Home Schoolers- anyone else?

WantToBeSE

Hello.

I am just about to de-register my son (15) from school and home school him.
I am looking for other people who are doing/have done the same thing, to chat to about it and hear about other peoples experiences.

He has quite severe Social Anxiety, and despite all the help we have had from the school (they have been great), his daily life is made unbearable by having to be in the school environment.

Corelli

How lucky your son is that you are in a position to do this for him. This is GCSE time, are you aware of the yahoo group to support and inform? Hang on a moment, thee is a Wiki too, I'll go and find it for you ...... running off to another tab ....

Here you are, there is a link to the yahoo group too. http://he-exams.wikia.com/wiki/HE_Exams_Wiki


This is a useful website too http://edyourself.org/articles/exams.php

Have a lovely home ed journey, it was one of the happiest times in our family's life.

WantToBeSE

Corelli wrote: »

How lucky your son is that you are in a position to do this for him. This is GCSE time, are you aware of the yahoo group to support and inform? Hang on a moment, thee is a Wiki too, I'll go and find it for you ...... running off to another tab ....

Here you are, there is a link to the yahoo group too. http://he-exams.wikia.com/wiki/HE_Exams_Wiki


This is a useful website too http://edyourself.org/articles/exams.php

Have a lovely home ed journey, it was one of the happiest times in our family's life.

Thank you so much Corelli To be honest, its really the only opportunity left to us, as he can barely leave the house at the moment.

Luckily, i am self-employed, so can be flexible with what hours i work, or give my employees more hours so that i can cut down on anything else apart from the admin side of things.

My other son (almost 11) has been given the choice, but he loves school, so i expect that he'll continue in school. He is going up to secondary in September.

I have joined various HE FB groups, but didnt know about that Yahoo! one, so thanks for that and the other links

mimmy1977

Hi
My lovely son is nearly 15 and home schooled.He has social problems but once you get to know him he a friend for life.
We are starting A Levels this year.
We have always been led by DS interests and they were more in the A Level camp.So over the next 3 years we are doing,History,Law,Classic Civilisation, Sociology and either Geography,English or Economics.
Our only problem to be honest is the social side.He loves outdoor things like hiking,climbing,bush crafts ect.
None of the neighbourhood kids seem into these things so he does struggle with friends.
He loves gaming as well and is a geek so he has some friends through that.
Its the best thing we ever did,some children can cope with school and the such.My son isn't one of those.
Feel free to PM any time if you need to chat or vent (they can sometimes need a kick) Good luck to you both

WantToBeSE

Thanks Mimmy

He is soon going to be starting air soft with my friends husband and son, so hopefully that will help him with the social side of things. I just hope his SA doesn't stop him doing it.

I am a bit worried about the cost of GCSEs and other exams...

Savvy_Sue

There was a user called reeree who home schooled her grandson at a similar age, have a look for her threads.

WantToBeSE

Thanks Sue, i will have a look for her

kafkathecat

Hi, I home educated my ds (now 16) all the way through. He is now at 6th form college. If your son is thinking of doing exams at some stage there are some very good home study courses and internet schools that he might be able to use. Exams are expensive and seem to go up every year but it is worth shopping around local schools and colleges.
Home ed social groups are good if your son is able to cope with them but for some anxious children can become just another trial.
Try to make some local contacts, they can be very good for supporting you and giving you ideas.
Good luck.

WantToBeSE

Kafkat, thank you very much for that. I am aiming to get him through at least 3 GCSEs (English, Maths and a Language) but right now i just need to de-school him for a while and hope that his anxiety lessens.

I am definitely going to look into joining HE groups, but they seem to be very focused on pre schoolers and under 10s.

Mojisola

Encourage him to browse the TED lectures - https://www.ted.com/ - he's bound to find ones that interest him without having to make the experience part of formal education.

Mela322

I just started home education with my 2 children ages 6 and 9 at the end of Feb. Both were doing well in school but it was a constant battle to get my daughter moved forward and to keep them challenged. Since having them home, I have discovered lots of problems and we are just tackling them one by one.

I absolutely love teaching them and spending the time with them. I feel like they aren't forced to grow up too fast and are allowed to be children and we get a full day of learning in most days. It's been a trial and error of finding where they are and what works. I could never send them back to school.

There is so much support out there and loads of groups on Facebook. There should be a local group where you can meet others as most meet up on a regular basis. There are groups for un-schooling, structured, gcse levels, most subjects. Could go on but love the support.

All the best in your new journey!