Newbie homeschooling advice

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Haggis_man wrote: »

Bullet points:

15 year old son, year 10.
Never been particularly happy at school and now "school refusing".
Not truanting and well behaved at both school and home.
Took him to GP who referred to CAMHS - appt mid April.
Meeting at school - agreed attendance strategy.
School reps mention Asperger spectrum and we agreed that this was something we had thought about (issues over the years).
He has been "self-educating" in school library but has recently stopped doing this and just goes to school, wonders for 30 mins and comes home.
He does work at home but I am not happy with the quality and quantity.
His vision is that he is going to be an internet entrepreneur.
He does have skills in this area and works on this with a friend at weekends (they have made modest amounts of money).
He is single-minded and gave us a presentation on his proposals at the weekend.
As a parent, and someone who has spent most of his life in education of some form or other (recently finished a postgrad Diploma at the age of 48) I have concerns!
My wife is not a graduate and works part time (just to give you the full picture).

Seriously considering homeschooling for GCSE's but can't find enough relevant advice for our situation. Have done the Googling so I know the basics but need more advice/reassurance that we wouldn't be making a big mistake. Any point in speaking to LA education dept?
Surely it's not as simple as writing a letter to the school saying we're taking him out?

And can it be done with me working full time and wife working 24hrs/week (intermittently throughout the day)?

We have a piano and the house is full of books

Hope you can help!

Haggis man (first posting!)

before you decide one way or the other you really need to speak to the Lea, they will give you all the advice you will ever need they were so supportive to us from beginning to end, to start with l dreaded them coming but once he had been and spoken to dg he told us not to send him back to that school again and even gave us a number to complain about them.


He told us not to worry about his exams as he could take them later at college, he also gave us links to some great websites and suggested things we could do, he also gave advice as to what books to buy which was a great help, to be honest he was invaluable to us and by the time he had done he had taken a lot of the worry away so it really is a great place to start. He came back 3 months later and was so pleased by the work dg had got through he said he didn't need to come back for another year.


When he came back a year later he said how well my dg had done and gave us invaluable advice about college where he still is now and will be doing another year. Obviously home schooling is not for everyone but you have nothing to lose by looking into it, l for one feel it is the best thing l have ever done and would do it all over again if l had to

themull1

If the government say kids have to stay at school until they're 18, but you take them out of school at 15 to homeschool, you wouldnt have to necessarily homeschool until 18 would you? How would that work?

Haggis_man

kafkathecat wrote: »

Just to add, I would consider finding out whether there are any home education groups near you and chat with them if you can. They are likely to be a mine of information on what is available locally. Education Otherwise is a good place to start.
They may also be able to advise re correspondence courses, college courses or internet schools.
It may help you make an informed decision.

Thanks Kafka. I signed up for EO last night and am just waiting for it to be activated so that I can pester them with questions! Yes, we are thinking along the lines of a few GCSE's but not sure which route to use. Wondering about evening classes just down the road.

Haggis_man

TopQuark wrote: »

Hi OP,

At the very least, he needs GCSEs in English, Maths and Science, whether done in school or outside. We see a lot of school age and young people wanting to do internships, summer programs, work experience with us and there is not a hope in hell I'd ever consider anyone who didn't have these as the absolute minimum.

I must admit that I'd also be wary of taking on someone who had been entirely home-schooled, but that would not be the case for your son anyway.

And just to balance some of the anecdotal evidence of home-schooling success on this thread (which I don't doubt are true), here is one of my own; went to a bog standard working-class comprehensive school and and ended up with a BSc. and a PhD in Chemistry. Now work for a world-famous lab in research. School does work for most people!

It does work for most people, largely on the basis that they just go with the flow and don't know any different. I enjoyed school - best time of my life. But my son hates it and not because he can't be @r$Ed. He's just.........different. He has always been different - we just haven't been able to work out why yet.

Haggis_man

TopQuark wrote: »

Hi OP,

At the very least, he needs GCSEs in English, Maths and Science, whether done in school or outside. We see a lot of school age and young people wanting to do internships, summer programs, work experience with us and there is not a hope in hell I'd ever consider anyone who didn't have these as the absolute minimum.

I must admit that I'd also be wary of taking on someone who had been entirely home-schooled, but that would not be the case for your son anyway.

And just to balance some of the anecdotal evidence of home-schooling success on this thread (which I don't doubt are true), here is one of my own; went to a bog standard working-class comprehensive school and and ended up with a BSc. and a PhD in Chemistry. Now work for a world-famous lab in research. School does work for most people!

Oh, and you'll like this - I was discussing electron configurations with him today :j

Haggis_man

harrys_dad wrote: »

The one thing that seems to be missing here is what is the view of the school? I assume you have discussed the situation with them, so what do they suggest? There should be some "alternative provision" available, not just "full time school" or "home schooling".

Your son is clearly not being successful at school so there is a shared responsibility, between parent, son, and school to resolve things by examining all the possible options.

Schools are very defensive with these things and are mainly interested in their reputation and avoiding confrontation and "difficulties". They are busy with bureaucracy. They don't like parents. Parents' evenings, I find, are in fact teachers' evenings - their main objective is to avoid parents talking and asking too many questions.
I enquired about flexi-schooling and was told, "not an option". No reason given. I am on a quest to find "all the possible options" - that is why I am here!

Haggis_man

TopQuark wrote: »

I wouldn't say I'm hostile to it, just wary. For example, I wouldn't feel confident in teaching my kids the whole curriculum as I don't have the skills or knowledge to do so. For maths and science I guess I could. And French as OH is French. But not the other subjects. Although I guess if they pass the exams and get the grades then all is fine. I'd still be wary about the social/soft-skill side of things though.

I think most kids are going to be better off in school being taught by professionals but I do appreciate than in a small minority of cases mainstream school may not be the best approach. Thus I think the OP needs to be as sure as he can be that his son is genuinely struggling with the school environment and not just trying to persuade his parents of this in order to take the path of least resistance.

"I think the OP needs to be as sure as he can be that his son is genuinely struggling with the school environment and not just trying to persuade his parents of this in order to take the path of least resistance."

This of course has been my worry. He is definitely having a genuine struggle but I cannot be 100% sure about the situation. I am hoping that the appointment with CAMHS will assist in this respect...but I'm not holding my breath. As for being "taught by professionals"....mmmmh.

Haggis_man

kafkathecat wrote: »

Hi Topquark
Thanks for your reply. I completely understand your wariness. Most home educators don't know everything that their child wants to learn but it is very easy to access resources, there are curriculum packages for those that want, correspondence courses, internet schools etc. As well as a thriving home ed social scene most home ed children are involved in drama clubs, scouts, martial arts etc. They also get together to pay for tutors for subjects like science, drama or almost any GCSEs. We also get together at home ed camps.

I have met children who have been bullied in school who thrive at home. I have also met children who preferred school and soon returned there.

I am not anti-school. I volunteer in a school and sometimes work in a college and I mostly love what I see but it did not suit my son from an early age and he has thrived out of school.

If the OPs son came out of school he could go back if it didn't work out or go on to a college, from what has been said he doesn't appear to be doing much there at the moment. Forcing someone to be where they don't want to be will not help them learn it is better to get to the root of the problem. Home ed. might be the answer.

My wife works at the school part-time (not teaching) so I know what goes on. It's depressing.

Haggis_man

TopQuark wrote: »

Because the child might not have a great interest in it, but it may be necessary knowledge that they need to function well as an adult in normal society. A lot of people don't like maths and would have avoided it altogether at school if they could, but it is useful and important. Similarly, I didn't enjoy English language much, but being able to communicate effectively and correctly is a life skill.

Just because they aren't interested in it doesn't mean that they don't need to be taught it. Subjects like drama or art I might agree on, but not the basics.

Google "TED Ken Robinson" and watch his talks on Education and schools killing creativity. If it wasn't for my son I wouldn't have seen these inspirational videos.

Haggis_man

heartbreak_star wrote: »

Because they might need it for work or further education?

HBS x

Let's face it - our education may have got us our jobs but do we use it in our jobs? Can't say I've had much call for Fourier analysis or differential calculus as yet......(but I did enjoy studying it )