Warm boot recommendations please

[freerange]

Thanks everyone. They freerange (obviously )

Sorry to go off topic ( ) but Freerange, I just wondered, do you home educate your children? It was something you said ages ago & I meant to ask...not nosey, just interested. Well, nosey & interested. If so, it would be lovely if you started a topic telling us a little about your decision & how it's going. Also, anyone else doing same might show up. If you don't, sorry again, don't know what I'm talking about!

So here it is....

 

DS is 13 & has been home edded for nearly 4 years. For a long time we teetered on the edge of bringing him out of school - he hated doing subjects he had no interest in, and equally hated having to stop doing something he WAS interested when he felt he;d only just got going.. I'd always been aware that it was legal to HE, having seen it mentioned on Newsround when I was a teenager, but had never considered it a suitable option for us - after all, if the teachers couldn't get him to learn a subject he wasn't interested in, what hope did I have? Then the revelation came in the form of a book called The Unschooling Handbook. Why learn a subject he's not interested in? Help him to follow his interests & the learning would naturally follow.

 

So far it seems to be working well - from having a strong dislike of academic maths when he left school, he's now decided that maths is interesting and is working his way through the GCSE syllabus & will hopefully sit the exam 2007 (a year early) along with another subject, followed by further subjects the year after.

 

Since coming out of school his interest in reading has mushroomed. We now suspect that the school's strategy of talking about the pictures & storyline as they were going along was actually hampering his progress, causing him to lose the thread of the narrative. Reading books without pictures helped his concentration a great deal too, and the greater complexity of the stories engaged him. When I go to bed I often have to remind him to turn out the light & go to sleep because he's been so caught up in a book he'd lost track of time.

 

His sisters have never been to school, and also have a great love of exploring, finding things out, asking questions, making stuff - we have more glitter in this house than you'd believe!

 

I'm not so much a teacher as a learning facilitator - I help them to get the answers to their questions & sometimes guide them to ask new ones. I hope that by doing that I'm not just giving them information that answers their immediate question but also giving them the means to learn whatever they want in the future.

 

I'm sure I could write loads more, but if I don't get of this computer soon, a) DH will not be impressed because I'm supposed to have been watching something with him & b) tomorrow morning the girls will want to go to the farmers market & I'll need several strong cups of coffee to jump start my system. However, if there's anything you want to know, ask away & I'll do my best to answer them.

 

PS Sheila, are you an 'anyone else'?

[Chunkin]

That's really interesting - thanks Sheila and Freerange

 

It's something I often thought about but never did.

 

In a bit of a rush this morning but would love to chat about this some more - do keep the topic going and good on you!

[chocchick]

I was always wondering what affect HS has on kids social development. Whenever there is a discussion I alway feel only the academic learning is discussed, and they never address the social side. I'm really curious and hope you don't mind me asking, as I've no experience of HS.

 

Do your kids still have a chance to socialise a lot with other kids, and how do kids in school react towards HS kids? Do they get the chance to learn as a group with each other/you?

 

I do actually dislike that the way to get good grades at school is to esentially have to have really good memory for facts (or work really hard like me). It's not so much getting to grips with the subject, but being able to recite what the examiner wants to hear. I am all for coursework as it stops everything being dependent on one final exam that you may/may not do well in.

[Lesley]

That's really interesting FR - please keep adding to it so that we can learn more. My granddaughter is having problems at school so it is interesting to see the options.

[Aylana]

Thanks freerange for posting that. I wish more people saw Homeschooling as a valid option for their children, some kids just aren't suited to the current state school sytem. I know I wasn't. My passion for learning didn't come about until I left school, as the majority of my time at school was fairly unpleasant and I just didn't have the energy to focus on anything other than getting through that.

[Cate in NZ]

A couple of years ago I was seriously considering home education for my daughter, as in this area we still have the grammar system- fantastic for academic children, but we were really unimpressed with the wide ability options for the less academically able. Daughter is fabulous, very questioning, very bright, but absolutely not academic. We chose deliberately not to tutor and push her into one of the grammars as we honestly felt that an academic education, and one in which she was permanently sitting at the bottom of the class was simply not going to be right for her. Instead we crossed fingers and toes very tightly and hoped that the only school that we saw as being acceptable would take her.

Predictably she failed the 11+, and the school we wanted rejected her on grounds of distance (2 miles, but highly over-subscribed). That was then I really researched home education, and we seiously, seriously considered it. But I worried a lot about my ability to teach certain subjects- some I could do, after a lot of revision I'm sure, but Maths for example I think I'd really struggle with, also languages. There is a local network of home edders who all help each other out, teaching their own and other children together and they do have parents who are strong at most subjects, it's also great for socialising because the children all get together then. But there's a lot of running around involved, and it also seemed likely to get expensive, no state help with books and teaching materials etc- although, no school uniform either. We were very impressed with what we discovered, but did worry about whether we could do a good enough job with our daughter, after all she's the one to be most affected by the deision. The fact that there's no obligation to stick to the National Curriculum slightly worried me- I'd want my children to have the same chances of qualifications as everyone else.

At the end of the day we were opting for private education- cheaper, only meant me spending 3/4's of my salary on her education, not giving up a salary entirely until, right at the very last minute we actually won an appeal to get her into the school we'd wanted all along .

I do have a friend though, exactly the same position as us but a year later who did make the decision to home educate. They've only been doing it since Sept, she's found it a very steep learning curve, regularly worries if she's bitten off more than she can chew, but they're enjoying it enormously.

Brave decision though I think. I'll be really interested to hear other people's experiences- such an interesting topic. Thanks Sheila and Freerange.

[Sheilaz]

.... but if I don't get of this computer soon, a) DH will not be impressed because I'm supposed to have been watching something with him

 

Yes, I did that last night!

 

PS Sheila, are you an 'anyone else'?

 

No, but like you, I believe in facilitating learning, and am passionate about child development in every sense.

I haven't had a school problem as such, but 2nd son was ill for 5 yrs (compounded by near tragic medical farce which nearly tore us all apart), & missed school totally from 14 onwards.

Whilst in a downward spiral of bizarre "professional help" & unable to think clearly at all, I did realise that any "education" was going to be happening at home. So, we weren't "home educating" as such, as we were forced into the situation, & son was too ill to cope anyway.

But, I did a lot of research at the time, and have great empathy & respect for anyone who does.

The organisation "Education Otherwise" provide good information & support...you can join before actually taking the plunge. Also, several marvellous books, incl. the one you mention.

Although I haven't, I do tend to find formal education a false & difficult environment for a lot of children, esp. teenagers. There's nothing natural about compulsorily being in a peer group of 30, all day for 5 days, esp. if the teacher doesn't want to be there either. Good teachers are the salt of the earth, & there are terrific, inspiring ones, but, I've also encountered those who are at their wits end & not coping.

Happiness is the key for me. The way a happy 3 yr old is inquisitive & thrives on learning. There's no reason why it should stop, but it often does.

The academic side....you can H.E. without exams even. The other life skills are far more important. But, exams can be a way of marking progress & showing achievement, which is sometimes needed in our society.

I think the point in saying about academic progress is that often a child blossoms who would have struggled in school. But the majority of H.Eds. are looking at the all round emotional/social/practical development too.

As for friends, if a child wasn't sociable at school, they won't be worse off! If they are sociable already, then they won't suffer. There are lots of outside school activities that involve socialising, and if the parents are sociable they will always find a way.

It is an enormous leap, only to be undertaken if your heart is totally in it. Certainly cannot be done on a whim, only do it if it really does feel right for the family, otherwise it could backfire. It's hard work & tremendous responsibility.

I have known a couple of H.E. families who were thought of as odd. But maybe their "differentness" was exactly why they wouldn't have fitted in at school anyway.

Largely, they seem to be well adjusted, thoughtful, happy people who have learned to think for themselves!

So, hats off to you, Freerange (if I had my time again, I would!) and thanks for starting this topic.

Anyone else out there?

[Sheilaz]

...Anyone else out there?

[freerange]

The big S question. DS has friends who HE & friends who go to school. I think he probably has more friends now than he would had he stayed at school because he's so much happier & less stressed. His only problem socially is that he'd like to join the local astronomy club, but it clashes with climbing As well as the usual 'after school' stuff, and getting together with other local HEers we often meet up with other HEers for group visits to places of interest - the last one was to Eureka.

 

That was then I really researched home education, and we seiously, seriously considered it. But I worried a lot about my ability to teach certain subjects- some I could do, after a lot of revision I'm sure, but Maths for example I think I'd really struggle with, also languages.

This is something that a lot of people feel when they consider HEing, but the ones that take the plunge tend not to find it a problem for 2 reasons. Firstly, lots of people think that they 'can't do' maths, yet using it regularly as part of their day to day lives. For example a shopping trip when you work out if its better value to buy the 2L or 5L bottle, decide if 4pints of milk will last til Friday, if your budget will cover a bar of Green & Blacks, what order to visit all the places on your to do list.... For me, the most important thing was to help him learn that maths was something he could do and that had practical uses, and not cast himself in the role of someone who 'can't do' maths, so that at some point in the future he could decide that he wanted to learn more and wasn't intimidated by it.

Secondly, but probably more important, is that you don't need to know anything about a subject to help someone learn it. This is why lots of jobs advertise for someone with a good degree, but don't specify the subject - because learning how to learn is the single most important thing you can teach your child. Once you know how to use a search engine, find a book in the library, ask someone who might know, or tinker with something to figure out how it works; then there's pretty much nothing that you can't learn if you want to.

 

 

 

The fact that there's no obligation to stick to the National Curriculum slightly worried me- I'd want my children to have the same chances of qualifications as everyone else.

How does forcing a child to study a subject in which they have no interest or aptitude benefit them? I hope that by not forcing a subject on them that I'd actually increase the chance that they might someday be interested in that subject. For example I used to really dislike history when I was at school, and its only been through my son's keen interest that I've finally discovered that its not 'history' that I dislike, only the aspects of it that I was taught in school.

 

 

I do have a friend though, exactly the same position as us but a year later who did make the decision to home educate. They've only been doing it since Sept, she's found it a very steep learning curve, regularly worries if she's bitten off more than she can chew, but they're enjoying it enormously.

She might be interested in some of these, if she doesn't know about them already...

http://education-otherwise.org.uk/

http://hesfes.co.uk/ - the biggest of the many HE camps, just opened for this year's bookings, but sells out fast

http://www.home-education.org.uk/

http://sandradodd.com/unschooling

 

email groups for HEers or considering HE

http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/eo/

http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/EarlyYearsHE/

http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/AEUK/ - group for people interested in or practicing autonomous home education

There are also regional groups for most areas.

 

Finally, this one isn't strictly speaking a HE link, but its very popular amongst HEers so I'm including it anyway

http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/krampf/ - once a week an experiment is emailed out that can be done using household bits & bobs. He's especially fond of making up experiments using chocolate or icecream, or where possible both.

[Sheilaz]

I just need an emoticon for nodding enthusiastically to everything you've said!

I notice that a lot of people have viewed this topic, Freerange, so hopefully will have learnt a few things here too!

I was happy enough at school but hardly learnt a thing (except how to conform, which I've resisted ever since ) I had no idea that I could learn almost anything if I wanted to.

It was only when I started Open University, age 33, (sure that my lack of ability would be laughed at, & that I'd be asked to leave) that I gradually realised that learning was fun and that I had a desire to gain knowledge.

So, thanks for giving us so much info, I'm full of admiration.