Tell me about HE

Thanks for all the replies. I've spoken to DH at length about this now, and he's totally and utterly against it. I'm not going to move him from that opinion (I've known him long enough to know when there's no point in trying), so I'm trying to explore other options. I'm wondering if there's a mechanism whereby I could home ed. part-time? Like so many days a week or fortnight? DH agrees that he won't mind if I home ed. on maybe one day a week or fortnight, but only on the agreement that if Ethan won't participate in whatever activities we plan and/or it starts to turn out that the day is spent shopping, etc... that we put a stop to it. Is this possible though?

I keep trying to come and reply and then I either go bed early or the girls are needing attention!!

Part-time isn't a right like full time home educating is - you will need the agreement of the school for this... BUT that said a few people I know do it but they end up just wishing they could full time instead!!

My DH used to be dead set against it - what are his reasons? Mine didn't realise what home-ed was about really and once he realised I wasn't going to be sitting her down at a table and TEACHING her stuff it's more going out and exploring and learning as we go along...

She does have some maths and english excercises which we do from time to time but only when she wants to really as her nature isn't to sit still and learn, it's on the move learning but she's likely on the spectrum anyway So we just follow her lead...

We do horse riding, forest school (she LOVES), Adventure playground is a great place for her to play with other kids, we go to free sessions run at an art gallery and she does gymnastics and drama lessons too - so she's not exactly missing out and I have my daughter back instead of the miserable surly child I had when she was in school...

I'm also finding it easier to work on any emotional issues as she has consistency being with me all the time instead of her trying to get her head around the school's approach (ignore it, stop making a fuss) and mine which is helping her to understand where those feelings come from and work with them instead of ignoring them...

Anyway I'm rambling and didn't mean to hit send last time!!!

Our days vary massively and yes some days the girls play by themselves for a bit while I do laundry or cleaning and we do go shopping and to the post office and etc but those are all potential learning experiences (certinly at this age anyway) - we learnt where the money from the charity shop goes, she helped a lady doing shelf labels at tesco - etc etc...
We have found that a bit of charm on our part and most working adults provided they are not busybusy are happy to give a 5yo a few mins of their time to explain what they're doing
And she will have time on the computer too whether it's just playing cbeebies games or doing a maths game which gives me time with Grace instead of both of them, or time to do chores (or sit and have a cuppa!! )

Ah right I'm def rambling now... Will post and run!

I have a particularly daft question about HE that I have always wondered...do you have to fund all the stuff yourself or do you get a grant for home Ed...just thinking about the fact that the kids get tripes etc paid for at school by the govt (although some we do have to contribute to) but they get alot of resources for free...if you HE are you left to foot the bill for everything?

Yep, we get to pay for everything.

Yep, we get to pay for everything.

Oh wow that's a bit unfair

It's irritating, yes. If we had a grant we could do so much more with the boys. Unless there are funds I've not heard about then there's not a lot we can do.

We do pay for everything but that said we don't pay full price for a lot of things because you can organise a discount like schools would get...

So yesterday we went on an organised zoo trip which would have normally costs us about £25 - instead it was £16... Big difference!

Horse riding is an organised thing too so it's £7.50 instead of £15...

Just to add a different viewpoint...

I/ours didn't find autonomous learning worked well for us so we now have a slightly more structured approach. After 2 years deschooling we tried an American curriculum. I was initially opposed to using some form of written curriculum and we did enjoy several projects we did on our own. However, with 5 children I have found the books we use invaluable as it keeps me on track and I don't need to find the work myself (which I must admit was becoming a burden for me). We can choose to miss some of the repetitive work or things they have covered but having it all set out helps me to assess what they have/haven't done.

I don't feel we need to make sure we cover every single thing as I believe children taught at home can absorb a lot more, having more one-to-one time. Similarly, I don't feel we have to stick to the age ranges indicated by curriculum books. We just go by what stage the individual child is at. For eg DD1 is one and a half years later than suggested and DS is 2 years later. WHereas DD2 is at the level suggested and DD3 (just about to get her first grade books in 2 years early!