Any home edders out there?

[Pumpkin&Piglet]

I want to send my sons to Steiner!
I'm quite anti mainstream schools.
I've just come across home education as a possible alternative because Steiner costs so much (except in Hereford) - especially for two or three - and I would need to travel to the nearest school etc.
How are you finding all the ins and outs of it?

[celticmyth]

As Juzamum said,find local Home Ed groups...ours used to go swimming,ice skating,do pottery or just socialise,BUT don't think you have to socialise to the point of no time to themselves....kids need time to just BE :-) The great thing about H.E. is that your kids can make friends across the age spectrum,not just from a selection of children all born within 12 months of each other(as in school)

[Pumpkin&Piglet]

Do you think that by home educating children they are missing out though? Do they lead an over protected life, not spending enough time away from the home environment/parents?

You can never replicate the social aspect of a large school but I think that could be a good thing?

I'd like to home ed, I just want to make sure it will be best for my boys and I'm not just doing it for myself

[Rosendula]

I home educate my youngest daughter who is now 5.5 years old. My eldest two, who are now grown up, went through the whole school system from start to finish, and that is my biggest regret.

No, I don't think (most) home educated children miss out, and I don't think (most) of them are over-protected - quite the opposite in fact. In my opinion, it is school children who are missing out - on the love and care and attention of their parents. It doesn't matter how wonderful a school teacher may be, they do not provide love and nurturing, and the care and attention is divided by the number of children in the class, usually with most attention going to naughty kids. As already said, HE kids socialize with a huge range of age groups, from babies to the elderly, and in my honest opinion and from my experience, that is a far more valuable form of socializing than only being with same-age kids and being told not to speak to the adults unless spoken to or given permission to. As for the over-protection thing - don't you think school children are over protected? Often driven by their parents to school, escorted onto the school grounds, watched by teachers the whole time they are there before being escorted off the premises and driven home again? Some people refer to home educated children as "free range". I like that

Also, remember that if you do decided to home educate and find it's not for you, you can always change your mind. L

[celticmyth]

Hi P & P,
I don't think my daughter missed out socially or otherwise.She still had friends who went to school that she played with ,plus all the HE kids and they used to be able to run off and play whilst we parents had a well-earned cuppa lol .
When they're old enough to go on their own,you no longer always have to go to the sporty stuff that a HE group gets up to,it's lovely for a group of teenagers to be skating or swimming together......And i found that the majority of HE kids are more socially aware and able to talk to people of all ages,whereas kids in school are very much with a one-age group and don't (on the whole) gain this skill until they start work etc. I would recommend HE and would do it again if i had the choice :-D

[Pumpkin&Piglet]

That's excellent, thank you.

I think all I can do really is try it, anything I see as a problem try and fix and if I can't and it's a big issue then enrol them in a school! I imagine though as you say the children will benefit form the experience of being HE

I think my main concern is them having a group of friends they see regularly and can be close to but if we go to sports groups etc and meet other HE children then that should sort that!

Just got to get my husband on board now although he hasn't put up much resistent so far

[celticmyth]

I don't know if anyone has already mentioned http://www.education-otherwise.net/,they probably have,i'd advise anyone to join when they're starting out,they used to provide you with lots of info and an extremely handy contact list,which is fantastic and the way i spoke to my first home edders....i looked up any in my area and phoned them!They'll put you on to anything local happening,and that way you build up your social contacts,even if you start off with one other family x

[welshmum]

As new he'ers we are really enjoying it so far. Dads first day in charge didnt go so well but on the whole the kids have been great and we feel we have been coping well. We have had a few of the gossip and bad comments but on the whole we have been suprised by how unbothered most people have been. In the last report from the school my kids were rated as average and we were told teh eldest has a tendancy to switch off. At home he has been so interested in everything and given the attention he has been receiving he is learning bucketfuls in half the time. We did a mock sat this morning and he scored really well. Our 4 year olds counting has come on in leaps and this is all the encouragment we need. In 3 weeks they have learned as much as the last 3 months in school. If you have the time and commitment I would strongly recommend.

In all honesty I do still have days where I think are we doing the right thing, but on the whole I am absolutely loving teaching my children.

[Pumpkin&Piglet]

So good to hear positives as I'm convinced this is the way to go but my husband needs still more persuading I recon!

[welshmum]

If you want to can you take a "holiday" from school and trial run home ed for a week. Your not makeing an official decision and you can seee the pros and cons first hand without any committment? We did this and we were convinced after the week. Make sure you have planned the week with activities, and try to have a little theme behind your exercises.

[demi]

my kids are not strictly home educated but we live in macedonia and they dont start school here until they are 6 ( my daughters 4 and my son is just 4 months) but im starting to teach my daughter reading and writing in english just now and will be doing the same for my son when hes older. plus i studied zoology and have a keen interest in popular science/quantum physics ( love brian cox and ben goldacre!! :) and my husband did agronomy and sustainable agriculture so we're also teaching them about all things biology/science related.

[magicguitarman]

I was home schooled myself and I can highly recommend it from a kids point of view. My mum and dad are both ex teachers which I guess helped with the ins and outs of the actual educating but they hated the system and neither me no my two sisters ever attended conventional, Steiner or any other sort of school.

I loved it. I was hardly ever sat down and given 'lessons'. But when during the course of life in general we came across something that I needed to know then I learnt it. I spent a lot of my childhood running about getting muddy and playing my guitar. I think I personally would have enjoyed the sporting and social aspects of school but my sisters didn't miss anything. The comment most often made when we were little was that people couldn't believe we were home schooled because we were so "well adjusted" and "socially confident". Looking back I think that sort of talk mildly offended my parents and the reason that we were both of those things is their hard work and dedication. they made sure we got out and met people, and we got to ride horses, play music, run about playing games with other kids or whatever else we wanted that the budget could afford!

I'm the oldest, and me and the next sister both have degrees and loved our time at Uni. I work in education (although not formal) now and so this kind of topic is very close to my heart. Little sister is currently studying dance in Edinburgh and also having a great time. I'll repeat my massive recommendation and if anyone wants to ask me any questions I'd be glad to answer.

[Pumpkin&Piglet]

Thank you so much, your insight is great

If me and my OH have any questions I'll come back to you!

When you mentioned horse riding it bought the question of money into my mind. Did your parents find it expensive to provide such activities for you? I don't mean to be rude but were you well a well off family?

[magicguitarman]

Not rude at all! Very valid question. We really weren't well off at all though. Mum was a full time mother who sometimes did freelance writing. Dad was and still is a self employed woodworker who also spent my childhood building our house. We grew up in a caravan living very much hand to mouth. My parents really did find it expensive to do stuff for us, we had limits and had to chose what was important to us.

[Marc]

My kids were home edded although my (ex)wife took them off so I wasn't involved for long. My daughter's now 30 with a young son who she intends to home ed.
I thought that my ex was still involved with Education Otherwise, and when I looked at their website I see that both her and my daughter are listed on the home page