Why do you home educate?

[admin]

Parents choose home education for many reasons, just as the majority choose schooling for many different reasons. Contrary to popular belief, both are equally valid and equally lawful choices made by parents who have the prime responsibility for educating their own children.

A significant number of parents opt for home education from their child's birth and simply continue when s/he reaches 'compulsory education' age. Others may decide upon home education after their child has begun to attend school, sometimes through positive choice and sometimes because of school related problems such as bullying, school phobia or refusal, or unmet special educational needs.

Home educators are invited to share their own reasons for opting for home education with those starting out or just contemplating the idea. Was it always on the agenda, or was there a particular trigger which caused you ditch the school system?

[Qualitee]

We moved from England to Wales when James was around 6/7 yrs old and his teacher in England told me that was a good age for him as he would be ok making new friends etc.

He did make new friends easily but really missed his old friends so I don't really know how much the move affected him. However, the school was not all it was made out to be when we went along for the initial interview.

We moved him from his first school in Wales because the teacher 'lost' him in the classroom for an entire spelling lesson!!! He was knelt behind the book cabinet looking for his writing book and "by the time he found it the lesson was almost over" her words!

I explained in no uncertain terms that he would not be visiting the local pond the following week if she could not look after my son in the same room.

So, we moved him to the Welsh speaking school who told us that as his reading was excellent they would not have a problem teaching him Welsh and they would translate in the meantime. We knew there was a problem when he came home after only 4 weeks saying it was boring and that he did not understand anything. It turned out that the teacher's stopped translating after only 2 weeks as they told me it was not fair to speak to him in English when the other children were not allowed to speak English! Also, the children were told off if they spoke to him in English. Hence, they stopped talking to him in the playground!

As our daughter was only around 2 yrs old by the time we de-registered and they start school at 3 in Wales I was more than happy to home ed her too.

Pauline

[Diane]

Schools! Bonne Dieu, don't get me started!

Nice to meet you, Qualitee. We're in the North East of England (at the moment), hoping to move notb to lovely Scotland.

My two girls are educating themselves at home (and other places). One is 17 and a half and the other just had a birthday and is now 16.

Diane
http://www.threedegreesoffreedom.blogspot.com

[Beulah]

I deregistered my three children this year - much to the shock of the head mistress, who didn't see it coming!

Basically it was something we wanted to do for years, but were surrounded by people who told us we couldn't - depsite the fact were were university educated!!! (however the only qualification for being a Home Educator is to be a loving, informed parent)

We basically grew some courage and this year we did it. Although it was an informed decision, it was strange how events transpired over the coming months; we kept being approached by one of the teachers about one of our children, who seemed to be "struggling" despite being a bright, confident person. This child was not confident in class, would cry etc etc. My other half was shocked when the teacher described the child's behaviour, and I can promise you, it was totally inconsistent with the funny, affectionate, considerate, intelligent,loud and boisterous child we had at home!

The other two were doing well at school, but the youngest, after being in a wonderfully interactive reception/Y1/Y2 group, was uncerimoniously dumped into the Y3/Y4 class (although the child was a Y2 child!!!!) with a number of others, because of class sizing...one class was going to be oversubscribed, one under, so kids had to be shuffled about. Although we and the teachers were confident our child would cope, there were some early signs that the child was not coping, but just "making the best of a bad job"

The class itself was run by three teachers on a job share!! It was a sticking point for all of our kids, they really struggled.

We thought the eldest was coping well, as the headmistress said, "child X is well adjusted to the system" (I am coming out in hives now!) , it transpired in recent months that the eldest was not getting to sleep at night because of worry!!

Well, crunch time came when the same teacher approached us again, saying that a school thug had pushed one of my children over and proceeded to beat him up, the later on accusing him of abusing one of the animals they had in the school! The teacher could not understand WHY my child was being bullied, what had the child done?? Later the teacher said that she believed my son did not abuse the animal, and off record, said that the bully was lying.

My child tearfully confessed he had been singled out for bullying for over six months and was too scared to tell me...

The teachers were going to put some measures in place to deal with the situation.....I was going to take measures of my own...

...you should have seen the disbelief and joy when we sat at our dining table and told our children we were taking them out of school...

...the eldest was sitting in amazement, in tearful silence....

..the middle child danced around the room...

...the youngest told me that they used to cry quietly in bed before returning to school after the holidays..no longer....

So that is my story.

I am not home educating my children to make them into academic geniuses and compete over others to be the "top of the pile"...my intention for my children is for them to learn in a happy, safe environment...to be "well informed" about life and given the tools to do whatever they want. I want them to be happy people amongst a backdrop of discontent, to be free from the "carrot-on-a-stick" mentality the Western World gives our young people. I want my children to be happy and content as they are, inside and outside, but only learn if it will further themselves as people and benefit others.

And what a golden time to home educate, if you ignore the "Bad Man's" report (I can't ) with regards to free information and worksheets on the web!!!

I am sorry this is so long, but it is important to me to express this...

Thank you for reading.

[Ali P]

A warm to the forums, Beulah, and thanks for sharing your story.

[Diane]

What a beautiful story beautifully told, Beulah. (At least, not the bullying etc.) Unfortunately, we hear so many of these terrible incidents and, happily, we see so many children grow and change when out from under the jackboot.

Welcome.

Diane
http://www.threedegreesoffreedom.blogspot.com

[Elaine Kirk]

How lovely in the middle of the authority generated fear and mistrust that you should stop us for a moment and remind us that home education is liberation of children from stifling control heralding the rebirth of childhood or words to that effect
Thank you Beulah

[Lisa B]

I removed my two children from school in December. Chloe is type 1 diabetic and due to the fact no one in school wanted to learn how to care for her and after several incidents where her health and well being were put in danger we as a family decided enough was enough after almost a year and a half of mistakes ( on schools part) and an inncident with a very mean dinner lady ( also my sister!!!!) we decided as a family school was not helping us at all and it would make more sense for us to do it ourselves that way I would not worry all day whether Chloe was receiving adequate care or whether Joe was happy.
At the moment we are struggling- Chloe has constant high blooed sugars which makes it hard for her to concentrate- when she was like this in school they would remove her from class and sit her in the corridor or lay her on bean bags- at home we work through it- she's learning but finds it hard to remember things we did a week ago- hopefully the Diabetic team will sort out her highs then we can get on with learning until the next hiccup.......
Joe on the other hand loves it- not getting up early, no children to be mean to him, he gets a bit annoyed when I ask him to do " a little more" but on the whole he seems happier than when he was at school.
So thats our story- I dont know how long we will home ed as their dad wants them to go to secondary school- I'd rather them stay home- we shall see
Lisa xxx

[aprillove20]

Nice story Beulah.

[glenngranter]

Why do you home educate? Answer: Seemed the sensible way to go - Has been the sensible way to go - Happy learning child - Happy parent.
Downfall: Idiotic interference by idiotic LA people - Unhappy child - Unhappy parent.
Fight for the right to home educate - Win because it is right.