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Post by threelittlechicks on Feb 28, 2014 10:49:17 GMT
Hi
to those who HE, a few questions as we are thinking about it for the chicks:
1. Aren't you worn out from having children at home all day, without a break for when they go to school! Hw do you get some down time yourself?
2. If you have two children of different ages, how do you deal with their different work needs/levels
3. I can't find any definitive evidence of long term outcomes - what sort of qualifications are gained and does home schooling harm career prospects? Any of you home schooled yourself?
4. Finally, and a biggy, our middle chick currently attends a term time residential school due to his behavioural difficulties. How might this roll with him, knowing his sisters are at home all day with Mummy; between the three of them, feeling jealous (we think) we have resisted ideas of home ed in the past, as a part time option with a school, as we were so concerned how the others would respond, even though we thought it would be good for the said child. At this stage, the residential school is the best place for him, even if we started HE with the other two.
5. Oh no, one more question, do any of you work with both parents involved?
thanks in advance!
3LC
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Post by threelittlechicks on Feb 28, 2014 10:51:58 GMT
I knew I had another question!
Long term, we have an adoption allowance that is conditional on the childten being in full time education, including university. Does anyone know hw this would be viewed when the children reach 16, as I have read that HE sent recognized so much then as it is after the age of compulsory education
Thanks again
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Post by wibbley on Feb 28, 2014 23:14:19 GMT
Hi, we HE. I will try to answer your questions, but sure others will be along soon.
Firstly, yes it can be exhausting. Sometimes my head is buzzing from the constant-ness of a day (though certainly not everyday). However, just like having toddlers at home 24/7, you adjust. What I never feel is that nagging gnawing anxiety over school, the worry about what has happened that day, the looks from other parents. I also don't get the withdrawal from 1 & the horrific stress meltdown from the other. I found that a year in I noticed my kids got on much better, they were calmer, happier & able to entertain themselves. What also has been very obvious is their attachment coming on leaps & bounds. He is very social, I get a good natter with lovely parents whilst the children play. We also have 2 computers so they can work at the same time, even better - when work is done, play computer games whilst have a coffee in peace.
There is a fair bit if research out their citing that he kids out perform school educated children. However, grades are not my priority, happy, healthy, mentally well children is. They can still take their GCSEs if they wish, there are a number of ways to do so, do that shouldn't be a problem. The HE kids I know are comfortable with who they are, confident in themselves. This counts for a lot in life & your future.
I have 2 children at home, different ages but more importantly, different abilities & polar opposite learning styles. A teacher can have 30. On a 1 to 2 ratio you come out tops! Quite a number of parents He 1 child & school others, it's common. You are choosing a method that works best of each child, I am sure some kids wouldn't want to be HE.
HE is full time education, so it shoukd not affect your AO at all.
Hope that helps a little. We love your way of educating, it works for us
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Post by larsti on Mar 1, 2014 20:58:55 GMT
Not much time to reply 3LC but I wouldn't worry about doing different things for different children. Our older 2 (not adopted) were not home educated although went to small schools with parental input. Also as Wibbley says, the demands of having children around is a different kind of stress to school. You all benefit from HE. Mum is less stressed too. I have to now confess that for a while Dash has been going to a friend of mine for some one to one time (we pay her). We started with 1 morning a week, now its 3. That was more to do with my real problems with structure (I am more of an unschooler really but I could see he was beginning to need more structure). I had been praying about it and she offered to do it. She had been childminding him to give me a break and so that he could play with other children at her house for a while before that. He still has dinner at her house and play at her house once a week too! So that doesn't really help with your question in a way but that still leaves quite a bit of time when he is home  We have 2 children at home. younger BD is 14 and Dash (AS) is 9. We had a very relaxed, autonomous approach with both of them for about 3 years or more. She is an avid reader and very motivated, he is developmentally delayed so you'd think it would be difficult to meet his needs and hers, but she would do a lot on her own (and a huge amount of cooking and baking at one stage!)he did a lot of toddler stuff for ages as he was just not developmentally ready to learn to read. Also we would watch DVDs with her when he was asleep (every episode of Coast, for example), play games etc. We are part of a group that meets once a week which is a Godsend. Also things which others do as extra curricular activities (eg in our case swimming and football for Dash and piano and drama for BD 'Violet') of course count towards their education. The swimming and piano we do during the school day and the football and drama are with school children, but we are not trying to cram everything in to our day, there is plenty of pottering time for all of us and I am keeping my head above water I find they are learning all the time. The main thing is there is no need to try to replicate school at home although some do, and as Wibbley rightly says, teachers cope with 30 at a time! Think of the one room school house set up as well! Once you see everything as education it takes a lot of pressure off. Also lots of families have Dad doing some things in the evening and weekends. You have to get out of the way of thinking of the 'school day' (well in my opinion anyway) HTH Larsti |
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Post by larsti on Mar 1, 2014 21:04:19 GMT
Oh and Dash is able to do special needs activities subsidised by the county council (football and swimming are special needs sessions, also horsehandling which is a Saturday activity about once a month) so he can participate in things which otherwise he couldn't cope with. Might be something local to you like that?
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Post by larsti on Mar 1, 2014 21:17:43 GMT
Prospects are good and from what I hear, home ed children are able to access courses with fewer qualifications. For example, perhaps missing out GCSEs altogether and just doing A levels. Some we know just did a few IGCSEs and are now doing OU. On the more practical side I know of one lad who was doing a correspondence course in garden design, went to an open day at a college and ended up starting a horticultural course a year earlier than he had planned to after chatting with one of the tutors. I think routes into further education are becoming more flexible in any case and with apprenticeships as well, there are all sorts of ways young people can get into a suitable job. Talking of jobs, the home educators we know seem to be keen on taking iniative and working for oneself (giving piano lessons, cleaning jobs for other home educating familes and in the case of the young gardener, making willow sculptures which he sold for a tidy sum!) My own DD was asked to walk a puppy 3 times a week....she can do it because she is at home in the day! |
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Post by larsti on Mar 2, 2014 23:44:54 GMT
bit of an aside, but of 4 girls I was the most academically able and the only one to go to university, but I think all of my sisters are more competent than me in many areas and all have had jobs that I couldn't have done in a million years. I have no regrets whatsoever and not 'jealous' of them, not at all, but it interests me that the qualities needed to succeed in school (in my case compliance and hard work and loving books and reading!) are not necessarily what is needed for 'real life'. My contribution to society has for the most part been child rearing (since 1990) and voluntary work. I have never been idle but not conventionally successful and always underachieved because what I now know as 'executive skills' are poor. So IMHO academic success is not worth that much necessarily, only if it gets you where you want/need to be. (and how I wish I had taken typing instead of biology...typing was only for the 'less able' girls and biology was in the same group of subjects...typing much more useful  |
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Post by pingu on Apr 1, 2014 8:16:20 GMT
I got interested in computers while working in council admin and, had to take care NOT to learn to touch type, as females who could touch type ended up in the typing pool !
I would love to home school but it would never have suited my elder boy, he too much wanted to be at school and socialising all day with others. Younger one would benefit emotionally from being more with me, but I think needs the ordinary-ness of school for his social development. Plus is very clever and would probably get frustrated unless we had a very good programme and others to learn from as well is us.. We has recently won a place at a really good private school where encouraging self esteem is big, something hr badly needs, he would thrive I believe much better than the massive local secondary that has been so good for his brother. Unfortunately we are going to have to refuse the place as the bursary is nowhere near big enough to meet the fees, and frank buttle trust are only able to help special needs due to high demand. His teacher thinks he will manage ok at comp but agrees it's not ideal for him.
Good luck with whatever you decide
pingu
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Post by fruitcake on Apr 5, 2014 3:12:22 GMT
1. It does get tiring but I build breaks into our day, and have down time in the evenings and at weekends. At homeschool groups I enjoy the adult socialising just as the children enjoy the other children. 2. I am currently home educating three children, one at key stage 2 (7 - 11), one at key stage 3 (11 - 14) and one doing GCSEs! They are all capable of doing a certain amount of work independently, so I rotate between the three of them. Some things, such as science experiments, I can do with all three. And as my key stage 3 boy is dyslexic, he joins his younger sister for spelling and Spanish; they also do art together. It works well. Even little children can e.g. do simple workbooks on their own, colour in, play with maths manipulatives, do art and craft stuff independently, etc. Once they can read they are away. Regulated and occasional use of TV and computer to occupy one while you work with the other is fine too. Audio books are good, as are games and toys that only come out during "school" time. Honestly it works.
3. My eldest daughter is currently in her final year at university and doing very well. She did all her GCSEs and one A level at home, plus two A levels at college. Look up Fiona Nicholson's website as I think she has links to some examples of outcomes.
4. I would not hesitate home educating the children who would benefit from it, while leaving the other child in residential school if that is what is best for him. Treat each child as an individual and help them understand that you are doing the best you can for each of them individually. The child at school could be given special time with you when at home to compensate.
5. My dh is the sole breadwinner and I am a full-time home educator. However, I have heard of parents sharing the breadwinning and home educating roles. My dh is as involved as he can be, helping one daughter with her maths, reading to another daughter every night and taking her to her ballet classes and athletics, supervising music practice, and being a general walking encyclopaedia. He is very much on board.
Hth. |
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