of seeing if your child needs one to one help or whether they just need extra time to progress if they are not challenged by the work. I'm unsure to what extent some individuals are able to provide the wide curriculum if they do not have the qualifications or skills themselves. I'm not being rude to home educators there, but someone who cannot drive wouldn't be a good driving instructor is all. If people were funded to provide home education, the sorts of people who would be first in the queue to provide it would probably those who do not want to work rather than wish to for their child's benefit as your daughter does. Imagine Ms workshy starting schooling at 4pm, finishing at 4.30 having taught the children nothing (especially if she is not academic herself). It just wouldn't do much for the child.

paddedjohn

You and your Daughter want to climb down from up your own ar**s and have a look around, the pot in nearly empty. Education is already provided for your Granchildren by the state, if she wants to opt out and teach them at home thats fine but why should the taxpayers pay for that option? Tell her to put the kids in school and get a job, that would sort her problems out.

bestpud

I've followed this thread with interest, probably because I'm a lone parent looking to take my 9 year old out of school later this year.

The benefits issue is a moot point and I, personally, think it would not be good to pay parents to HE.

For a start there is currently no compulsory regulation of HE and there would have to be if people were receiving benefits for it. That point alone would see many current Home Educators resist any move to pay parents.

However, the 'funding' in an ideal world could come via more educational resources being loaned out or subsidised by local authorities imo. I'm thinking things like books, reading schemes, science equipment or access to school labs after school or sessions in the holidays - that kind of thing.

I don't think parents need to be educated in any particular area, at primary level anyway. If you look at the national curriculum, it is very rigid and, well, small chunks of learning that any reasonably educated person could follow on a one to one level. The biggest skill teachers have, imo, is the ability to manage a group of learners at different levels and monitor each of them. Home educators don't have that problem.

When it comes to secondary level, there is various options for parents who don't feel able to teach particular subjects. That can get expensive but far less so than a private education!

The biggest expense I can see at primary level is funding all the wonderful opportunities out there! There is a thriving HE community and, believe me, the children I have met are far more sociable than your average
school child.

If children 'fit' the system then school can be fabulous. If they don't, then no amount of bullying, tellings off, or forcing them through the gates will help them in the long run! How the hell can subjecting a child to daily bullying 'toughen them up'??

Just to add my youngest dd isn't being bullied at all - it's not for social reasons I am looking to HE. However, my eldest dd was and the long term effects of that are huge!! It hasn't 'helped' her in any way whatsoever!

Ok, I'll shut up now - it's just my thoughts after spending the last few months researching various types of education and finding answers for many of the questions raised here!