Home schooling

[WILMAFLINSTONE]

Hi Sarah thanks for your input and sorry you had a bad experience of home schooling but its good to hear from both sides so glad you posted about your time at home!

xxx

 

[l_maclean]

I only read the first few post in this thread, so hoping im not repeating anything (or offending anyone).

I wouldnt be keen on home schooling for the interaction reason - although i have to say the kids I do know that were home schooled did a lot of extra curricular activities which got them socialising with other kids.

One thing that puts me off is the kids immune systems - kids need to build up there immune systems, and one of the good things about being at school is the can do that pretty quickly. I know that sounds kinda bizzare - but there is a reason behind it.

Where I grew up, the guide camp was hit with ecoli one year (no idea where from as the 2 veggie kids got it - but the one with the peanut allergy didnt) - however i digress - the child how was hit most severly, on dialysis etc. with this one who was who was home schooled, while 2 who lived out in the country and played in fields tested positive but no symptoms. It always kinda made me wonder if the home schooled kids just didnt get the same change to build up their immune system - lets face it school is the place where kids pick up the most bugs and therefore learn to fight them off.


Another little point on school stats - the secondary school i went to looks brilliant on paper - very high pass rates, in contrast with the one my brother went to. The reason - they didnt let people sit exams who werent guaranteed to pass. My brother was advised to sit lower level exams as he'd be sure to pass them. When he changed schools he was advised to TRY his best, and the school put in lots of extra work, so he could manage. Stats can be manipulated - doesnt necesserilly mean the schools dont have other good points.

xxx

 

[saraian26]

Im not keen on home schooling and id be totally crap at it as well! Were lucky to be in a good village with an excellent school so I have had no qualms sending my kids to school, and my son despite being autistic has done excellently there and im hoping my daughter does the same when she goes next month!

 

[FeeGee]

I'm just bookmarking this thread to read tonight as home schooling is something I am interested in.
My local schools pass rate is only 39% and the national average is 52% I believe ... yet if I won the lottery and could move the schools there are 98%... it doesn't give you much hope for your childs future, I am in th emind that one on one teaching at home can only be an improvement on the 39%.

 

[BevG]

i wont be homeschooling, i will however be trying to support the schools teaching and take my child on trips or find documentaries about history and nature etc to help with each subject/topic they learn to help give them a fuller understanding and wider experience. schools have to do certain topics for certain time periods and i have the freedom to help my child study further the topics that spark their interest and help out on the ones that they struggle with. i hated school as i was raised to be whoever and whatever i wanted to be and was lost as to how to please the other kids but i was never beaten as i was also taught to stand up for myself, i loved learning at school and made a couple of friends and i know my parents tried to teach me as much as they could as well, i feel that it was this that made me who i am and im happy with that and would love to do the same for my child.

 

[FebMum2Be]

BevG I agree, I will take Odhrán on trips or to places that are relevant to what he is learning at that time x

 

[ft90]

I've just been reading this thread and think it's really interesting!

I think the personality of a child can drastically affect whether home schooling is a good option, and two children in the same family could be completely different.

I loved school, always got straight As in every subject, was popular and played sports, as well as horse riding and skiing outside of school, so I had a lot of friends in and out of school. My younger brother, on the other hand, was a lot more shy than me, got bullied at every school he went to (we're half Palestinian, so always got picked on for being arabic), and never felt like he could stand up for himself. He hated school, but was usually okay when we were in the same school because people wouldn't pick on him if I was around... He got good grades, but excelled more in drama (he was always more comfortable playing a part that wasn't himself).

We then moved abroad, and the Spanish kids also picked on him at public school. I even got spat on at school by a boy, but I taught him not to do anything like that again. But my brother's bullying got so bad that my parent's pulled him out of school and taught him for 2 years. My Mum and ex-stepfather are both teachers but weren't working at the time. My brother excelled being home schooled. Then he went back to school (private this time) before his GCSEs and was a totally different child. He was in a class of 8, and because of the way the international schools work, he was a year older than the other children in his class but in the same year as he would have been in the UK. He got all As and Bs for his GCSEs and is now doing his A Levels...

The two of us are poles apart!

As for my LO's educational, he will be going to school. I think it's a good base for children. It teaches them structure, and there's nothing wrong with that in my eyes. Obviously I'm not against home schooling as it helped my brother, but for me it would be a last resort. I home studied my A Levels and absolutely hated it, because I was on my own all the time!

I also don't think I could offer my kids a good enough education! I would class myself as intelligent, I have a law degree, and have always been focused mostly on academia. However, teaching things like science and maths would be my worst nightmare!

I know it works for some people, but personally I don't like the idea for myself. Also, my school dinners were amazing!

xx

 

[FebMum2Be]

Have to agree with you on the school dinners lol some very good points hun x

 

[ft90]

Just re-read that and realised I've made a few grammatical/spelling errors... I can't see or think properly, I'm living on 4 hours of sleep thanks to LO beating my ribs to a pulp!

I wanted to add as well that I love the idea of doing trips at home to coincide with school learning. My parents always did that. After I learned something at school I would always notice it more in the world around me, and my parents would encourage me to go through it with them and we'd look for things together! Definitely want to do that with LO.

xx

 

[FebMum2Be]

I wouldn't worry about it hun I get so jumbled sometimes I use wrong words and everything lol

 

[WILMAFLINSTONE]

Well weve talked so much lately about this subject, done so much research and given the fact that when we sell our house ideally we want to move somewhere a lot more rural than where we are now, we have decided that Matilda will be homeschooled! Ive joined a few home school organsiations and groups and unless something majoy happens and changes our minds thats the decision we are going with! We personally see far more benefits from homeschooling her than sending her to school and this is something that has been discussed since I got pregnant!

Im in touch with a lot of parents and children who are HS and the more I research the more I know its right for us!

Im really excited by it all and although I only did it for a short while with K, Im really looking forward to getting cracking with Matilda when the time comes! xx

 

[redbear]

Hi i haven't read through all the convo but ill just pitch in my experience.
I went to a junior school and loved it, i dont know what i would have done at home with my mum and sister all day, probably fought my sister even more, I was a very independent child and even before school i made friends and would leave my mum to go play as much as possible. I then went to a crap high school and was bullied but i also had some of the best experiences of my life, trips to places i would not have got to see, not just going to the trip but having my friends there with me, I learnt to deal with my bullies and by year 9 i loved high school and got on with lots of people.
We got the freedom to pick four subjects to take for gcse along the key subjects and i don't know any school that won't let you have bathroom time when you want. We got two 30 minute brakes and half an hour for dinner so from 9 until 3.05 flew by and was not a long stressful day like it sounds.
I had Dyslexia so struggled with math but i was given extra help and could go after school for extra time alone with the teacher, i dont know where people think you are just left from i dont know any school that does that and our school did crappy in the ofsted's... i came out with 12 GCSE's above C in the end even though i struggled which shows how well the teachers tried with me and gave me all the help they could.
I may have some brains on me but i would never be able to teach 12 subjects to that level! I see some of the homework my nephew gets send home and i wouldn't be able to teach that as well as all the other subject.
I also think its harsh but routine etc are part of adult life and getting used to it young is a good thing. xx

 

[FebMum2Be]

I dread Odhran bringing me home maths homework, I got a C, it was the highest I could get as it was a lower level test but I struggled, I'm going to have to dig out my old books and maybe even take a class to make sure I can help him as best I can x