9 posts tagged “home education”

There was a very interesting Private Members Bill debated by the Commons today.  The full transcript is in Hansard, but here are a few of the gems:

"People unfamiliar with the ethos behind home education might question the defensiveness of some who home educate: “Why not let the Government in if there is nothing to hide?” Of course, that refrain has seen many other freedoms cast aside over the past decade or so. Independence to pursue the choice that is right for a particular child at the speed at which that child wishes to learn is the cornerstone of home education. Home educators opted out of the system by and large because they lacked confidence in the idea of a very strict and regulated state system. That is something that has been apparent for quite some time—20 or 30 years. I am talking about the rise of the national curriculum and ever more testing, which are, understandably, concerns."

"The Government have a right only to ensure that the education that the state, predominantly via local government, provides is of good quality, and the authorities can intervene only when people are seen to be breaking the law. It is for the same reason that police do not routinely visit people’s homes to check for stolen property. Therefore, there is an overwhelming case that home educators should be allowed to get on with their lives without undue state interference."

"With regard to the other aspirations in the Every Child Matters agenda, home educators contend that they are far more likely to fulfil the Government’s objectives than the state system. Home education is personalised, child led and free from some of the detrimental effects of curriculum constraints, constant testing and standardisation. Home-schooled children can learn autonomously, often spend more time on physical activity and can learn in an environment free from bullying and peer pressure. Many studies have shown that, regardless of socio-economic background, home-educated children consistently outperform school-educated children."

We don't do curriculum at the moment (in the traditional sense) but we make it up as we go along.  We cover the children's interests and fit in extra subjects as we go along.  For instance, we covered Scottish history when we went to Scotland and the Egyptians to fit in with a visit to the King Tut exhibition.  Surprisingly enough the kids seem to have a really clear chronological historical knowledge even though we don't necessarily cover it in chronological order.  They seem to fit it together like a jigsaw puzzle.  They are much more clever than me!

However, I am finding the collation of all the information they need a bit time consuming and difficult.  We are therefore looking at a very flexible curriculum (for 3 age groups!)with plenty of different activities to stimulate their minds.  I won't tell you which, because that will sway you - really it will!  I love the idea of having it all in front of me, but I really don't want to be doing "school" at home.  I want plenty of reading time, plenty of talking and discussion and not too much bookwork.  I really do believe that they need to write to learn, but I also don't want every new discovery to be killed by the threat of written work.  The kids can smell written work coming!!

We have maths curriculum for Ewan and Callum.  I am making it up as I go along for Isobel. That is it for curriculum really.

What works for us??  We love A Child's Geography.  We also love the Apologia science books.  We are studying Zoology at the moment.  In both there is lots of practical application and some written work (notebooking and lapbooks) but real flexibility.

SO, for the homeschoolers among you;  do you use curriculum?  What do you use and WHY?

Our Education Welfare Officer (EWO) came from the LEA (Local Education Authority) this morning.  My responsibility under the law is to educate my children.  Every child has to be educated but it doesn't have to be in school.  After that, the Home Educating "community" and government can clash rather.  Fortunately, the particular LEA that we live under are quite friendly to home educators and our EWO is friendly and seems to genuinely enjoy chatting to the children.  We had an enjoyable chat and she fulfilled her role and ticked her boxes.  She will come back in a year.

Many Home Educators avoid the LEA.  If your child has never been registered in school or if you move house, you have no responsibility to inform the LEA of your education choice for your children.  As our children were deregistered from school, the LEA in Basingstoke were informed.  We didn't ever see them.  When we moved, I informed the LEA of our arrival.  I can hear Home Educators around the country gasping at this!  Why would I do that and have them coming to see me, when I could avoid them until they find me? 

I am a conformist by nature.  Really I am.  I even Home Educate in a conformist way (as I was told by a friend - she was right).  I am also a worrier and the thought that the LEA were looking for me (they wouldn't be, but stay with me on this) would worry me.  I would rather they came over and checked their boxes and left me alone for another year.  They are only doing what they feel they have to do anyway.

Doing this does make me feel a bit like the class snitch.  I am sure plenty of HE would feel that I betray them by suggesting to the LEA that they have a right to tell me how to educate my children.  I don't think they do.  If they wanted to challenge me, I would be happy to defend my rights.  I just see it as a way to continue what I am doing in a quiet way, under a friendly LEA.  Also, I educate my children in a way that is easy to measure.  We are middle class and live in a fairly average home, but a nice home.  Would it be different if we lived differently and educated differently - I don't know.  I would hope not.

So here is the huge caveat.  There are plenty of HE that live in other authorities that are having a very difficult time.  Each LEA has their own interpretation of the law.  Some have a reputation of being pretty difficult.  People do live under a very real threat that their education choices will be challenged in the courts.

Should we, therefore, have a unified policy on Home Educating?  Absolutely not!  The minute the government start legislating, all sorts could happen and none of it good!

Good news for the Home Ed community!  According to the BBC and Education Otherwise, the Government have dropped plans for the compulsory registration of Home Educated children.  This may not feel like much of a victory to some, but when you consider that UK legislation puts the responsibility for the education of children on the parents it becomes clear that compulsory registration erodes our rights as parents.  It is also a stepping stone for government to introduce testing/curriculum etc.  Then the flexibility that we have to educate our children as we wish is gone.

By law children have to be educated.  Schools are a service provider.  Some do a very good job and others do not.  We choose not to use that particular service provider.  Maybe one day we will, maybe we won't.  That is our right.  What seems to be overlooked is that if my children are not educated, I am responsible whether they are at school or not! 

The DfES Introduction to Consultation says:

"It is the legal right of parents to educate their children at home if they so wish and the Department for Education and Skills supports the right of parents to make this choice for their children"

Hooray!  Hooray!  Hooray!

Callum is sat at the table with his maths in front of him.  As is the usual form, he asks if he can do a page that is too easy;  I say no and make him do the page that is his level;  he groans and gets on with it.  Usually he is pretty quick as he finds maths easy (unlike me!).  So....

instead of the the 'groan and get on with it' we get;

"Oh Mum, we will all fry from global warming by the time I finish that!"

The little exchanges that make the day pass happily!!

Anyone who says that home education will cure all ills is misleading you!  Whenever I speak to people considering home ed, I am always honest about the good and the bad.  Some days are wonderful;  you can see the change in the children and rejoice in their successes, but I would hate someone to remove their children from school because I had mislead them.  You will always meet people who are evangelical about home education.  They are right in some ways.  It is like any aspect of child rearing.  It can be wonderful in ways you could never have imagined before.  It can also be utterly soul destroying.

Today has been one of those days - the latter!  The kids got up before me (not unusual!) and went on a four person wreaking mission before I surfaced.  I was laid in bed listening to fights over who was cheating at chess;  who used up the last of the cereal and general grumpyness.  I laid in bed wondering whether the day would be better if I just shut the door and let them get on with it!  Against my better judgement, I got out of bed and the day began.

I must say that my first thought was right.  Stay in bed!!  I will not bore you with the details because they are too terrible.  After an hour of everything going wrong, I decided that wailing was my best approach to the children (not proud of this) and one was in her room, the two boys were tidying the dining room and I had steam coming out of my ears.  I dealt with it badly.  I had to sit the kids down and apologise to them (very difficult for me but important!) and they explained some of their wrongs (most of them minor to be fair to them).  We decided to start the day again.  They are now getting on with their literacy work and I am writing this.

Then Momto5minnies made me cry!  (well the video on her blog did!) Thanks.  Actually it was just what I needed.  Home educating these children is the highest privilege I could have been given.  I am only babysitting and when one day I hand them back to the Father, I want him to be pleased that he entrusted them to me!

There is government consultation going on at the moment that threatens the way that we home educate.  The Link will take you to a website from Education Otherwise that explains the changes that are proposed.  As far as I can tell it really means an increase in regulation which is opposed by a large population of Home Educators in the UK.  From my point of view, I am not opposed to LEA visits and some regulation.  I understand that home educated kids can be at risk.  I also feel that they are no more at risk than any other population of children.  I don't want to be subject to testing or increased interference.

The law at present states that:

"7. The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable-

(a) to his age, ability and aptitude, and
(b) to any special educational needs he may have,

either by regular attendance at school or otherwise."

I resent government telling me how to raise my children.  I have little say about what would happen to them in school and so I feel that they should leave me alone now that I have removed them from school.  I am not a parent who is going to sit by and leave them to fend for themselves.  I am also not trying to use them for unpaid labour (chance would be a fine thing!!).  I am really feeling the benefits of having my children at home.  I am not anti school (they do a fantastic job) but I am pro Home Education.

Anyway, enough of the rant.  The reason for this post is to promote a campaign called Hands Up 4 HomeEd.  It would be wonderful if they had enough hands to send to the government to make a real impact.  I think it is a lovely idea and it will show home education in a positive light - it is for the children, by the children.

See what you think....

We have started to meet some lovely people locally which is nice.  The kids are settled into Brownies and Scouts so they are feeling happier.  Slowly things are happening.  It was difficult moving in before Christmas because everybody was busy with their own lives and the usual avenues for making friends were not there.  We now have people to visit and friends to call on which is great.

We also met some home educating friends at the Swindon Group.  They meet regularly and seem very friendly.  They made us feel very welcome and the kids played really well together.  Home educated kids seem to manage to organise themselves well.  Not that others don't but I think they spend a lot more time entertaining themselves.  It was lovely to talk to some people who had home educated for a long time and had seen the results.  On those days when it seems like an uphill struggle remembering their children will keep me going.

Today we have had the usual struggle with writing.  I am ashamed to say that we haven't finished our thank you letters yet.  Well Ewan hasn't!  The others are in the envelopes waiting for Ewan's.  We have done some maths which was good.  Isobel is finding some of it hard which is unusual for her.  I will have to think of another way to explain it all.  Sometimes that is all that is needed.  Maybe we will move on to something else and come back to it.  I don't want her to worry about one area of her maths and let it cloud everything else.

Anyway we are off to the local lake to float the remote control boats.  I have told them that if they let the battery run out in the middle of the lake, I am not going in to get it.  Stuart will tell you that lakes in January can be very cold!!  We will see.....

Is it just me that struggles with kids that delay as long as possible in the hope that I will give up and let them do what they want?  There is not often out and out resistance to work.  They usually sit down and get on.  Callum and Issy have figured that if you get work done as quickly as possible then you can play - figures!  Ewan on the other hand just delays and delays.  He might write one word every 15 minutes on a bad day.  There is always a pencil to sharpen, a trip to the toilet, paint to watch dry etc.  If I leave him for so much as a minute, he stops.  Now, I know that you must think that the work must be very dull.  Sometimes it is but no matter how much fun we have, at some point he will need to write something down!  Some days, I can get quite imaginative and other times, I am not feeling so creative.  However I try, we struggle. 

My home educating head says leave him and he will write one day.  My National Curriculum head says he will fail his SATs.  Not that we even intend to put him in for his SATs.  We have friends with kids who are writing War and Peace (well not quite!).  It is easy to feel under pressure from the competition!!  Also I am never sure if I will have to put them back into school.  We are still at the beginning of this journey...