Homeschooling... Yay or Nay? - Poll - Please Vote

That's just it, you don't actually *teach* anything, it's about them finding out and doing it themselves. We already have a chemistry set in the house used with supervision of course and a set of molecular thingies to make structures with (see, I can't even remember the proper name ), an electronics set, etc, etc . It's not hard to find things online at all (including books for teachers of "100 photocopiable maths lessons" ), right down to the frog for disection. But you are there to find the resources, not to teach them. You aren't expected to be interested in everything your children are, it wouldn't be humanly possible. The idea is that they will find what they want to. I already have a 4yr old history buff in the making - I cleared out his bookshelves and pulled 18 history books out. He can't yet read, but he can tell you all about the Romans, Normans, etc and knows exactly where to find what he wants in each and every book. This certainly hasn't come from me and dh being from a different country has very little knowledge of British history.

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Dh is doing a program on homeschooling this week. He's asked me to do a simple poll about it (is that allowed?)...

Just simple really! What do you think about homeschooling... YES OR NO?

Thanks!

Homeschooling is an American term, in the UK it's referred to as home education.

That aside, I'm not sure exactly what your questions is. Are you asking people if they agree with the principal of HE, whether they think it should be a legal option, whether they would consider HE, whether they are planning to HE, whether they currently or have in the past HE'd?

I agree with ladybird that most people have absolutely no idea what HE is like or how it works.

We do HE. Thankfully we also live in Scotland where the government is very supportive of HE families.

I *think* he simply wants to know if people are for it or against it to see what the general view is. He's asked me to ask on here & on face book & his collegues are doing the same (they will get very different opinions I'm sure as they're all single males without kids ) I'm assuming he's got a couple of interviews lined up too which will go into more about the pro's & cons.

Not really sure as I was in the middle of dealing with the girls when he rang

I've added a poll. Please vote if you haven't already.

Thank you!!!

In theory i'd love to do it up to primary school level but i will be working.dh is dyslexic and not confident in maths,science or english/language so i'd have a hard time persuading him to do it.
I'm also not sure about once they get to secondary school age like beth said i'd be worried about qualifications,facilities and the breadth of subjects.

Having effectively done a teach yourself medicine course at uni which was all self directed with no lectures and not much facilitation i'm not a big fan of self directed learning now tho but can see how it would work at a lower level.incidentally the uni i studied at are now introducing more formal teaching again.

You don't need qualifications to go to university. Lots of HE kids go to college or university. They get a place based on an interview and a project or portfolio. Universities often prefer HE candidates as they have the self-learning and self-discipline skills many school pupils lack. Interestingly, Oxford has never rejected an application from an HE candidate.

Of course, many HE kids go straight into a job and train in the real world and do just as well if not better than those with formal qualifications.

I can think of two reasons why it didn't work so well for you. Firstly there was "not much facilitation" and secondly children who have been to school have had quite a lot of their self-learning skills drummed out of them. By the time they get to university level they have forgotten how to do it and have to relearn. It's harder to do it that way.

This is an area I find really interesting, as a secondary school teacher I can see the problems with 'classroom' teaching and find it disheartening when kids don't get to feel inspired by what they are learning. I also think that schools create an artificial dependence on spoonfeeding information. There is something missing, I would really love to see more home ed ideas filter through into schools, self teaching and independence of ideas are not encouraged enough until A level, and that is really sad.
I would love to home ed my children, I went to a really interesting forum years ago about alternative education methods with a uni pal who wrote his dissertation on alternative and anarchist education methods such as freeschooling and home ed. I was amazed at how well rounded the kids there were, I don't klnow why but I had expected very sheltered kids with few social skills but was happy to see athat they were all confident and outgoing kids with charm and charisma. I think that if money wasn't an issue for us I would definitely home ed mine.

A no from me. Our children get so much out of the social interaction they get at school, they are the only 2 in our street that go to the school they go to (the good school) so are a bit isolated in that respect and I wouldn't want them to be more isolated.

BUT having said that I know exactly what HE is about, I think people assume it is sat down at a table 9am-3pm doing "school" work, there is the curriculum as a guide but not follwed in the same respect as a traditional school education. My friend in the US home Schools and she is always telling me about the days out they take to various places like dairy farms, trips to the mountains etc etc .

I am not thick but just wouldn't be confident in my own abilities to do it, hats off to those who do though.

I do make people chuckle at a very used source in our kids homework (we are non RC and our kids go to a RC school) it is Catholic online

I voted 'Yes' as I love the idea in theory but DH and I both work in the traditional sense (ie go out to work during weekdays for an employer).

However, I'm not sure I could cope with home-educating DD1 as she is like a little whirlwind of energy and seems to loathe me trying to give her any information at all . I probably go about it all wrong by trying to 'teach' her rather than letting her find things out for herself more - I'd love to learn more about helping her gain knowledge rather than the old-school learning by rote (which is how I remember being taught).

What do you do then say when LO is older, standard / higher grade type level and they are interested in Maths, Physics or Chemistry for example

I have the opposite problem - I feel very capable of helping my girls learn Maths/Sciences to a high level, but struggle with coming up with creative/artistic things for them to do. DD1 seems to be much more inclined to draw and paint or 'make things' than show interest in numbers or science, so I am often being shown by her how to be more creative

Maybe we could have a home education child-swap where I send mine out to get some creative input and I could help with Maths and Science

I think if you are a family that has the time and patience to home school - go for it.

I know a few people that have home educated their children (for various reasons) and the children really love it, they belong to all sorts of clubs (as well as the home schooling network), so socialising is not a problem.

On a personal level - in someways i would love to home school my children (up to secondary level only though) but i know i would never have the patience to do it, and i supposse i am a bit selfish in that i like time to myself as they grow up and the ability to go out to work.

I certainly think that it also depends on where you live and how good your local schools are. I am quite anti our local schools and education service here atm for the insistance that every child is taught Welsh before they can even read or write in English and at secondary level they have more Welsh lessons a week than they do English! But that is another issue altogether.

I think yes for primary and no for secondary. Schools teach the bad side of social interaction, sure, but adults all do need to learn how to get on with other adults (for the most part!). Working in a large organisation is not that different to being at school sometimes, and learning to survive at school comes in very handy in later life.

Plus I know that HE kids do very well, go to University etc, and the comment about Oxbridge entrance is illuminating. But there is no way I could have learned the Theory of Circular Motion, or certain aspects of Statistics, or the correct pronunciation for various words in Spanish, without the help of my, for the most part, dedicated and inspirational teachers. Maybe I was just lucky, but most people I know had at least one teacher in their lives who truly believed in them and gave them the drive and ambition to push on, and for me, to succeed in a completely male dominated world.

Thank you Mrs Weaver, Mrs Harris, and Miss Gordyniec , you helped make me who I am today!

My friend in the US home Schools and she is always telling me about the days out they take to various places like dairy farms, trips to the mountains etc etc .

I know quite a few HS families in US and it's quite different there. Different states have different rules and regulations, here there are very few and I have no clue about the National Curriculum really, we don't follow one at all and certainly not that one.