Thinking about home education? A year on and I’m officially doing it!

I wrote an article in a previous issue of Link about how I wanted to home educate my children and promised to do a follow up to let you know how it’s going.

First school term looming and feeling nervous…

Jasmine would have started school this September and, as the new term approached, I was relieved I would not be one of the parents having to hand over the responsibility of educating their child, to another person. School, though, was the conversation of the moment and as the official HE Day loomed I must admit I became a little apprehensive.

There is a lot of support for parents going through the uneasy transition to school; the induction, teachers visits, books and of course many parents in the same position to offer words of encouragement and support - but what if you want to home educate?

Luckily there is a large community of home educators, in Sheffield, who meet regularly. There are a variety of activities on offer such as ice skating, swimming, nature walks, meetings at parks and places of interest – and that is just scratching the surface. There is also a wide network of support online with national and local sites dedicated to a thriving home ed community, with real help, support and encouragement from parents (and kids!) who've done it, are doing it, or are about to take the plunge.

Getting to grips with the practicalities of home education…

All the people I've spoken to about home education have been very supportive and usually very interested. There are lots of different ways to home educate - as many as there are different children with different needs.

Having 3 young children presents the usual logistical problems of getting to places, as well as the practical issues of having a cart load of stuff to take! However, home educating actually makes some things simpler, for example, not having to do the school run makes life easier but that's not to say we don't have to be punctual and get moving some mornings! There's a freedom, in that we can plan as a family what we want to do, and we can take our time to do it. My children seem to be developing a closeness and bond that I'm not sure would grow any further if one of them had started school. I feel that they're learning important life skills, family values, respect for others and the environment because they're part of it every day.

Our style of learning is autonomous, which means I follow my daughters' leads in what interests them and I facilitate their learning by providing the resources and materials etc. The words ‘resources’ and ‘materials’ usually prompt the question of money – is it expensive to home educate? The fact is it doesn’t need to be expensive, a lot of the time I use the environment as a resource. An example was when my daughter Jasmine showed an interest in flowers. She had realised that I had winter flowering Jasmine in the garden in January, (the time she was born), and from this sprang her desire to know flower names. We borrowed an identification book from the library and she drew basic flowers; pressed them and then we went on to discuss pollination – the birds and the bees! We continued painting and going on walks until Jasmine moved onto the next subject…Dinosaurs!

Even as I write this, it’s difficult to explain how we do it, because it isn’t a linear process. In a single conversation we can cover many different subjects, and no subject is exclusive, so within the flowers 'subject' we covered all curriculum areas but dipped in and out of them. I didn't sit the children down and say 'right, this week we're going to learn about flowers!' It’s just a lovely natural progression; we learn through lots of discussion and I don't have to know everything because there's a whole world of information easily accessible from the library, museums and internet, for example. The wonderful thing is that we're learning together.

Every day is an adventure for us, I seem to be growing and learning with my children. I can see their personalities developing and I'm in tune with their needs. Some moments can be more challenging than others, but there's a respect that's growing in my family and I'm not sure if that would be there if they spent most of their day at school.

Socialising and setting up my own group…

One of the most frequently asked questions, when you tell people you are home educating, is ‘what about the socialisation?’ I think people have an image of children sitting in a room, on their own, with no friends because they don’t see the same children everyday at school. However, as you can see, there is so much going on out there in the home education world that we are usually out more often than we are in, learning together with other home education families of different age ranges and backgrounds. It really does feel like you are one big family at times with the adults being as much a part of it all as the children.

Despite all this, it did occur to me and a fellow home educating friend, that it could seem daunting if you are just thinking about home education. What do you do if you don’t want to fully take the plunge but would like to talk to other people who are at the start of the decision making process? This thought soon evolved into a full-blown idea for a new group for families, with young children, considering home education. It’s just like any other group, with a mixture of people who already are home educating and people who are just thinking about it. You could come once if you like just to see what it’s all about and if it doesn’t suit you then it doesn’t matter (we’d be really happy if you did come back though!)

It is presently a small group, so it is not daunting at all. You can chat to people about the idea of home educating or look at some literature on the subject. Alternatively you can just have a cup of tea and a biscuit and chat to people about the weather – we really don’t mind either way!

In order to tempt some readers to try our group we have paid a few of our current attendees to write a good reference. Seriously though, we have had some good feedback and we wanted a few of our group members/friends to share their thoughts too:

“I always knew I would be home educating my son even before he was born. Coming to Free Range playgroup means that I can chat with other parents who have made the same choice, or who are considering to home educate. It’s great to share experiences and get lots of ideas for activities, but most importantly the children all have a great time playing and getting to know one another – hopefully forming long lasting friendships.” (Melanie)

“There is a good selection of tea and the biscuits are yummy.” (anon.)

And finally…

I am only at the start of my journey and I do not regret the decision I have made for my family. I can honestly say I have never been so busy! Everyday there is a new activity to pursue and there is nothing more rewarding than seeing your family learn and grow in front of your eyes.

Home education can be a difficult decision to make, but once you have made it, there is no looking back. Suddenly it doesn’t seem strange at all, it is normal, and you are surrounded by lots of other friends taking the same journey – albeit sometimes by different routes. So if anything I have said has struck a chord, then why not have a look into it? Just as you would look into all the different schools out there, why not investigate all the different methods of education as well? Free Range Playgroup would be happy to see you and it could be your first step into a whole new way of approaching your children’s future….Cue the big ad!

This is a reprint of the original article minus the advertisement for our group so if you have stumbled on this blog and are in the Sheffield area please get in touch if you would like details of the group.