Home Schooling

[avonleigh]

Does anybody have experience of home schooling? Seriously looking into it currently as my daughter has a lot of problems at school and is 14 now so next two years very important. I have considered private schooling but I am not convinced it will be any different, kids can be horrible whether rich or poor. Just wondering if anybody can recommend home schooling and which providers to go with.

[dsc]

I'm sure you have but just in case, have you considered changing schools? we moved schools when ours was 5yo as the teachers in the old one were dickish and didn't give two tulips about with some kids do to others (biting, hitting etc.), also they were super tulipe when it came to setting up boundries, time outs etc. The current school is super small and the teachers are wonderful and suddenly our child really likes going there, when previously it was a nightmare in the morning. Sometimes a change of scenery really does wonders.

Are the problems mostly with other pupils or teachers as well? wellbeing related or teaching related or both?

[avonleigh]

I'm sure you have but just in case, have you considered changing schools? we moved schools when ours was 5yo as the teachers in the old one were dickish and didn't give two tulips about with some kids do to others (biting, hitting etc.), also they were super tulipe when it came to setting up boundries, time outs etc. The current school is super small and the teachers are wonderful and suddenly our child really likes going there, when previously it was a nightmare in the morning. Sometimes a change of scenery really does wonders.

Are the problems mostly with other pupils or teachers as well? wellbeing related or teaching related or both?

She is in her third secondary school already. The last time though was cos she had to come to live with me as her mother threw her out. She has disabilities so does have a lot of name-calling and stuff. Which is why I am now thinking home schooling might be the best solution.

[vetran]

She is in her third secondary school already. The last time though was cos she had to come to live with me as her mother threw her out. She has disabilities so does have a lot of name-calling and stuff. Which is why I am now thinking home schooling might be the best solution.

Does she have a send classification?

https://www.isc.co.uk/schools/sub-pages/send/

One of the arguments against the VAT grab on private schools is how many SEND places they supply. Apparently government schools don't manage it as 40 kids per class isn't ideal.

[merseygrit]

Done it. Be aware that it's very difficult and expensive to get a school to enter them for exams as an independent candidate. Also, it requires a lot of effort on your part. We started early (5/7 years old) and it took some time to get over issues that school had introduced.

[avonleigh]

Done it. Be aware that it's very difficult and expensive to get a school to enter them for exams as an independent candidate. Also, it requires a lot of effort on your part. We started early (5/7 years old) and it took some time to get over issues that school had introduced.

Thanks for the info. I was aware of the exams cost but wasn't aware that it would be difficult to enter them, so that's good to know.

[ContractorBanking]

Interesting about the exam situation, can I ask, why is it difficult to take an exam externally?

My friend's son took his GCSE Maths a year earlier than usual. The school was not supportive of this and wouldn't allow the boy to sit the exam through the school so they ended up taking the same exam externally (the kid got an A).

This was about 5/6 years ago so no idea what its like these days but i always thought as long as you're paying for it, it should never be an issue.

[BlueSharp]

Similar situation to a friend of ours.

Their option was to send them to college to study for their GCSEs as some do a 14-16 provision which is GCSE. These colleges also make it easier to sit as independent candidates and can partner for homeschooling.

[NonnyMouse]

Minerva and Kings Interhigh seem to be the most popular online school providers. Every area probably has a homeschool community group as well.

[edison]

Interesting about the exam situation, can I ask, why is it difficult to take an exam externally?

My friend's son took his GCSE Maths a year earlier than usual. The school was not supportive of this and wouldn't allow the boy to sit the exam through the school so they ended up taking the same exam externally (the kid got an A).

This was about 5/6 years ago so no idea what its like these days but i always thought as long as you're paying for it, it should never be an issue.

It still seems to be the case. My son took his GCSE maths aged 11 and had to do it at a state school a few miles away. It cost something like £200.

He now wants to do his maths and further maths A levels two years early as he's taught himself the whole curriculum whilst his classmates did the first year of GCSEs. It's been a battle with his current school to enter him so we searched for other places that admit private candidates. Each one has their own exam board accreditations and rules but the one we found is an expensive private school that seems to have no problem letting my son do the exams at a cost of £440 per exam entry.