following on from heb's post - home schooling

[kindredspirits]

i intend to home school my son who is currently 3 - i haven't done that much research yet as I am swamped at the min in paperwork and degree coursework. i currently don't do obs or a learning journey on him as theres no requirement to do that for your own children - BUT will I need to do an EYFS profile for him when he reaches the age he would have left reception (in a few years) ??????
If so should I consider beginning to do obs on him????

(my mind is wondering because i am trying to write up an assignment on the importance of observations)

any advice appreciated please!
thanks, anna xx

[EllaBella]

no advice, sorry :blush: but I am just curious as to why you chose to home school? i have met 3 families who home school but sadly only becaue of bullying. Id love to know why tho in your case, local school reasons, education system , y'know., just wondering, not to be contraversial or anything its just something that interests me :D :thumbsup:

[kindredspirits]

personal choice really - i see the children that come out of school almost robots - they don't enjoy learning very often and even a bright child is often not encouraged enough during their early years. I don't like the fact that we will only teach half of a subject - like glossing over the nasties that THIS country and america might have done during the wars. I feel that I have an exceptional child who is already far beyond reception age schooling (at 3 he can count to 100 forwards and backward, plus count to 100 in spanish despite having no spanish relatives etc he just copied it on holiday when he was 2), he recognised all letters by the age of 18 months etc - and I feel that if he is not stimulated at school then it is highly likely he could and would become disruptive and labelled as a naughty child - when he is bored he does become disruptive and its only through my own errors that i have recognised the level of stimulation he needs on a daily basis.
he is also highly computer literate - can turn on his laptop, put in the password, find the cbeebies website and play the games without any aid (he only turned 3 mid feb) and he has recently developed a musical talent, he's taught himself to pay fireman sam theme on the piano :eek: he doesn't get that skill from me sadly.

IF we move abroad then he probably will go to school to aid his language develop, similarly if we move to a village with a nice, small primary school where he would not be in a class of 40 + then i would consider it but at the minute i just feel it would be best for him and being a childminder gives me a unique opportunity to be able to be at home with him so i am going to make the most of it.

[EllaBella]

i know my friends were part of a group for homeschooled children where they sometimes met up for "school educational type" outings, eg, farm . but I dont know what they are called.

it was also a support group for questions and advice. my friends all loved homeschooling :thumbsup:

[singlewiththree]

I was going to homeschool but have found a wonderful school who's focus is more on building up the self esteem of the child rather than pushing them, they do lots of drama and music and my children are thriving from it, its a church school even though I am of no religious beliefs and my girls love it.

As far as I was aware you don't have to do eyfs or follow any curriculum so no you won't have to do them on your own son. I used to belong to a yahoo group on homeschooling which was fantastic.

[PixiePetal]

I saw a mum I know (just to say hello to) with her 2 daughters as I was passing our local painting pottery shop yesterday - she home schools and I thought what a lovely way to spend an afternoon :)

[Hebs]

i'm looking into home schooling not due to bullying (as mark is very popular in school) but actually down to the attitude of the teaching staff towards him and his ADHD

Mark is a "hands on" learner and learns very quickly this way but sit him infront of a book (or board) and he struggles, they also dont appreciate his time for a "time out" if he startes to loose control over his concentration, unfortunatly our school system is a "one size suits all" take it or leave it.

my intentions to home school went down like a lead balloon with the school today :D

[Trouble]

i think obs are good for developement and how well kids are doing:D and for things they dont know

i think your little boy knows quite alot for his little age i was reading a post you put somewhere and the things he can do now, you need to feed an imagination like, hes a bright little boy:clapping:

[Blackhorse]

I have been thinking about homeschooling dd for a while now.

I have read so much bad about schools here and because I havent been to a british school myself I dont have any personal experience and it frightens me a bit to be honest. (not saying that all I heard is true...but it worries me anyways)

at the same time I dont want dd to say: why is everyone else allowed to go to school but not me?
I loved going to school (mostly) but would really like to have dd go to school in austria..but that isnt going to happen (and we could end up in a bad school there too..dont mean to say all schools there are better than here)

[balloon]

at the same time I dont want dd to say: why is everyone else allowed to go to school but not me?


I doubt that would happen, lol! All my kids' schooled mates say they wish they were homeschooled and didn't go to school... I have never heard a homeschooled kid say they wish they went to school, lol! ;)

[Blackhorse]

I doubt that would happen, lol! All my kids' schooled mates say they wish they were homeschooled and didn't go to school... I have never heard a homeschooled kid say they wish they went to school, lol! ;)

that is interesting...I remember when I was starting school I was sooo excited about it I would have been devastated if someone told me I couldnt go...

[nannymcflea]

I have a bright child and the school she is at now has been the best thing for her. It has 12 children in her year(yr 2) and has taught her social skills and confidence she never had at her old school, which is infact a good school too.

Academically she is gifted and talented and gets to do extra where needed and I am not worried about that aspect at all. Socially she is soooo much better than she was in a class of 30 and I feel she's only going to get this social education from a school.

I am not against home schooling at all but school is so much more than an academic education.(if you are worried about this then talk to the schools gifted and talented co-ordinator) I know you can do clubs and stuff but school actually makes you learn how to accommodate people in your life you wouldn't neccesarily get along with.:thumbsup:

Good luck with whatever you decide.:)

[Goatgirl]

i intend to home school my son who is currently 3 - i haven't done that much research yet as I am swamped at the min in paperwork and degree coursework. i currently don't do obs or a learning journey on him as theres no requirement to do that for your own children - BUT will I need to do an EYFS profile for him when he reaches the age he would have left reception (in a few years) ??????
If so should I consider beginning to do obs on him????

(my mind is wondering because i am trying to write up an assignment on the importance of observations)

any advice appreciated please!
thanks, anna xx

Hi Anna,
I home educated both my daughters, one from age 8, the other came out of school a few months later, aged 14. You don't need to do anything except fulfill your legal obligation to provide your child with an education "suited to his/her age aptitude and abilty" and which will enable him/her to live a sucessful adult life in modern civilised society.... .
There are new regs coming in soon unfortunately which mean LEA's will have more powers to monitor home ed families, but there are lots of home ed groups out there and some very good online forums where you can ask for advice and support if you have any problems.

Good luck with it: your son sounds wonderful.

bws, Wendy

[Hebs]

can i ask how your 14 year old adjusted??

cos she wants to be home schooled if i take mark out of school :D

[FussyElmo]

My view is that for every one good teacher there is at least 10 bad ones. There are not enough teachers who will think out of the box :(

[Goatgirl]

Hi Hebs :),
You can indeed! K, now 24 :eek: is the one who came out at 14.

Obviously our situation is different from yours, but I'm happy to share...

It was tricky, actually, as she had loved school right up to the year she was in, although she hadn't been working well academically right through secondary school. Even though she was more than capable, she really just loved the social aspects of school and did just enough to coast along (don't know where she got that from... :rolleyes:).

She asked to leave, mainly because of the assistant head of her year who just picked on her for no reason we could ever fathom; she was always popular with teachers and students alike. Anyway, I tried to sort it out, got nowhere as the teacher denied all, the headmaster didn't take it seriously, and in the end she just dreaded going. We had an opportunity to go to Bali for 3 weeks, backpacking (chance of a lifetime: I was a single parent on benefits!) during school term and when we got home she just said she didn't want to go back to school. I was relieved personally, as I'd been watching her getting very influenced by her 'crowd' at school, who were all nice people, don't get me wrong, but they dressed the same, shared the same opinions etc to quite an alarming degree and I was missing my very clever, individual little girl by then.

I think for her it was hard because she was so influenced by this group of friends and they all behaved as though she'd thrown her life away/ betrayed them etc. Our relationship was rocky at the time too, so she she took alot of her anger at the situation out on me and took a very long time to "de-school" i.e. re-learn to think for herself :D. She had this idea I was going to read books then teach her what I'd read... my thinking was if i could read them she could read them for herself and I'd support her, lol.

Anyway, long story short: She gradually gained confidence in her own opinions again and came to see through fresh eyes that her friends behaviour was pretty appalling, which really was a steep learning curve and difficult at the time, but once through it, the difference between her and her schooled peers was marked: she was thinking 'what shall I do', 'who am i?' kinda stuff while they were still all just following their pre set pattern. Even now, they all seem way less mature than her.

She's a very capable girl, and without even a gcse to her name, she has, at 24, just been promoted to Manager of a large restaurant (Pizza Express) in Bristol. When she was a lowly supervising waitress an M and S manager recruiter tried to poach her, seeing how well she ran the show:) ...She's brilliant, and would have been anyway, but I wonder how much longer it would have taken her to be 'herself' if she'd stayed in school and 'followed' her friends. i think she'd have found herself somewhere she didn't want to be a few years down the line....

But I digress. I think its a big decision, helped these days by lots of colleges offering gcse's at younger ages, though they need to be paid for... But there are ways to do these things and as I said to Anna lots of local groups and community support to be had. My youngest went to college at 14 for a year and got a distinction, scoring higher than all the post 16's on her childcare course.. This is without a single bit of actual teaching and she came out of school barely able to read because of her dyslexia.

Alot of it is attitude. I'd do some research, find out what your local area home edders are up to and if there seems to be a place for your daughter in that for socialising, satisfing her interests etc...

We home edded as a result of negative school experiences, but having seen how individual and free thinking my girls are and how well they're both doing without following the govt dictated path, I'd never want to send another of my children to school. Home education is free range education! Its the best thing ever :thumbsup:

Anyway I could ramble on for hours... I wont :blush:

Good luck if you go for it :)

Bets wishes,
Wendy

[Hebs]

well i think i'm now trying to decide when rather than if

my son forgot to take his homework into school on thursday, as he teacher was on a course that day i spoke to deputy head who said dont worry just bring it in on friday... i said i could go home for it, she said not to worry...
anyway, friday he goes in with homework and teacher (who had been off the day before) said to him.... you didnt do it in time thats why you didnt bring it in :eek:

who does he think he's talking to :censored: i sorted it and dont expect mark to be given a consequence for something another teacher said was ok :angry:

god help him on monday :thumbsup:

also, the girls keep chasing him (he's popular ;) )but one keeps squeezing the pressure point in his shoulder and it's giving him headaches, he's told the teachers who tell him to go away, now if it was the other way round i's be pulled into the school because of his behaviour
he's now at the stage where he hates having to go to school :(