To date there are approximately 50,000 children who are being home educated, this number continues to rise by approx. 80% each year. Parents, teachers and students alike are placed under increasing pressure to achieve, deliver the curriculum and other demands which school life can place upon individuals.
www.theguardian.com/education/2002/oct/05/schools.uk
The benefits of home education are appealing to more and more people each year :
- Firstly the curriculum can be delivered to children at their pace of learning, allowing for more educational trips leading for a more practical approach to the curriculum, children are not having to wait or seek the teachers attention in addition to this they don’t experience the worry of reading out in class or getting an answer incorrect in front of their peers.
- Bullying and low self-esteem which is present in many children is lessened with those who are home educated.
- Parents are not having to adhere to school holiday times and are able to take holidays as and when is convenient to their families.
- Parents can choose to teach their children themselves or choose a tutor to attend to teach certain subjects, ensuring a good match for student and tutor
- A child who is home educated is able to receive a good all-round education, parents are still able to access resources which are used in schools and can also be purchased for home educators. https://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/
I personally believe there are so many benefits to home educating children, of course there are the implications on family life as it creates a huge impact on home life as the children have to be taught, and therefore an appropriate learning environment must be created.
Having taught many students who opt for home education, one aspect which does become apparent is the increased confidence which these students have and their general knowledge along with basic life skills i.e. banking, running a home. They also have a real passion for hobbies which they have chosen and not activities which they have had to choose which school have offered to them.
One family which I worked with were under a lot of pressure in the beginning as their child had a lot of anxiety as she was bullied at school, this then placed pressure onto home life and the parents. Home schooling helped in all aspects of this and helped the family to get to a much better place. Their main concern as I remember was a worry that their child would not have a friendship circle as she had at school, however this was a short lived worry as there are many home schooling groups which allow parents and children to get together. These groups have a huge benefit and I know many parents meet up allowing children to have a game of tennis or rounder’s and therefore increasing their social network, many parents also get together to teach home schoolers in small groups.
The local authority are very supportive of such practices, they will occasionally request a submission of lesson plans and work covered just to ensure work is of an age appropriate level https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/elective-home-education
What are the challenges which parents face with Home Education their children?
Teaching your own children can always present itself as a challenge, firstly children have to differentiate between when you’re a parent to when you’re a teacher, a parent may worry about their teaching as they are not a qualified teacher, well, in the UK it is not a legal requirement to have a teaching qualification when teaching children outside of a school, there is plenty of help and assistance for parent in the form of social media groups etc.
With the increasing pressures within schools which also effects children I see home tuition as a very favourable option for many parents and children, many schools allow children to sit exams as external candidates allowing students to work towards their qualification at a more relaxed pace and more importantly at their pace.
Below is a chart to show the number of home registered pupils, this number is most likely to be higher due to many children not being registered with councils.
There are many reasons for home education, however the most common reason appears to be bullying and parents being dissatisfied with care/schooling which is offered by the school.