Home Education…

 

So ‘home education’ is one of those scary words that people hear and it draws a range of emotions and questions. 

 Why would you do that? 

Are you allowed to do that?

How will they socialise?

What will they study?

Are you a teacher?

Is there something wrong with them?

Why would you want to be with your kids all day?

Will you stop work?

These are just a few we've been asked. 

You often get the people who look at you and you can see that they’ve thought about what you've said and they think you've lost the plot but are also incredibly brave. Then you get the parent who are fascinated by it and ask a million questions but would never actually consider it as an option…

There’s so many responses it’s amazing. Not all of them are positive though. Not everyone ends up here the same way. Our story is not an unusual one in many ways but in others is. 

We were offered our first place primary school for our eldest in the September he was due to start school. A fantastic school, bright and colourful and one that I know he would have thrived in if sent. 

The problem was Covid. We had a very sick family member who was advised not to have mass contact and our child would’ve provided that. We were advised that doorstep visits would be ok but no hugging or close contact. We couldn’t do that. So we started searching for options. Eventually we discovered that as he wasn’t CSA (compulsory school age) we could defer until the January and keep his place. Perfect…only nothing changed. 

I had used the time between September and January to work out our options for each scenario. We tried initially negotiating with the school. We wanted to flexi school they didn’t agree. Wanted to defer again, firm no. So we went with Hone Educating. 

It was hard. Not because of my child but because I was a teacher. Unschooling myself was the hardest part of the decision and for any parent who has been to school or who has been involved in the education system, it’s hard. But it’s doable.

Now im not here to tell everyone that he school system is wrong far from it. For many children it works well. It provides structure and routine. It also provides a very demanding and difficult timetable, exams, expectations, social connotations, bullying…

I am very lucky, my boys are awesome. 

They are dedicated to achieving things and they do it with real passion. They are also kind and understanding young people. They get on with almost everyone. They are empathetic. They can tell when a child is upset or hurt or in need of support. They will always be first in to help. They have sadly also learnt a hard lesson that not everyone is like them (more in a later post). 

But our journey is very exciting in that we have a timetable but we will also never, ever say no to an adventure. Over the past week they have - 

- been climbing

- played cricket

- been skateboarding and scootering

- been to music lessons (piano and guitar) 

- been to beavers/cubs

- been snowboarding

- been bodyflying 

- been to drama 

- been swimming 

They are still looking for more excitement! 

They also have responsibility for their pets, two large dogs who they feed daily (not walk as the dogs would be to strong) and who they play with daily. They also have a new hamster who is 99% their responsibility. 

They work towards elements of achievement within their daily activities and we do ‘subjects’ as part of our day as opposed to at set times. 

So for us HE works. I love having the time with the kids, i enjoy watching them achieve and they enjoy the freedom of being out and about when it’s quieter.