Comments on: Homeschooling in Britain http://www.littlemummy.com/2007/04/24/homeschooling-in-britain/ Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:43:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: t-bird http://www.littlemummy.com/2007/04/24/homeschooling-in-britain/#comment-31977 t-bird Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:36:36 +0000 http://www.littlemummy.com/2007/04/24/homeschooling-in-britain/#comment-31977 Dave, our kids socialise regardless of where they learn (unless the parents actively prevent this, which is another issue and failrly rare in "mainstream home education") They just socialise differently. Like going to groups, meeting other local home edders for days out, sharing science projects with other families or just for playing in someone else's back garden for a change. There are various camps and holidays aimed at home edders where large groups of small noisy creatures run in packs for hours at a time whilst their parents get down to the serious business of socialising over cups of tea. They still do the whole pecking order thing. They definitely come up against authority in various guises including learning that the rules in one person's house/tent/caravan may be different from their own and that some people in authority are on your side whereas some will abuse their authority (as can be seen in areas where Education Authorities try to force restrictions onto home educating families that are just not stipulated within the law.) Anyway, it's not for everyone but for those who find it works it is fabulous. And yes, I'm biased because it's working well for us but if I can see a point where school would be better for my child then school it would be, this is about the child after all, not the parent. Dave, our kids socialise regardless of where they learn (unless the parents actively prevent this, which is another issue and failrly rare in “mainstream home education”) They just socialise differently. Like going to groups, meeting other local home edders for days out, sharing science projects with other families or just for playing in someone else’s back garden for a change. There are various camps and holidays aimed at home edders where large groups of small noisy creatures run in packs for hours at a time whilst their parents get down to the serious business of socialising over cups of tea. They still do the whole pecking order thing. They definitely come up against authority in various guises including learning that the rules in one person’s house/tent/caravan may be different from their own and that some people in authority are on your side whereas some will abuse their authority (as can be seen in areas where Education Authorities try to force restrictions onto home educating families that are just not stipulated within the law.)

Anyway, it’s not for everyone but for those who find it works it is fabulous. And yes, I’m biased because it’s working well for us but if I can see a point where school would be better for my child then school it would be, this is about the child after all, not the parent.

]]> By: Dave http://www.littlemummy.com/2007/04/24/homeschooling-in-britain/#comment-31974 Dave Tue, 24 Apr 2007 09:23:30 +0000 http://www.littlemummy.com/2007/04/24/homeschooling-in-britain/#comment-31974 I think homeschooling is really interesting, and the opportunity to ensure your child learns truly useful things in a structured home environment that encourages curiousity and enquiry rather than jumping through hoops seems very attractive. But I do wonder about the social element - my experiences at school, both positive and negative, are a big part of who I am, and I'm not sure that the benefits of homeschooling on its own outweigh the potential personal development kids miss out on by not being with large groups of peers, coming up against authority for the first time and so on. For me, the golden ticket was that I was in that school environment, but I had a house full of books and parents who supported my bookwormish habits. I think homeschooling is really interesting, and the opportunity to ensure your child learns truly useful things in a structured home environment that encourages curiousity and enquiry rather than jumping through hoops seems very attractive. But I do wonder about the social element - my experiences at school, both positive and negative, are a big part of who I am, and I’m not sure that the benefits of homeschooling on its own outweigh the potential personal development kids miss out on by not being with large groups of peers, coming up against authority for the first time and so on. For me, the golden ticket was that I was in that school environment, but I had a house full of books and parents who supported my bookwormish habits.

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