Homeschooling - Thoughts as a parent or child with experience?

How old is the child I was home schooled for some time at high school age due to illness
my experience was not that good friendships and interaction became limited as whilst I was at home friends I had made before my home schooling made new friends ect

I would rather get a tutor for my own son if I thought he was not getting the best he could at school
 
Put in a lot of effort with homework and other after school learning activities and even a child of average ability attention an average school can be improved a lot.

School + Homework + Parents assisting their children's education is the best. Education isn't all the schools responsibility and anecdotally I've never met a well rounded home schooled child.
 
elmarko said:
I did some research a while back on collective learning, collectively owned schooling systems (either by groups of parents either use different homes - or say, rent a building) provide the children with a high standard of education which doesn't fit the standard educational model.

From what I recall the students performed significantly better than the average, but obviously this is to be expected to some extend due to simply having parents more invested in their children's education.

The potential benefits are huge, just obviously problems may arise if parents unfit for the task decide to do it.

But it's worth noting that there are many midway steps between full on home schooling & standard UK schooling (which negate the usual criticisms, as socialisation is part of it).

The key advantage of home school/collective learning is that each child learns differently, some do better individually - others in groups - practical VS theoretical, artistic vs logical - different levels of intuition, some people take twice as long to term maths as they do English which in a standard educational model is a huge waste of time splitting it 50/50.

To use the analogy of clothes, our standard system is 'off the rack', where as the alternatives are usually better tailored for the individual - while many can do very well in a conformed system it's suited to a certain type of child, resulting in many people failing who really could have done much better.
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So, in summary ..?
 
[FnG]magnolia;25997383 said:
So, in summary ..?
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It can work if done collectively (to mitigate against the social loss), with the right parents & is able to account much better for the multitude in differences in how the individual learns compared to our standard schooling system (the 'one size fits all' method).

Moses said:
He didn't really say anything in summary. He just said it can potentially be good. Different people respond better to different pedagogical approaches. Etc. He also mentions obvious negatives (if parents are awful teachers). Etc. Which is bordering on pointless if there's no real balancing of the pros and cons in a meaningful manner/in a conclusion.
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Why would there be a single conclusion for a subject which has numerous conditions for it's success?, the pros & cons are dependant on the individuals ability & how well the child is/does or is likely to fit into the standard educational model.

Moses said:
So why don't we all have tailored suits?
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Money, 'laziness' (failure to be motivated about them - as personally I dislike the term) or lack of care about clothes.
 
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Moses said:
So why don't we all have tailored suits?
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An analogy?

Because we don't all have the resources to buy a tailored suit (to provide home ed)
Because some people fit very well in off the shelf suits (in standard education)
Because some of us don't know tailored suits are available (parental ignorance)
etc

None of that means home ed is necessarily bad
 
It's a difficult proposition if the school is crap. I wasn't home schooled but my middle school gave me loads of extra work to do in several subjects to the tune of being pretty much done with gcse maths, physics, chem before even hitting high school. Meaning I did nothing in multiple classes for 4 years, which became a real issue in terms of concentration, boredom and routine.

School is very important for confidence, having friends, being able to communicate with others and you can supplement anything with teaching your kid at any stage outside of school. But bringing home learning and school together can leave a kid with effectively nothing to do in school which creates a whole bunch of problems.

Current schools outside of the very best, teach to the lowest common denominator and if your kid is smart they will end up bored as hell or just never getting what they should out of it.

These days there is test X to target for, and anything beyond it isn't their responsibility. In reality there should be effectively no limit but the time in school, and every kid should be encouraged to work as fast and as hard as possible and teachers should be helping kids get as far along an infinite line as possible. Instead they mark an exceptionally low target in the line and ignore those over it and put all their effort into those who will struggle to hit it.

Avoiding the issue of doing work before they'd meet it in school is doing different work. So help your kid learn Mandarin while leaving chemistry to school. But this is the difficult bit, maths in particular, but physics/chem would be things I'd want to teach as early as possible because they are so crucial so it would be very hard to not overlap what is happening in school.

I hated high school because I was effectively being forced to be there, for classes I wasn't taking, it was boring, depressing and completely ridiculous. The school knew I'd pass GSCE's with no issues so I was bottom of the rung in terms of them giving a crap about me. Giving me extra work that was beyond GCSE or A levels, when that wouldn't benefit them, was of absolutely no interest to them.

I think routine is one of the most important things I lost over that period, depression/lack of motivation for learning were also critical issue I developed.

ultimately a school like Eaton and being pushed at every second of every class would have worked wonders for me, but wasn't possible. Finding a great school would have helped but outside of moving there were no other options.


One option is home schooling but putting a huge huge effort into getting your kid interested in clubs for the social aspect, or having like 12 kids all home schooled ;)

The education system in this country has become a farce and I dread having kids and putting anyone through the POS it is today let alone in another 10-20 years.
 
Loving the pro schoolers in this thread, makes me laugh a lot.

Sir Ken Robinson does a good job of explaining


My wife has visited multiple schools across the UK as part of her PhD and she said she will never send her children to a public school.

You can go to home schooling groups and events that give you the social aspect, so that is of little concern.

You could provide an education on par with public schools by just reading out of a textbook, as this is what 80% of UK school teachers do, they are often poorly trained, don't care about what they teach or the pupils and just see it as a 9-5 job.

There is a reason why the phrase Unschooling exists, because people try to fix their broken children that the schools have forced upon them.

You won't find much alternative opinions on here, they are very much pro status quo and you'll just get ridiculed for not being part of the herd.
 
[FnG]magnolia;25997114 said:
They are mixing with what they know and that's a very small, like-minded group of kids, themselves in the place they are because of parental choice to NOT do what every other kid in developed countries do. School provides a mix of people, of abilities, of backgrounds, of cultures, of colour, of fun, of interaction, that you can't replicate.
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Like I said, other extra curricular groups do have much of that - a mix of people backgrounds, cultures etc. I see the value in it, but school isn't the only place where it exists. The fact that you also have a mix of abilities does have it's disadvantages. Don't gifted children excel when they are in a group that are of a very similar ability? This is inherently difficult in schools due tot he funding and teaching cost.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think homeschooling works for everyone and indeed may be very detrimental for some, but there is a distinct possibility that if it's done well, with support from other agencies that it can provide a very comprehensive and valuable education.

Moses said:
And so you're going to have a group of kids, all with talented parents, all being taught by them on a rota? How's that going to work with their careers?
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This would be a possibility. It's not easy and requires flexible working arrangements, but why not in principle?

Moses said:
Why does having a PhD mean someone's a good teacher/why's that necessarily an advantage? You've been to university, you know that some lecturers are great, whilst some are awful... but wait, they all have PhDs, right? Oh...
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I get your point and it's a valid one, but if you do have a group of parents who are highly qualified and passionate about what they do plus a vest interest, how can this not be the optimal situation?
 
Rybo89 said:
Socialising. Friends. Discipline. Progress. Routine.
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I would have said this as well but after doing some research into it and actually talking with quite a few families that have home schooled or are home schooling at present, I am somewhat on the fence.

Socialising - I think these days there are different ways for parents that home school their children to meet up with others that do the same, Facebook being one such way to organise.

My wife meets up with a group of parents once a week to take part in a specific subject that would perhaps be more difficult to teach without experience, such as languages. Other times they go on excursions to the beach, farms, supermarkets, police/fire/ambulance stations etc.

Friends – this is our main area of concern but ultimately you can be in a school of 1000 children and be completely on your own. Both my wife and I were bullied at school and we both have strong views on this, but saying that we had good friends that we did make at school and still keep in touch with, we are talking 1 or 2 each though. The friends we have stayed in touch with were from youth groups, church, Scouts/Brownies and other after school activities. I personally think those are at least as important as friendships you make at school.

Progress – I believe, by law, you have to legally evidence your child’s progress. It is different here so won’t bother putting down what we have to do. What I have learnt is that more often than not, home schooled children are academically advanced compared to those in school.

One couple who have or presently are home schooling were talking to us about the method of teaching mathematics which was the Shanghai maths method. They had been using this for years. The local education authorities had initially been very critical of this but oddly enough the following day the UK government education department were raving about this ‘new’ Shanghai maths method of teaching and how they could implement it as the new way to teach maths.

Routine – Again, this is something we weren’t sure about as school is very structured and would a child manage without this? Truth is that they won’t unless the home schooling setup has its own routine, as we all know, children thrive on routine.
What I have found out is that most home school children are finished their studies for the day by around midday so they can have much more free time to do their own activities. I questioned this at first but when you think of all the wasted time in school (travel, registration, moving between classes, break time, lunch time) there must be a good hour ‘wasted’ – not to mention class disruptions from other students (something I had a lot when I was at school).

It does seem fairly consistent amongst the home schooling parents we know that the children are ready for school at some point. One was talking about their daughter having to go into the local primary school to prepare for some interim progress exam (possibly not the case in the UK) and she loved it but when told by her parents that she could start school if she wanted, she decided herself that she wanted to start school at year 7 (secondary at 11 years old) but not earlier. Others are home schooled up to GCSE and then move on to formal education for A-levels.

What was strikingly clear to me was that the children had missed out on very little compared to having their education in a formal school. That said, most of these parents had 2+ children so whether this would work for an only child I couldn’t say.

Ultimately I must confess I used to think home schooling were for hippies or people that were teachers/academics that were intelligent enough to teach generally, not so. What I have found is that home schooling is a way for parents to know what the child is being taught, to be involved in the whole education process and monitor that progress. I’ve lost count with the amount of parents that I know who don’t really know exactly how their children are doing, or the child’s teachers aren’t pushing/helping in areas that need to be addressed as they simply don’t have the time.

Close friends of ours that are teachers are hugely against it (no surprises there) but their reasoning’s I would now say aren’t as valid as I would have first thought.

Our daughter is 2 now – are we going to home school at 5? I have no idea. I’m not 100% convinced yet. My wife doesn’t need to work at the moment so that may be the deciding factor. We are fortunate enough to be in the catchment area of one of the better infant/primary schools, that said a lot can happen in 3 years and we have had quite a few educational issues of late with schools closing and class sizes approaching 30 children which I don’t like.

Ultimately I think it is ill-informed attitudes towards home schooling which often stop people either looking into it or trying it out because it is our child's future we are playing with and we want to get it right. Does formal education get it right every time? Absolutely not, but is argument alone a valid case for home schooling?

I think a good place for anyone wanting to find out more is to dedicate time into your research, ask people who are doing it, have done it or maybe even stopped part of the way through, and find out why. Not that these examples alone should convince you, but arm you with facts, sufficient to make up your own call for your situation/child.
 
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Burnsy2023 said:
Like I said, other extra curricular groups do have much of that - a mix of people backgrounds, cultures etc. I see the value in it, but school isn't the only place where it exists. The fact that you also have a mix of abilities does have it's disadvantages. Don't gifted children excel when they are in a group that are of a very similar ability? This is inherently difficult in schools due tot he funding and teaching cost.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think homeschooling works for everyone and indeed may be very detrimental for some, but there is a distinct possibility that if it's done well, with support from other agencies that it can provide a very comprehensive and valuable education.



This would be a possibility. It's not easy and requires flexible working arrangements, but why not in principle?



I get your point and it's a valid one, but if you do have a group of parents who are highly qualified and passionate about what they do plus a vest interest, how can this not be the optimal situation?
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I suppose a lot of discussion here is people viewing 'homeschooling' as a parent/s teaching their child/children in their own home.

Where as most of the suggestions seem to be almost forming your own private school of parents/private tutors teaching children in a more flexible manner with an improved teacher-student ratio.
 
Lysander said:
It's for lazy parents.

You do not know anything like a qualified teacher in the arts, sciences, history, mathematics, PE and languages. If you do, you're superhuman.

Also the child will miss out massively on social interaction, how to develop under new authority and with a load of different people from diverse backgrounds.
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Wouldn't be that hard up to about the age of 13... after that though you'd need to bring in external tutors etc..

They'd miss out on the social side... even if they had socialising opportunities on some evenings or with a handful of other homeschool kids - it isn't exactly the same as being in a class with 20 of them all day and having a couple of break times each day to interact with about 100 or so from the same year...

Better option would be for the parent to just go through things in the evenings or on Saturdays or pay for some extra private tuition if you don't think the regular school is up to scratch....
 
Burnsy2023 said:
Like I said, other extra curricular groups do have much of that - a mix of people backgrounds, cultures etc. I see the value in it, but school isn't the only place where it exists. The fact that you also have a mix of abilities does have it's disadvantages. Don't gifted children excel when they are in a group that are of a very similar ability? This is inherently difficult in schools due tot he funding and teaching cost.
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My state junior school managed it - maths assessed each year pupils put into sets 1 through to 4 and adjusted when required. Slow readers & supposed 'dyslexics' etc.. put into special lessons.... Everyone in their mixed ability forms for other activities.
 
boxman2000 said:
What I have found is that home schooling is a way for parents to know what the child is being taught, to be involved in the whole education process and monitor that progress. I’ve lost count with the amount of parents that I know who don’t really know exactly how their children are doing, or the child’s teachers aren’t pushing/helping in areas that need to be addressed as they simply don’t have the time
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I was going to mention other things you said but I'm focussing on this, I have to say the fault is of the parents here.
You can do all the things mentioned here while your child is in a public school if you try and involve yourself.
Schooling shouldn't end at school.
 
Gimpymoo said:
Thank you. That was very interesting and you seem to understand where I am coming from.
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I know exactly what you mean.

If you are concerned about your ability to home school, have you looked into montessori and stiener schools? They provide great alternative education that is based more around independent learning, creativity, passion for learning and empathy, which i feel is much more important then rote learning and 9-5 schooling.
 
GiraffePencils said:
I was going to mention other things you said but I'm focussing on this, I have to say the fault is of the parents here.
You can do all the things mentioned here while your child is in a public school if you try and involve yourself.
Schooling shouldn't end at school.
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Absolutely but another point I was going to make is that my office manager has a 7 year old who comes home with 2 hours homework a night... sorry but that's crazy at 7 years old. If they can't get a lot done during the day then the teaching methods must be wrong IMO. (This is all the children in the year group, not just him).

Of course homework is important but it does seem that school education relies on parents involvement more than ever, not necessarily a bad thing at all, but from what I've seen it is sometimes left up to the parents to teach rather than reinforce what has been taught.

Just to qualify this and my previous statement, I'm 50/50 about this subject and if I had to decide tomorrow I would probably say that state school would be our choice but I do think some of the points raised in this thread so far are ill-informed.
 
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