Greenparent

Home Schooling

2010-07-27T17:04:00+00:00

Hi there

My husband and I are seriously considering home schooling our two boys (7 and 9 years), well my husband would be the home schooler; I have no patience!

Wondering if there are any like minded people out there and if so, do you have any useful tips/info or sites that we can look at.

Thanks
Lisa

Under the radar - how long?

2010-07-24T07:06:30+00:00

Just wondering how long anyone has managed to stay under the radar of the local LEA?
DS3 is now turned five years and if following the traditional route would be getting ready for year one in September, so he has already missed nursery and reception year. DS4 is 4 in a couple of weeks so “should” be going into reception next term. So far the only official mention of school has been from the nursery nurse attached to the HV team who rang to ask what school they would be going to a few months before they would normally leave nursery for reception. Apparently she needed to transfer their medical info from the HV team to the school nurse team. Anyway I just bluffed my way along and said on each occasion that the child in question was staying back a year as they were a little too young being that they would ony just have turned four at the time she was suggesting. In DS4’s case full time reception just 14 days after his fourth birthday! She called only the once each time and we didn’t hear again.
Anyway I digress. What I wanted to know was how long I could hope to be under the radar of the LEA before they discovered we had children who didn’t attend school?
Will they already know?
Now that DS3 is turned five should I start preparing for a call/letter/visit?
We have no formal evidence of learning so far and to be honest I haven’t even thought about gathering any. Should I do so just in case?
Or just keep enjoying how things are and think about this if or when it happens?
Although thinking about the total lack of contact I had from them despite my requests when homeschooling DD1 and DD3 then maybe I don’t need to think about this until they are 16

Becks

Having second thought about starting school in September

2010-07-25T21:30:25+00:00

DD will only be 4.3 when she starts school if she joins this September. She has a younger brother who is nearly 3 and they spend almost all of their time together so she is quite young for her age. We found a really open minded relaxed school (no uniform, call teachers by their first name etc) but it still just doesn’t seem right. We had thought about home schooling before, but rejected the idea without much consideration because the school we found was so nice, and September seemed so far away that we thought she would be more grown up by now; however it’s starting to look more and more appealing. DD doesn’t really seem that enthusiastic about school. Only one of the boys from her Kindergarten is going to the same school and she doesn’t really know him. She seems to have forgotten about it every time I mention it, which is quite frequently as I’ve been knitting her jumpers. I don’t think she would be upset not to start this year, but I haven’t mentioned it to her yet. Are we too late to change our minds? How long did it take you to prepare to home school? Are any preparations needed? And if so, what?

We both work part time, we have a part time nanny and they attend a Swedish kindergarten 2 mornings a week which has DCs up to age 6. I would ideally like to just continue doing what we’re doing now for a few more years. This doesn’t really involve anything academic - we spend a lot of time looking after our pets, growing veg and plants, cooking and doing music and art (read here making noise and mess!). I read to the DCs a lot in Swedish and English and DH reads to them in English quite a lot too; they probably have about 1.5 – 2 hours story time per day, but DD is showing no interest in reading yet. Is this “enough” for reception year? How difficult is it to bring academic things into home schooling later? I’m worried that most of the learning for the first years of school is social stuff. Apart from Kindergarten the only time they spend time with other children is at swimming lessons. Would we need to join other groups to develop these skills? How many hours of contact do your DCs have with others per day? How can I tell if she is developing social skills at the normal rate?

Remembering the option of home schooling has had both me and DH kicking ourselves for not thinking about it earlier because it seems so obvious now. But I’m really scared I’m doing this for the wrong reasons. I don’t like the thought of DD going to school but I’m sure all parents get nervous at the beginning. I enjoy spending time with my DCs and I don’t want this to end, but I know it’s really selfish to keep DD out of school for my benefit. How difficult would it be to change our minds later and fit in to schools? I don’t really want to home school all the way through school, only to about age 6 or 7. There is a Swedish school near by which starts at 6 which would be an easy option but this hadn’t originally been our plan. Would it be difficult to join a normal English school at prep having missed pre-prep? Would we need to cover lots of academic stuff to be able to achieve this? Do ex-home schooled DCs normally settle in well? Are schools very accepting of older DCs who haven’t been to school before? I’m feeling really stupid for having left this so late, but I’m worried that sending DD to school in 6 weeks time wouldn’t be the right thing to do.

Home education group meetings - help please?

2010-07-23T19:08:36+00:00

Hello,

We have a home ed group which meets every week, and we are really struggling to come up with ideas that appeal to all the children. The ages range from 3 to 12 and we have a mix of learning styles from structured curriculum learning to radical unschooling. At the moment we have a smallish library room so the aim has been to do something all together around the table but that just isn’t working for some of the children so i desperately need some new ideas!
So, if you go to a group what kind of things do they have on offer? Or, if you were to come to our group what would you hope to find? Any ideas would be really appreciated
Thank you very much xx

Any Unschoolers ??

2010-07-21T17:04:25+00:00

Hiya,

I’ve read some unschooling books and am really interested in the concept, but at the moment we are still doing lesson type work in the mornings and then whatever Hananh wants in the afternoons. I think i’m really looking for some real life experiences, some idea of how your days pan out and that kind of thing - just something to make it more real as i’m a little nervous of making that final step if that makes any sense?

I have no doubt that it would be the best thing for dd, i just need a bit of reasurrance that i can do it!!

If anyone wouldn’t mind giving me a few words of encouragement i would really appreciate it - thank you

What do you put in a De-reg letter ?

2010-07-21T08:26:00+00:00

How do I compile a de-reg letter ? DS1 is not going back to school in September x

Reflections on the First Year of School

2010-07-16T11:13:12+00:00

It’s been a year packed with happenings and growth. The last day of school today - wondered if anyone would want to share reflections on the ups and downs of it? Endings and new beginnings.
best
w.w.

Answering the critics question 3 !! in which DH has a question

2010-07-16T07:45:27+00:00

Ahem , “ what about science ? there is no way you can compete with a science lab at school” “ they have bunsen burners and stuff !“ (he has visions of us setting the house on fire !!)

Answering the critics question two!

2010-07-15T09:08:41+00:00

(again my sis , although i do love her dearly x) DS1 is a timid and under confident boy ,taking him out of school would make him even worse !!

Answering the critics , Question one !

2010-07-15T07:11:39+00:00

“but how will you cope with learning at home with two ,if one is a demanding toddler , we are worried the Ds1 will be overlooked (10) as you need to spend so much time with the little one ?“ _ my sister >>>