For many, September is fast approaching and your “little babies” will soon be starting school. A series of related blogs are in the pipeline. However, this is not the only option when it comes to education. Home education is becoming increasingly common. Here is an insight from a lovely Mumbler….
I started to home educate my 2 children when they were 5 and 8 years old. My older child was flexi schooled for a few months due to illness before we decided to home educate full time. Unfortunately my daughter was bullied by a teacher in the small village primary school. So the decision to home educate happened quite quickly.
We have been home educating for over 6 years now and love it. We don’t need to follow the national curriculum or sit any tests or exams. Families home educate in different ways that suit them so its definitely worth looking at the different ways. But the most important thing to remember is that home education is nothing like school at home. Children learn and absorb information all the time. My children prefer to be semi structured with the freedom to learn about subjects that are of interest to them. We also attend lots of regular events and workshops with other home ed families.
A common question that always gets asked by people is “how do your children socialise?” They socialise in the best way with people of all ages not just a classroom of children all the same age. They meet people in the shops, bank, library, local park, friends, doctors, family, restaurant, events with lots of other home educated families of all ages. The list goes on. Home education does not mean you sit at home for 6 hours a day.
We go on regular outings all the time. A few recent educational group events we have done in the past month alone include; Yorkshire Wildlife farm, Cannon Hall Farm, Krash labs minecraft / coding, horse riding, Animal keeper course, sport group lesson, drama, swimming, cinema, theatre, Fort Paul, mini monster play area, ten pin bowling, donkey sanctuary, beach clean, functional skills course. Our social life is packed!
I am one of the admin for a Facebook group for home educated families. The group is called Home Education North Yorkshire. This group is for families that are home educating or seriously considering it. Its a great place to get advice and find out about local events. Unfortunately as an admin I am hearing from lots of parents about problems with schools not supporting children with additional needs, not getting in the school of choice, bullying from other children / teachers and stress and anxiety issues. We have over 900 families in our group with new families going daily. . We also have lots of other home education Facebook groups.
Legal rights
As parents we are responsible for the suitability and providing an education for our children. We can opt out of this and send our children to school which is what most parents do or think is the only option. If your child has never attended school you don’t need to de-register them, if they have been offered a place at school you just need to decline the offer ideally in writing / email so you have a record of this. If your child is in school and you want to home educate you just need to send a letter or email to de-register your child. You don’t need to give any notice and can do this immediately. Its advised to get something in writing from the school to say they have received your letter.
A useful website is www.educationalfreedom.org.uk
“School is not compulsory ! Education is”
“Our children are unique, their education should be too”
If you would like to share your schooling experience, do contact me, SJ, here.
