Home-schooling

[Gusanita]

I am interested in home-schooling my daughter and was wondering if anyone on here had any insights or experience of this.

[JakeS]

I was "home schooled" for probably 18 months in total (I was ill for 9 months and spent 9 months in plaster on a separate occasion) To be quite honest it was awful. The lack of social interaction is far more damaging to children than a poorer education. What is your situation?

[okgo]

Unless it is a 100% HAS TO BE situation, I think its utter madness, and would put the child at a HUGE disadvantage socially and educationally.

[Timsta]

Our eldest had issues at school. Well, issues in general really. Nothing we could do to get him to stop fecking about and bunking. The school wasn't willing to help either. Eventually well pulled him out and home schooled him. Best thing we ever did. We took him out for a year, when he went back he had a different view of schooling and even managed some good GCSEs (he was on track to flunk the lot.)

It depends on on your reasons and your child really. It's a fair bit of work, and our son didn't do all the subjects at home that he would have done at school, but I taught him the ones I thought would benefit him. English, Maths etc. His maths level went up by 4 years in the year he was home schooled.

Scarily enough, when home schooling, you can incorporate your daily activities into their education. So just having your kids do daily stuff with you is viewed as educating. They get an education on how the real world operates, then when at home they can do some actual "school" work.

HTH

[Tsippy]

Social interaction can come from sports clubs, evening groups such as scouts/ brownies etc I would have thought? I guess in your situation it may have been more difficult with having an illness that may have prevented you participating in this.

I think I would rather home school my kids myself, at least I could then guarantee a decent education rather than the roulette standards we have in the UK.

[Gusanita]

Tsippy said:

Social interaction can come from sports clubs, evening groups such as scouts/ brownies etc I would have thought?

I think I would rather home school my kids myself, at least I could then guarantee a decent education rather than the roulette standards we have in the UK.

From what I've read that's the case (regarding social interaction) and home-schooled children interact with a more diverse age range of people (apparently) and generally have very good social skills.

I am considering home-schooling for the same reason as I feel completely disappointed by the level of education I received, I just don't know of anyone who has done it.

[Engineer1]

Know the limitations of your knowledge, are you sure you can teach all the subjects to the level required?

[Timsta]

Engineer1 said:

Know the limitations of your knowledge, are you sure you can teach all the subjects to the level required?

There is no requirement to teach all subjects to any particular level. You only need to give an adequate education. For example, there is no requirement to teach art, drama, PE. I taught our son subjects that he would need, and to a level greater that he was getting taught at school. With modern schooling levels it's not difficult.

Just teaching life skills is sometimes good enough. It will depend on the child's needs.

[okgo]

Gusanita said:

Tsippy said:

Social interaction can come from sports clubs, evening groups such as scouts/ brownies etc I would have thought?

I think I would rather home school my kids myself, at least I could then guarantee a decent education rather than the roulette standards we have in the UK.

From what I've read that's the case (regarding social interaction) and home-schooled children interact with a more diverse age range of people (apparently) and generally have very good social skills.

I am considering home-schooling for the same reason as I feel completely disappointed by the level of education I received, I just don't know of anyone who has done it.

well did you go to a st school?

You do know good ones are out there, and they have the records and results to prove it. You say you're in Surrey, which has a wealth of great private schools on offer.

[Frankeh]

Personally I think that the lack of social interaction that comes with school is one of the most valuable lessons in life.
I would rather have my current social skills than an A in GCSE Maths.

Saying that, as long as you make sure your kid is getting plenty of interaction with other children then it's probably not that bad an idea.

If your plan is to just stop your daughter picking up bad habits from other children by isolating her, then don't do it.

Also, making friends when you're stuck in a class of 30 people is easy. Making friends when your homeschooling dad takes you out twice a week for "Social interaction time" is a lot lot harder.

[Gusanita]

okgo said:

Gusanita said:

Tsippy said:

Social interaction can come from sports clubs, evening groups such as scouts/ brownies etc I would have thought?

I think I would rather home school my kids myself, at least I could then guarantee a decent education rather than the roulette standards we have in the UK.

From what I've read that's the case (regarding social interaction) and home-schooled children interact with a more diverse age range of people (apparently) and generally have very good social skills.

I am considering home-schooling for the same reason as I feel completely disappointed by the level of education I received, I just don't know of anyone who has done it.

well did you go to a st school?

You do know good ones are out there, and they have the records and results to prove it. You say you're in Surrey, which has a wealth of great private schools on offer.

There is more to a good school than their results and this can often not be apparent or masked by league tables and school visits.
As it is I don't think I'd be able to afford a private school, without sacrificing other elements of child rearing which are important to me.

[AndyAudi]

Gusanita said:

Tsippy said:

Social interaction can come from sports clubs, evening groups such as scouts/ brownies etc I would have thought?

I think I would rather home school my kids myself, at least I could then guarantee a decent education rather than the roulette standards we have in the UK.

From what I've read that's the case (regarding social interaction) and home-schooled children interact with a more diverse age range of people (apparently) and generally have very good social skills.

I am considering home-schooling for the same reason as I feel completely disappointed by the level of education I received, I just don't know of anyone who has done it.

As a Scout Leader I've had first hand experience of a home schooled child. (I know they are likely to all be different but). Scouts aged 11 were his first real chance to interact. He was a very polite, nice wee chap who was keen to get stuck in to everything & full of confidence. However he just did not know how to interact with the other kids. We tried to get him included as much as possible but he just couldn't seem to get into it and left after about a year.

If you were looking to use an outside organisation such as the Scouts to help socialise your child, I'd encourage you to get them into the movement early, (Beavers/Cubs) when the others of their age are developing their skills, it's only an hour or so a week when they're younger.

[Engineer1]

Timsta said:

Engineer1 said:

Know the limitations of your knowledge, are you sure you can teach all the subjects to the level required?

There is no requirement to teach all subjects to any particular level. You only need to give an adequate education. For example, there is no requirement to teach art, drama, PE. I taught our son subjects that he would need, and to a level greater that he was getting taught at school. With modern schooling levels it's not difficult.

Just teaching life skills is sometimes good enough. It will depend on the child's needs.

What I'm getting at is that from GCSE choices onwards you are closing off easy access to careers, so a broad education prior to GCSE is in opinion essential. Teach a subject badly or have no interest in it and the kid is unlikely to do well in it either even if it is something they could do and be interested in.
Subjects like foreign languages require good knowledge, science requires a range of equipment and a seriously good grounding just look at the discussion about if a dropped or fired bullet will hit the ground first, or the perennial conveyor belt question. Good text books only go so far and there are some truly st ones out there.

[OnTheOverrun]

Gusanita said:

I am interested in home-schooling my daughter and was wondering if anyone on here had any insights or experience of this.

What are your qualifications?

[okgo]

Gusanita said:

okgo said:

Gusanita said:

Tsippy said:

Social interaction can come from sports clubs, evening groups such as scouts/ brownies etc I would have thought?

I think I would rather home school my kids myself, at least I could then guarantee a decent education rather than the roulette standards we have in the UK.

From what I've read that's the case (regarding social interaction) and home-schooled children interact with a more diverse age range of people (apparently) and generally have very good social skills.

I am considering home-schooling for the same reason as I feel completely disappointed by the level of education I received, I just don't know of anyone who has done it.

well did you go to a st school?

You do know good ones are out there, and they have the records and results to prove it. You say you're in Surrey, which has a wealth of great private schools on offer.

There is more to a good school than their results and this can often not be apparent or masked by league tables and school visits.
As it is I don't think I'd be able to afford a private school, without sacrificing other elements of child rearing which are important to me.

What more is there to a secondary school than that?

If the results are good then its likley that everything else is ok too (bullying etc happens everywhere). Its a very trivial 5 years in that the grades don't count for a whole lot when you're done and assuming you're not going to home school them Alevels then that is where the important learning is done. The social aspect of mixing with hundreds of people the same age is unmatched.

And I think if you choose wisely then you should be able to find a good school that will give your child the interaction and choice it will need.

You may not be able to afford it, but all the time spent at home teaching it you could be working? Unless you have other young children I guess.

[Timsta]

I think there are a few of us talking at cross purposes here. How old is your daughter? What are your reasons for wanting to home school?

[Mazda Baiter]

Last year my sister went out with a bloke who had been home schooled.

He seemed to be much more at ease chatting to my parents and grandparents than chatting to people his own age. His parents had decided that they would concentrate on the subjects they thought were most important (Music, Art, Drama, History, French) then when he was 17 he could go to college and do a 1year GCSE course in the subjects that he had missed (ie maths, science, geography, IT.) Apparently, the area of London that he lived had a group of parents who were all home schooling their kids and there used to be a class of about 10 kids aged 4-16. They were all happy clappy christians and religion (christianity) featured more predominantly than any other subject. He is now doing a degree in philosophy and music on his way to flipping burgers.

He maintained that it was the best education for him, but he was a difficult individual socially and there is only so far in modern life that being able to play the piano moderately and sing in italian can take you.

My advice based on a very limited view is, unless you are very well grounded in the base subjects (maths, english language, english literature, physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography, IT, foreign languages) then don't bother.

Also, whatever your intentions, your child will suffer socially, it is unavoidable.

Just suck it up, find the best school in your area and let them be a normal child.

[Frankeh]

OnTheOverrun said:

Gusanita said:

I am interested in home-schooling my daughter and was wondering if anyone on here had any insights or experience of this.

What are your qualifications?

Until secondary school teachers have no proper grounding in the subjects they teach.
As long as the parent is willing to learn what it takes to get an A grade at GCSE (And before the child has to), then that should be enough.

[Goliath205]

I was homeschooled throughout my whole education, so were my 3 siblings. I didnt enjoy it at all, I can't say whether I would have done better or worse if I had gone to a conventional school but I certainly frown on my parents for having made the choice to home school me.

I ended up with very good gcse and AS level results but never finished the A level course due to falling out with my parents and moving out, being around them 24/7 without even a break to go to school was too much.

With regard socialising, I made almost all my friends through music activities, but that isn't ideal as its a very fine field of people to mix with.

Having been home educated I will not be home schooling my own kids unless absolutely necessary.

[whitevanman88]

I was 'home educated' - honestly, the best thing that ever happened to me. If it's done right and for the right reasons, then it's excellent.