Home education

[Ramrod]

The reason that I put up the school thread is Mandy and I are pretty much decided on home educating our little ones..........at least up to secondary school age. The reasons for this are many but they boil down to our own dislike of school, the amount of time wasted at school actually doing nothing, the amount of time wasted doing things that are irrelevant or of no interest whatsoever, the way that school is actually (apart from education) a means to produce uniform compliant worker 'drones'. We have the time and inclination to eduucate them ourselves, so why not do so?
We will broadly follow the curriculum and be careful to allow them plenty of opportunities to interact with other kids at clubs and home ed get togethers.
Any comments or observations?

Originally Posted by Ramrod

Any comments or observations?

Good luck! Sounds like you are doing this for precisely the right reasons (although I've not read your school thread yet!)

[dilligaf1701]

Originally Posted by Ramrod

The reason that I put up the school thread is Mandy and I are pretty much decided on home educating our little ones..........at least up to secondary school age. The reasons for this are many but they boil down to our own dislike of school, the amount of time wasted at school actually doing nothing, the amount of time wasted doing things that are irrelevant or of no interest whatsoever, the way that school is actually (apart from education) a means to produce uniform compliant worker 'drones'. We have the time and inclination to eduucate them ourselves, so why not do so?
We will broadly follow the curriculum and be careful to allow them plenty of opportunities to interact with other kids at clubs and home ed get togethers.
Any comments or observations?

Good luck with it I think it's a capital idea

[Nugget]

The only downside I can see with home education is the potential lack of 'socialisation' that kids get at school, making friends etc. Would they feel that they were 'missing out' although, having said that, if they have their friends that they play with etc, then it may not be an issue.

As long as you stick fairly close to the curriculum, I wouldn't have thought that there would be any problems - let's face it, at the end of the day, are any prospective employers / universities (a long way in the future, I know) really going to be bothered about primary level education? As long as your kids can read and write to the accepted level and have basic skills, they should be alright.

[punky]

Home schooling is fine, but school is designed to give more than just educating pupils. Homeschoolers don't tend to realise all the little things until it is too late.

Homeschooling is fine, but you have to make sure your kids interact other kids, as they would in school, and make sure they get the same amount of exercise. Make sure they attend plenty of after-school clubs, and games.

The only worry is, if you homeschool until secondary school, and then send them back to school. The leap from primary school to secondary school is big enough, from homeschool to secondary school would probably be massive. How to tackle that best might be something you'd have to consider.

[danielf]

Sounds like a lot of work to me, but if you are convinced you can teach them sufficiently well so they don't lack any knowledge/skills they will be expected to have in secondary school, go for it.

In other words, don't let your own ideals be the cause of your kids ending up in a situation where they will suffer academically. You may feel good about teaching them the stuff that you think matters, but if that means they have less chances in life, you've only done yourself a favour, not your kids.

Originally Posted by Ramrod

The reason that I put up the school thread is Mandy and I are pretty much decided on home educating our little ones..........at least up to secondary school age. The reasons for this are many but they boil down to our own dislike of school, the amount of time wasted at school actually doing nothing, the amount of time wasted doing things that are irrelevant or of no interest whatsoever, the way that school is actually (apart from education) a means to produce uniform compliant worker 'drones'. We have the time and inclination to eduucate them ourselves, so why not do so?
We will broadly follow the curriculum and be careful to allow them plenty of opportunities to interact with other kids at clubs and home ed get togethers.
Any comments or observations?

Well, you are taking on a major task. I sometimes wonder if Ivan Illich had the right idea, abolish schools altogether! You may need to hire private tutors. Have you considered all options, all the available alternative schools. One thing to consider is the importance of learning with their peers and most importantly sporting activities how will you ensure your little ones can benefit from these activiites?

Deschooling Society

[bopdude]

Good luck matey, I have always said that there was / is a better education to be had outside of school, after all, what use is half the stuff you learnt at school to you now ??? touching on the subjects was ok for a while but I've never needed most of the geography, music, history etc etc, I'm not saying to exclude them all together but really, there must be better things to learn about, espeacially in this day and age.

[punky]

I forgot to add the benefits of homeschooling, that you don't have to worry about bullying, and you can personally vet all your tutors.

[Aragorn]

TBH, I think the local junior school did a pretty good job with our eldest and it's the secondary school that concerns us more.

Having said that, if you have the time and committment then good luck to you. Apart from the three R's, I think some of the important things to teach them are :
1. Be able to motivate themselves - much better to 'want' to learn than to be 'led' to the books. As I said in the school thread, I had very little self-discipline - probably still dont
2. Be able to find things out for themselves - ask questions, don't just accept facts.
3. Enjoy learning.

HTH

[Ramrod]

Encouraging replies so far, thanks.
Our biggest worry is the social side of things, we are acutely aware that we will have to enrol them in activities and classes so that they can socialise (especially Alex who is very sociable).
Getting tutors in won't be a problem as we will be saving about 10-12K a year in school fees.
Another thing that prompted the home ed idea was that it will make it easier for us to take them to foreign countries for a month here and there for new experiences.
As for the jump from home ed to secondary school, we expect that they will be fully ready for the change by the time it comes to it.........if not then we can home ed for secondary education as well but I'd prefer to hand that over to the experts at that point because the subject matter will be getting a lot harder.

Nobel prize winners views on school

[Halcyon]

Goood luck with it.

The only things I'd say are you will have to really follow the curriculum closely and maybe join a group that can provide you with the outcomes kids need to have learnt to enter into secondary school. This will make sure that they are ready for the transition and are not left behind the others.

Also, it would be a good idea to think about how you will be distinguishing between house and school work. Maybe setting up timetables and a room set aside for just school work will be a good way of not mixing normal home life with school work, as when teaching at home, there are lots of things that could put you off working....so you will need to think of guidelines to follow.

Make sure your kids join some clubs or have some other activities to socialize with other kids and things should go well.

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by bopdude

Good luck matey, I have always said that there was / is a better education to be had outside of school, after all, what use is half the stuff you learnt at school to you now ??? touching on the subjects was ok for a while but I've never needed most of the geography, music, history etc etc, I'm not saying to exclude them all together but really, there must be better things to learn about, espeacially in this day and age.

You probably don't need most of the facts you have learned at school but school isn't just about learning facts. It is more about training the mind to look for solutions to things and to think things through. The subjects themselves give you an insight into many things and you find out the areas that are of interest to you.

One of the big problems with ordinary schooling is that not enough attention is given to the individual pupil. Every member of the class has their own rate of learning and their own areas of interest. If the teachers go at the pace of the slowest pupils then the speedier ones can soon get bored and less attentive. If the teacher goes along at the pace of the speedier pupils then the slow ones are completely lost. Choosing the middle ground can leave the slow pupils lost and the fast ones bored. Home education can enable each child to be taught at their own pace and their lessons tailored to identify and exploit their strengths and rectify their weaknesses.

Social interaction is something that can suffer and teamwork skills can be missed out on altogether. Ideally home educated children should be encouraged to take part in activities where teamwork skills are paramount.

One drawback with home education stems from an earlier mentioned fact that one on one teaching enables the child to be taught at their own pace which keeps there interest levels high. Unfortunately life itself can be quite different no matter what future occupation the child embarks upon. The child can move from a 100% interesting education to something that has peaks and troughs of interest and constantly repeating tasks, something they may have never experienced.

[Ramrod]

Originally Posted by ian@huth

One of the big problems with ordinary schooling is that not enough attention is given to the individual pupil. Every member of the class has their own rate of learning and their own areas of interest. If the teachers go at the pace of the slowest pupils then the speedier ones can soon get bored and less attentive. If the teacher goes along at the pace of the speedier pupils then the slow ones are completely lost. Choosing the middle ground can leave the slow pupils lost and the fast ones bored. Home education can enable each child to be taught at their own pace and their lessons tailored to identify and exploit their strengths and rectify their weaknesses.

Spot on! Our exact feelings!
__________________

Originally Posted by ian@huth

One drawback with home education stems from an earlier mentioned fact that one on one teaching enables the child to be taught at their own pace which keeps there interest levels high. Unfortunately life itself can be quite different no matter what future occupation the child embarks upon. The child can move from a 100% interesting education to something that has peaks and troughs of interest and constantly repeating tasks, something they may have never experienced.

In that case I would argue that the person is in the wrong job/occupation. (in an ideal world)
That is a commonly encountered 'problem' with home educated kids--they are more demanding of teachers and expect to have their views heard...........like those are bad things

[JediMaster]

I had the ladt 2-3 year of Comprehensive School at home. Due to ill health. I had a Welsh teacher (as I was in a Welsh school & they said I had to get a Welsh Tutor)... I only did the basic lessons & not GCSE's. You cant do as much at home (like Wood Work, Cooking, Chemistry ) But I did what I needed to. 1-2 hts a day & it was OK. I have no GCSE's but more Common Sense than half of my class when I was at school . lol....

I have my friends online & I work on websites & edit a large amout of Video Clips & Images. This is a great Job, if I had 11 GCSE's I would still not be able to get a better job. I am mostly housebound due to my disability. So this works best for me.

In reply to Nugget's comment..

Originally Posted by Nugget

The only downside I can see with home education is the potential lack of 'socialisation' that kids get at school, making friends etc. Would they feel that they were 'missing out' although, having said that, if they have their friends that they play with etc, then it may not be an issue.

I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Many of my older friends who have children have opted to teach the Juniors at home. This has been a effective route. They have better education & the kids like it better. As they mix with 100+ kids & grown ups at the meetings we attend. The 'socialisation' is NOT a issue. 40+ kids from Baby to 17 year olds at meetings & thats only in one small area. So I hope it works out well for you Ramrod