Home Schooling

[2sp_]

How do you go about home schooling your children? Not for me, but a friend is thinking about it for her wee boy.

Do you have to be trained or hold any particular qualification to do it? Do you have to follow a set syllabus?

(She's in Scotland, if that makes any difference.)

[jim360]

And step forward Sharingan...

[2sp_]

I was hoping Shar would have some thoughts and advice!

I've told my friend to contact the local Education Authority, but she wants to find out more before talking to them.

[AlwaysConfused]

Sharingan is being home tutored, it's her parents you'd need to speak to really 2sp, or whoever is tutoring her

[Mamyalynne]

Maybe make contact here...

http://www.schoolhouse.org.uk/

[2sp_]

I just thought that Sharingan would have thoughts from a home schooled student's perspective. Is it a good idea for the child? Do they feel that they miss out on school friends? Can they differentiate between Mum/Dad as parent and Mum/Dad as educator - or even, should they?

I don't know where to begin advising my friend.

[jim360]

Why is she thinking about it?

The only qualification I'm aware of you needing if you are going to take on the job personally, would be to know what you are teaching. That and time/ money to pay for a tutor who does know the material.

You may or may not be interested to hear that I'm moving to Edinburgh next year and may be available at a reasonable price for Maths and Science education... but joking aside, as long as you or the tutor is capable, and as long as you also ensure that the child gets plenty of time outside/ with friends and so on, then I'd say go for it. There's nothing that can beat one-to-one contact with a child when it comes to education.

[Mosaic]

Much will depend on whether the child is happy with school at the moment. A child that has suffered bullying or is understimulated might welcome home schooling.
Age will be a factor as well, as will the sort of area they live in - eg a rural location will not constantly expose child to other kids walking by / having fun.
It's good to see a query about home schooling being considered from the child's viewpoint.
As far as the legality is concerned, in England you might be visited by a local authority rep - or not. During those visits you do not have to produce the child! And you do not need any qualifications or experience.

[AlwaysConfused]

It's not a bad idea to get an opinion from a teenager, but if someone asked me what I thought of my school at that age I would have told you that it was rubbish, overcrowded and the teachers under qualified. Yet it is and was a very good school. The child in question needs self-motivation and determination, which it seems Sharingan has. The individuals needs must be taken into consideration when making a choice.

[Sharingan]

Actually from age 12 I have set my own lessons alwaysconfused ( I got to GCSE standard then and decided to focus on particular things as it will benefit me more in the future).
Her first step should be the education otherwise website, they have very clear and concise information. Briefly though no-one needs any qualifications to home school and they can choose what to teach ( there is no set curriculem). They can even teach on a purely oral basis if they wish, as long as the child learns at a standard suited to it's needs. There is no need to even inform the local LHA that you are homeschooling as it's not a legal requirement but they can be very helpful sometimes. It's entirely her choice.
I would never have wished to go to school, I've enjoyed everything about my education because it was easy as it was geared specifically for me and as such it taught me the value of self discipline, how to plan, arrange and take forward a specific area of learning, what to do when I hit a brick wall of my own stupidity and how to work on my weaknesses as well as my strengths.
I'm sure it's not for everyone, but I have had only positive experiences in my own case.
If she'd like any further info I would be very happy to discuss it further but in the meantime here is the EO website for her to have a mooch through.
http://www.educationotherwise.net/

[jim360]

But not, presumably, the difference between "its" and "it's".

Couldn't resist... Sorry.

[Sharingan]

Don't you hate it when that happens? I'll get ya back jim :) lol

[Sharingan]

I used 'further' twice in the same sentence too. Bummer :)

[boxtops]

sharigan, how do you tap into the exam system, if you want to do your A levels for example? I'm sure there is a way, but it seems to be easier if you are in taught school.

[jim360]

Very probably you will, Shar -- I know how to right English proper but cant seem to get it right all the times when Im typing...

[Eve]

I'm interested that the local authority don't have to know - I would have thought it would required to help stop children "disappearing off the radar" for other reasons or to keep an eye to check they were being properly educated. I'm talking very widely in this, of course.

I'd also be interested in how further education establishments like colleges or universities and future employers would view it on a CV.

Do you take exams like you would in a school environment Sharingan and, if you planned further study, would you consider going into an environment like a sixth form college or university if you wanted to pursue further qualifications or a vocation that needs them?

[jim360]

That's an interesting question actually -- what are your plans for afterwards, if any?

And I do agree that it's odd that the LA doesn't inspect this, but usually there are no issues and perhaps it's only worth inspecting if neighbours, etc., raise a complaint.

[aelmpvw]

missing apostrophe police calling jim360 :-)

[Prudie]

Surely parents have to inform some body if they are not sending their child to school - what's to stop people keeping their children at home learning nothing?

[Sharingan]

Well it largely depends what you want to study boxtops. I'm not a science person which is beneficial to me because I think that would be more complicated but you can either do the traditional GCSE then A levels route, sometimes depending on subject they will interview you and let you launch straight in and sometimes you can do uni at 21 without any A levels anyway. It depends on the course.
My personal plan is to hammer away at the acting until I'm 18, if nothing meaningful has happened by then I'll audition for RADA, Lamda and Central and see if I get accepted there. If I do all well and good. If not then continue with the acting part time while I head towards a career in law and / or politics with appropriate A levels.
This give you various routes in at present:-
http://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/DA1ADA52-166C-4AA1-9AB3-29694313FB32/0/14TakingGCSEs.pdf

[Sharingan]

All but a couple of my older siblings have gone to Uni and graduated if that helps to answer a few questions. It's really not such a big deal, and none have had any issues with employers that I know of and are reasonably successful in the chosen occupations.