Home Education and benefits issue....

bestpud

Just to add that flexi-schooling may be an option for your grandchildren, OP?

It's worth looking into anyway?

Oldernotwiser

I apologise that I misread your posts and thought that your daughter was home educated. However, from the further information you've given, it still seems to me that this is a poor idea.

Living on benefits in a village in the Welsh valleys is likely to be a narrow enough background without adding home education by people who are themselves poorly educated. To choose this option when the children don't seem to be unhappy at school and a year before the parent is expected to be looking for employment seems to me to be totally contrary and a recipe for disaster.

bestpud

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I apologise that I misread your posts and thought that your daughter was home educated. However, from the further information you've given, it still seems to me that this is a poor idea.

Living on benefits in a village in the Welsh valleys is likely to be a narrow enough background without adding home education by people who are themselves poorly educated. To choose this option when the children don't seem to be unhappy at school and a year before the parent is expected to be looking for employment seems to me to be totally contrary and a recipe for disaster.

I have to agree I feel uneasy about the OPs motives and I see your point about the area in which they live.

It depends whether there is a HE community and how far they will put themselves out to seek wider opportunities, I guess? Done well, they could have a more rounded education than they'd get in the local school...?

When would someone be educated enough to HE though?

What if someone lacks formal qualifications but is actually intelligent and willing to 'learn' with their child?

That's a genuine question - I'm very interested in different opinions, for obvious reasons!

bezzza

As I said earlier in the thread I have home educated my (now 16 year old) daughter for over 2 years - I left school at 16 (nearly 24 years ago) with an O Level in Maths (grade C) and nothing else worth mentioning - the school was and still is at the bottom of the league tables. I had little choice but to go into full time work as I could not afford to go to college and university.

I worked full time until the day my daughter was born and returned full time 2 weeks later! I gained a few IT qualifications along the way but nothing else. When I saw how the education system was damaging my daughter's willingness to learn (forever being called into the school asking to stop working with her as she too far ahead of the rest of the class) I felt I had no option but to find a way to home educate my daughter but I knew financially it was going to hurt A LOT! The first year wasn't too bad as I was working full time and bringing home good money but once I was made redundant as a result of ongoing health problems due to a near fatal car accident it became a lot more difficult.

To fund equipment, course books, trips etc I have sold a lot of my stuff as I believe it is vital she receives the best that I can afford. I am not highly educated but I do have a revived interest in learning and this I have passed onto my daughter. The LEA tried to maintain I was unfit to home educate - boy, did I prove them wrong?!?!?!?!? As I said earlier she now has 8 GCSEs grade C and above (although her ex classmates aren't taking their GCSEs until May/June this year when she will be taking a further 5 as well as an A Level in Maths) and I have increased my knowledge base enormously too (I'm considering taking a load of GCSEs too).

Personally I think it is up to the individual but please do not expect any financial help - you will not get it! Exam and invigilation fees are expensive (and that's if you can get a school willing to accept external candidates - last year it was a 70 mile round trip on 11 separate days). It is very rewarding in its own way and I am very proud of my daughter - we have both worked hard and the results more than demonstrate this. Good luck to anybody thinking about home education xxx

pipkin71

bestpud wrote: »

It depends whether there is a HE community and how far they will put themselves out to seek wider opportunities, I guess? Done well, they could have a more rounded education than they'd get in the local school...?

When would someone be educated enough to HE though?

What if someone lacks formal qualifications but is actually intelligent and willing to 'learn' with their child?

That's a genuine question - I'm very interested in different opinions, for obvious reasons!

A good point, bestpud.

I have found that the more someone puts into HE, the more the child gets out of it - although, of course, there will be exceptions.

Parents do not need a formal education in order to HE. There are various different routes they can take with their children.

There are many social groups of home edders out there, and hopefully the OP [her daughter] will have found a group local to them, where they can get support, socialise, join in with HE activities.

When it comes to benefits, I agree that, if the Government were to pay parents to HE, then a more formal system would come into pace, similar to OfSted?? and many would then not agree to government payments being made.

The option, OP, is for your daughter to perhaps find self employed work. This way, she gets to work around her childrens' needs, will still be able to HE whilst also managing 16 hours in order to qualify for WTC.

This thread shouldn't really be about HE though, but about the options available to your daughter now that she needs to actively look for work and you have been given some useful information with regards working from home opportunities which can be found on the Up Your Income board

DaisyFlower

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. 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.

Do you seriously think that the government should allow people to have children and not support them for the first 11 years of their lives? Having children is a major responsibiliy, especially financially. Your daughter choose to have the children and should have thought about how she would support them - there are no cast iron relationships.

I never get the "I have children therefore can only work 10-2 hours" - there is more childcare available now than ever plus she has the luxury that her parents can help. If they get sick then you juggle things. Millions of mums work, having children renders no-one incapable of working.

Personally I find the decision to home educate a year before knowing she had to find work as her time on benefits is nearing an end a co-incidence. You can't shield children from everything, they need to be prepared as adults to enter the workplace, life etc and sheltering them from everything wont do that.

bestpud

pipkin71 wrote: »

When it comes to benefits, I agree that, if the Government were to pay parents to HE, then a more formal system would come into pace, similar to OfSted?? and many would then not agree to government payments being made.

Yes, while payments could be helpful in some ways, they would actually counteract the true benefits of HE, as many see it (me included).

The option, OP, is for your daughter to perhaps find self employed work. This way, she gets to work around her childrens' needs, will still be able to HE whilst also managing 16 hours in order to qualify for WTC.

This thread shouldn't really be about HE though, but about the options available to your daughter now that she needs to actively look for work and you have been given some useful information with regards working from home opportunities which can be found on the Up Your Income board

If she has care experience, she should be in a good position to work hours that suit her.

Has she looked into Homecare work, OP?

Much of it is in the evenings and/or weekends but I guess that won't be such a problem for your daughter?

I work evenings/nights/weekends and my ex has our daughter. I am also doing an OU degree and I'm sure it will all work out ok with some sacrifices - we can't always have everything we want and it's about prioritising imo.

Personally, I think it is a good thing I go out to work if we are going to be spending far more time together.

Why don't you all sit down together with a huge piece of paper and work through all the options?

pipkin71

DaisyFlower wrote: »

Personally I find the decision to home educate a year before knowing she had to find work as her time on benefits is nearing an end a co-incidence. You can't shield children from everything, they need to be prepared as adults to enter the workplace, life etc and sheltering them from everything wont do that.

I don't - things happen and the OP would have known a year ago that benefits would not be paid to those who HE.

No, you cannot shield children from everything, but, even through home ed, you can prepare them to enter the workplace and deal with life as adults. School is not the only place that prepares children for their adult life.

I will add here that I personally do not agree with the train of thought that all schools are bad. There are some great schools out there and there are also some great examples of where HE works. One option will suit some, whilst the second will suit others. It's all about knowing what is right for your own child/ren, really.

laurenjs88

not read all of the thread but perhaps your daughter could set up her own small business, maybe on ebay or her own site, if she worked 16 hours a week easily acheivable on ebay no doubt! then she will get WTC. She could do all the work once the children are in bed listing etc.. and they could all go to the post office together?

It will also be a good learning experience for the children to understand, supply and demand, profit margins and general business management skills.

Good luck to your daughter what ever she chooses, i wish i had the paitence to home ed, but I would probably do my girls more damage trying to attempt it than sending them to school

Oldernotwiser

laurenjs88 wrote: »

It will also be a good learning experience for the children to understand, supply and demand, profit margins and general business management skills.

One of the children is only 7 - don't you think that's a bit young to be brainwashed about capitalism?