Does anyone here home educate?

Honestly?????? Wow I'm surprised. I'm sure they do experience more than at school and will get to have lots of great experiences, but I didn't mean sheltered in that way - I meant sheltered from the knocks of school life (bullying/ bad language etc etc).

Not at all. We meet up with many children, still see old school friends, etc, etc. They go to clubs, groups, activities, etc where they come across all sorts, hear all sorts, etc. We walk down the street, go to the shops, library, etc, etc. It's all there as well, not just in schools!

Although He isn't for me (I am far too impatient and get rattled too easy, home work is bad enough for me ) I can see why parents do it Our kids love the interaction they get at school with their friends and it is so so different to my day where we basically just sat and learned.
My friend in the Us turns some days of their holiday trips into "school" days, imagine taking a school trip to the Grand Canyon, now that is a school trip and a half she is a qualified teacher but chose not to teach in the school environment.
The first swear word Kieran ever heard was from an adult in the street! I must confess to letting the odd expletive out now, especially for a stubbed toe
Crossed posts there, when I have mentioned to some people I know a friend who HE's they assume she is some kind of old hippy or that her kids are recluses I do think Ruth has a point though, I wish I could "shelter" our kids from the bullying, swearing, rough and tumble of school life but it is life after all (bullying terrifies me though and it is constant to some degree in both K and A's life, not major but enough)

Not at all. We meet up with many children, still see old school friends, etc, etc. They go to clubs, groups, activities, etc where they come across all sorts, hear all sorts, etc. We walk down the street, go to the shops, library, etc, etc. It's all there as well, not just in schools!

No I know you do. What I mean is I'm surprised that you aren't aware of what "the masses" view is of home education. Most of the women I have met through having Martha think that its only something that is done if the child needs to be removed from school due to ill health or bullying. It's not widely understood.

Not at all. We meet up with many children, still see old school friends, etc, etc. They go to clubs, groups, activities, etc where they come across all sorts, hear all sorts, etc. We walk down the street, go to the shops, library, etc, etc. It's all there as well, not just in schools!

No I know you do. What I mean is I'm surprised that you aren't aware of what "the masses" view is of home education. Most of the women I have met through having Martha think that its only something that is done if the child needs to be removed from school due to ill health or bullying. It's not widely understood.

Ah, ok, my bad, I misunderstood. I think it is being more widely understood. I talked to many, many people before we took the boys out and most people were very positive. The main question was about socialisation, but once explained they understood very quickly. The single negative response I had was from a friend who was a teacher. Even the boys teachers were great, very positive!

I would love to HE but dh hated being HE so he won't even consider it. Don't think his mom really took it that seriously & they weren't socialised at all. Dh was painfully shy when I met him, the complete opposite to me.

Also, dd is being educated in an extremely good school through the irish language. In juniors (age 4-5) they speak both english & gaelige for 2 weeks & then they are only allowed speak "as gaeilge". It still amazes me how fast they pick up language at that age. This was also a major factor in our (& by our I mean my coz dh won't consider it) decision whether to HE or not. I'm not good at languages & would like to give her that start. BIL was educated in a gaelscoil (Irish language school) & he can speak several languages & picks them up extremely fast.

Not at all. We meet up with many children, still see old school friends, etc, etc. They go to clubs, groups, activities, etc where they come across all sorts, hear all sorts, etc. We walk down the street, go to the shops, library, etc, etc. It's all there as well, not just in schools!

I think the difference between HE and school is peer pressure. Kids might be exposed to the same behaviour but there isn't the same pressure to conform. Large groups of same age children encourage anti-social behaviour and bullying, small groups of mixed age children do not.

I wouldn't have said children tend to mix in large groups at school though - usually small groups form outside the classroom and tables within a class setting would be a small group.

Not at all. We meet up with many children, still see old school friends, etc, etc. They go to clubs, groups, activities, etc where they come across all sorts, hear all sorts, etc. We walk down the street, go to the shops, library, etc, etc. It's all there as well, not just in schools!

No I know you do. What I mean is I'm surprised that you aren't aware of what "the masses" view is of home education. Most of the women I have met through having Martha think that its only something that is done if the child needs to be removed from school due to ill health or bullying. It's not widely understood.

That's a common misconception. Lots of people HE from the start for very positive reasons. Either way people do not choose to HE to shelter their kids from the big bad world.