Home Schoolers- anyone else?

righter

just want to add my support..please message me if you need to bend an ear.
we home schooled our daughter from an early age,ie never registered for school.

She did not do exams,as we live on a small island and external moderation was a problem at the time.

She "left school" at 16. She wanted to work ,she had had a Saturday job from aged 13. She then worked full time for three years,and is now doing an OU degree,while working two days a week ....no debt at all...yay!

What we mostly taught her was how to think for herself,critical thinking skills,logic,how to do research etc

Also things that would never have been available in school locally, Latin,philosophy,politics etc

Thank God,no one has mentioned the old "how can they socialise" myth...she partook in community events,and volunteered earlier than most teens.
She has run her own home.
When we worked abroad she briefly went into the French and Swiss education system.

righter

to Themull1...home schooling is nothing like school,there is no obligation to follow any curriculum. There are no standards.

There are so many resources out there,it is virtually impossible not to find every topic and subject covered at any level.

For example,my daughter did Yale University`s "introduction to Psychology course aged 14 . (and subsequently has read many of Paul Bloom`s books)

We did the Cambridge Latin course (highly recommend)

My husbands taught (not in the traditional sense)latin, maths,sciences.

I was more the Humanities.

She is extremely knowledgeable and articulate,she continues to educate herself,because she is interested in everything...Not as a means to an end ie a particular job or career.We believe education is something we do all our lives,not just in school,and not just for a job.

We have 3 sons,who were educated in schools (lack of my confidence and a different time in life) schools...for some,can destroy a love of learning.
One son,is doing a degree aged 30...school gave him nothing,wrote him off,and refused to help when requested.

kafkathecat

themull, there are some amazing resources out there. I learnt to love maths alongside my ds following an american maths course. We also spent a lot of time going to museum workshops, science talks and just socialising.

Where ds was interested in something I couldn't help with, eg languages, I got help from other home educators. It doesn't have to be expensive home educators often group together or exchange skills.
I definitely didn't do much teaching and I have the utmost respect for teachers who teach and manage whole classes, it is a different thing.

Ds has gone straight into full time college this year and his teachers are happy with him there so it seems to have worked.

SingleSue

Mojisola wrote: »

Or at an FE college which is quite a different atmosphere to school and easier for some young people who have had problems at school.

That is the route my youngest son took, he too had social anxiety and is also complex autistic and suffered terribly in his last year at high school. I did think about pulling him out and doing it at home but decided it was far too close to his exams and I didn't have the right skills to teach him to the level he needed.

It did have an impact on his results meaning he fell short on the amount of GCSEs he needed to go onto level 3 (he needed 5 at A-C and he got 4) but a retake at college in November for maths and he now has the required amount plus in his retake of year 12, is on distinctions on a course worth 3 GCSEs.

College life for him has been amazing, a total change to school and he is coping so much better. It is a huge difference to school, a lot more relaxed, a completely different setting.

Home tutoring wasn't for me, especially in the time scale available but if it works for others, then go for it.

onomatopoeia99

themull1 wrote: »

To all those who homeschool, do you feel confident that you understand what you teach your kids, especially the older ones? The times that my daughter has brought homework from school that i didn't understand!!

I'm interested in this too. Once I started secondary school, neither of my parents would have been able to offer any assistance with my homework in mathematics, physics or chemistry (or languages), never mind teach it.

WantToBeSE

themull1 wrote: »

To all those who homeschool, do you feel confident that you understand what you teach your kids, especially the older ones? The times that my daughter has brought homework from school that i didn't understand!!

How can you confidently teach various subjects to exam standard when you aren't a teacher and have exams/qualifications in that subject?

I would have maybe liked to homeschool my kids but don't trust my own intelligence to do a good job. Do the books that you get tell you how and what to do?

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

I'm interested in this too. Once I started secondary school, neither of my parents would have been able to offer any assistance with my homework in mathematics, physics or chemistry (or languages), never mind teach it.

Everyone Homeschools differently.

For us, i will mix a bit of structure with more 'open' learning. So my older son wants to take exams in English, Maths and possibly Science.So i will teach him as much as i can about that and anything i dont understand he can teach himself through the internet, books, online HE groups etc.
Other than that, he wants to learn about Art and Computer coding.

When you think about what exams are (just the ability to remember information that you have been given) they hold less power over learning. It's more important to me that my son feels good about himself, confident and able to manage in society.

Obviously for long term job/career goals, he/we will jump through whatever hoops to get him that far. Colleges accept IGCSEs, or do their own independent tests to determine entry to courses.

Iamspartacus_2

Hi I also want to he my 13 year old son. He's not coping with the bullying at school, at all. I think to leave him there will cause him to totally withdraw from society. He's an emotional wreck now. Any advice on he would be helpful. Thank you in advance.

Jagraf

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

I'm interested in this too. Once I started secondary school, neither of my parents would have been able to offer any assistance with my homework in mathematics, physics or chemistry (or languages), never mind teach it.

Home schooling / school is not just about academic achievement. Sometimes you can have the most wonderful pair of trousers, perfect in every way, but they just don't suit you.

I beg to differ a little here. My DD has had an excellent school education, but one really rubbish teacher. So she used the Internet and other resources for this particular science at GCSE. Teachers ARE the professionals, but the environment can be so wrong for some kids.

Good luck OP x