I absolutely wanted to homeschooling my kids, but was told the only way to get my oldest his ASD diagnosis and support, he would have to be in school. Less than a year later and we're de-registering him this week. He kept hurting himself and others. They couldn't keep him in the classroom, he kept ending up unattended for an amount of time they didn't even know (Until he came out with playground paint all over himself on non-uniform day and put it on other kids because for a 5yr old (Autistic or not) that's fun play and how could they know it isn't safe paint? He got a bruise ON HIS CHEEK on the first day this year and it is STILL has it now at the end of half term. They've never taken any accountability. I have to leave my daughter in school because I am confident she has a learning disability (4 but for the life of her is still stuck with colours and numbers, not able to grasp letters either, but 2yr old can, as could oldest at that age) and can't focus for more than 5 or so minutes. In combination with that she is a mega social butterfly whilst my oldest can't be around people or groups for long. Honestly I've had so much stress and disappointment this year, and I have been so let down so often. I wish I'd never put him in there honestly. But at this point at least I have the paperwork to back up what he can be like. So I suppose that at least something came of it.
Oof, that sounds like a tough ride that you've navigated in the best way you can as a loving Mum who wants the best for her kids. Don't be down on yourself about wishing you'd never put him in. You were doing what you thought was best, and have also responded when you can see it's not the right environment for him (better than the school responded by the sound of it). I don't know enough about ASD to comment on that, but sorry to hear you and your son were let down. Very exciting that you are starting your Home Ed journey with him. It is wonderful (I know, I'm biased) and I hope he thrives with it. Feel free to reach out if you need to vent. Have you joined your local home Ed FB group? They are a great place to get advice and connect with others. Good luck!
We started our Home Ed journey in 2020 and we absolutely love it 😊. When I ask my son if he would ever like to go to school ,his reply is always "No" . We are looking forward to many more years of HomeEd 😊 . Thank you for your videos , its always lovely to see another mum enjoying spending time with her children and loving Homeschooling. 😊
Ahh thats brilliant! My kids are exactly the same 😄 Glad you like the videos. I love to connect with other Home Ed parents too because sometimes out of your local community you can start to feel like the only one doing it! I definitely don’t have any existing friends or family that do (well, one friend)
I found this so relatable especially the part where you said you are an introvert. I am the exact same and I am finding myself more comfortable going to meet ups.
So true! I think there are a lot of introverts in the homeschooling community, which makes for a lot of understanding people. I think it's been good for me in some ways, to have to put myself out there for my kids. Hard at times though!
Love love love this, thank you so much for sharing your experience. It’s so hard to find content on home Ed in the UK and I love that your sharing your thoughts and experiences with us. The comment I get the most is about the socialising definitely, my sons only 3 but he’s not shy at all and I don’t feel like he struggles socially at all, he’s never been in a “school” setting not even a nursery.
The socialising comment, right!! I almost laugh when I get this now I've seen that socialising for Home Ed kids is SO rich and wonderful and much more "normal". So great to hear that your son is feeling so confident. Thank you for such an encouraging comment! The TH-cam homeschool space is certainly quite US-heavy but I really like watching content from other UK-based home educators as Home ed is so country-specific in a lot of aspects. That's why I'm really trying to focus on Home Education in the UK, even though I think I could probably grow the channel a lot quicker if I took a more global perspective if that makes sense 😄
@@nurturingdiscontent 100% agree. Natural socialisation is soooo much better for them I feel. I went to public school and I’m actually extremely socially awkward 🙈 I have social anxiety and am a huge home body 🤣 I totally understand where you’re coming from. I think it’s awesome you’re sharing your journey because it’s such a struggle to find UK homeschoolers on here. I think I’ve found 2 so far including yourself. I’m very happy I found your channel. 🥰
@@nesrinea9293 Technically, you should be mostly left to get on with it and if your Local Authority (LA) are aware you are home educating they have a responsibility to check children are receiving a full-time education suitable to their level, which can be done with an annual report you write. Unfortunately, it seems to vary a bit depending on which LA you are under. I've had them turn up on my doorstep and I have written our first reports. Some people never get contacted or don't for years. Some people's LA try to overstep a lot more. Mostly it's just important to read the GOV guidance and know your rights around it all. There are FB groups that are super helpful when it comes to this and offer SO much support. Important to note it differs slightly if your kids have SEN support in schools I believe
Great video! I really loved how you turned that common question home edders get asked, “…but you would homeschool if you children wanted to, wouldn’t you?” and all the reasons why people would justify it and how those are seen as completely acceptable. Such a great point! 👍
Thank you so much for your videos! Out of interest what do your children know about school and why are they sure they dont want to go? I only ask because im so excited to home educate my nearly 3 yr old but would feel a bit sad if she wanted to go to school so soon! Would have no idea how to navigate, obviously if she was sure i would follow her wishes - just unsure of what picture to paint of school when she asks i suppose (would like it to be as unbiased as possible)
That's a really interesting question! Obviously it's different for our kids because they've never been to school they only know via their friends/family who are schooled, from what we've told them, and from what they just 'pick u' I suppose. They don't really know what it's like to go everyday. I think at the moment the main thing they can't get their head around is having to go for ~6 hours a day, 5 days a week. I guess at 6 that seems a lot. I've always said that if they ever say they want to go to school, I wouldn't stop them. But, I'm not sure if it was this vid I said it in or another one, I heard someone respond to the "if they want to go to school you'd let them, right?" question with "if they wanted to home ed you'd let them right?" and the other person sort of saying "oh no no", and I think up to a certain age we do have to make the decision with the knowledge we have that they don't, if that makes sense? I'd rather they were a bit older before going into that sort of "formal learning" environment. But also, now I've done Home Ed for a while and know that we can make it work for our lives, I know that nothing is set in stone and if they wanted to try school and ended up hating it then we could take them out again. I suppose if they had wanted to go to school from the start I would have maybe said let's try home ed for a year and if you still want to go when you are 6/7 then you can. If they *really* still wanted to go then I'd let them try it knowing it doesn't have to be forever. From what I hear a lot of kids get on fine at Year R because it's still largely play-based and then can struggle with the change in Year 1. Sorry, this is a very long-winded answer and not sure if it really answers your question.😄
I’m in my 30s. My school years were awful mainly because I have lots of health issues and my school didn’t know what to do with me so the essentially ignored me for 5 years. I left with 2 GCSEs. I’ve since gone on to work in preschools then get a degree, then work in post 16 SEN (after my schooling this was something I was drawn to but didn’t want to work in a school 😅). Anyways because of all my health issues I’ve chosen not to have children but I’d always thought that if I did have them I would have homeschooled. I studied homeschooling at university and found it fascinating. I would have loved it.
Oh wow, what an interesting story - thank you for sharing! Sorry to hear school was such a rough ride for you, but sounds like you turned it into a positive in a way by helping other children with their education. We are loving home educating; of course, it’s not without it’s hard times but that’s life I guess!
I absolutely wanted to homeschooling my kids, but was told the only way to get my oldest his ASD diagnosis and support, he would have to be in school. Less than a year later and we're de-registering him this week. He kept hurting himself and others. They couldn't keep him in the classroom, he kept ending up unattended for an amount of time they didn't even know (Until he came out with playground paint all over himself on non-uniform day and put it on other kids because for a 5yr old (Autistic or not) that's fun play and how could they know it isn't safe paint? He got a bruise ON HIS CHEEK on the first day this year and it is STILL has it now at the end of half term. They've never taken any accountability.
I have to leave my daughter in school because I am confident she has a learning disability (4 but for the life of her is still stuck with colours and numbers, not able to grasp letters either, but 2yr old can, as could oldest at that age) and can't focus for more than 5 or so minutes. In combination with that she is a mega social butterfly whilst my oldest can't be around people or groups for long. Honestly I've had so much stress and disappointment this year, and I have been so let down so often. I wish I'd never put him in there honestly. But at this point at least I have the paperwork to back up what he can be like. So I suppose that at least something came of it.
Oof, that sounds like a tough ride that you've navigated in the best way you can as a loving Mum who wants the best for her kids. Don't be down on yourself about wishing you'd never put him in. You were doing what you thought was best, and have also responded when you can see it's not the right environment for him (better than the school responded by the sound of it). I don't know enough about ASD to comment on that, but sorry to hear you and your son were let down. Very exciting that you are starting your Home Ed journey with him. It is wonderful (I know, I'm biased) and I hope he thrives with it. Feel free to reach out if you need to vent. Have you joined your local home Ed FB group? They are a great place to get advice and connect with others. Good luck!
We started our Home Ed journey in 2020 and we absolutely love it 😊. When I ask my son if he would ever like to go to school ,his reply is always "No" . We are looking forward to many more years of HomeEd 😊 .
Thank you for your videos , its always lovely to see another mum enjoying spending time with her children and loving Homeschooling. 😊
Ahh thats brilliant! My kids are exactly the same 😄 Glad you like the videos. I love to connect with other Home Ed parents too because sometimes out of your local community you can start to feel like the only one doing it! I definitely don’t have any existing friends or family that do (well, one friend)
I found this so relatable especially the part where you said you are an introvert. I am the exact same and I am finding myself more comfortable going to meet ups.
So true! I think there are a lot of introverts in the homeschooling community, which makes for a lot of understanding people. I think it's been good for me in some ways, to have to put myself out there for my kids. Hard at times though!
Love love love this, thank you so much for sharing your experience. It’s so hard to find content on home Ed in the UK and I love that your sharing your thoughts and experiences with us. The comment I get the most is about the socialising definitely, my sons only 3 but he’s not shy at all and I don’t feel like he struggles socially at all, he’s never been in a “school” setting not even a nursery.
The socialising comment, right!! I almost laugh when I get this now I've seen that socialising for Home Ed kids is SO rich and wonderful and much more "normal". So great to hear that your son is feeling so confident. Thank you for such an encouraging comment! The TH-cam homeschool space is certainly quite US-heavy but I really like watching content from other UK-based home educators as Home ed is so country-specific in a lot of aspects. That's why I'm really trying to focus on Home Education in the UK, even though I think I could probably grow the channel a lot quicker if I took a more global perspective if that makes sense 😄
@@nurturingdiscontent 100% agree. Natural socialisation is soooo much better for them I feel. I went to public school and I’m actually extremely socially awkward 🙈 I have social anxiety and am a huge home body 🤣
I totally understand where you’re coming from. I think it’s awesome you’re sharing your journey because it’s such a struggle to find UK homeschoolers on here. I think I’ve found 2 so far including yourself. I’m very happy I found your channel. 🥰
Wooohooo! Congratulations 🎉
Thank you so much 😀. How long have you been Home educating for?
I’m looking to also take my kids out of school. Thank you for your videos very informative.
So glad they are useful to you! Please feel free to ask any questions you have about life without school :)
Are you left to get on with it or are you constantly being checked on progress ? I’m from the uk.
@@nesrinea9293 Technically, you should be mostly left to get on with it and if your Local Authority (LA) are aware you are home educating they have a responsibility to check children are receiving a full-time education suitable to their level, which can be done with an annual report you write. Unfortunately, it seems to vary a bit depending on which LA you are under. I've had them turn up on my doorstep and I have written our first reports. Some people never get contacted or don't for years. Some people's LA try to overstep a lot more. Mostly it's just important to read the GOV guidance and know your rights around it all. There are FB groups that are super helpful when it comes to this and offer SO much support. Important to note it differs slightly if your kids have SEN support in schools I believe
Great video! I really loved how you turned that common question home edders get asked,
“…but you would homeschool if you children wanted to, wouldn’t you?” and all the reasons why people would justify it and how those are seen as completely acceptable. Such a great point! 👍
Ahh thank you so much! I know, when I heard that I was like wow it makes so much sense. Still waiting to try it out on someone 😄. Hope you’re well!
Thank you so much for your videos! Out of interest what do your children know about school and why are they sure they dont want to go? I only ask because im so excited to home educate my nearly 3 yr old but would feel a bit sad if she wanted to go to school so soon! Would have no idea how to navigate, obviously if she was sure i would follow her wishes - just unsure of what picture to paint of school when she asks i suppose (would like it to be as unbiased as possible)
That's a really interesting question! Obviously it's different for our kids because they've never been to school they only know via their friends/family who are schooled, from what we've told them, and from what they just 'pick u' I suppose. They don't really know what it's like to go everyday. I think at the moment the main thing they can't get their head around is having to go for ~6 hours a day, 5 days a week. I guess at 6 that seems a lot. I've always said that if they ever say they want to go to school, I wouldn't stop them. But, I'm not sure if it was this vid I said it in or another one, I heard someone respond to the "if they want to go to school you'd let them, right?" question with "if they wanted to home ed you'd let them right?" and the other person sort of saying "oh no no", and I think up to a certain age we do have to make the decision with the knowledge we have that they don't, if that makes sense? I'd rather they were a bit older before going into that sort of "formal learning" environment. But also, now I've done Home Ed for a while and know that we can make it work for our lives, I know that nothing is set in stone and if they wanted to try school and ended up hating it then we could take them out again. I suppose if they had wanted to go to school from the start I would have maybe said let's try home ed for a year and if you still want to go when you are 6/7 then you can. If they *really* still wanted to go then I'd let them try it knowing it doesn't have to be forever. From what I hear a lot of kids get on fine at Year R because it's still largely play-based and then can struggle with the change in Year 1. Sorry, this is a very long-winded answer and not sure if it really answers your question.😄
I’m in my 30s. My school years were awful mainly because I have lots of health issues and my school didn’t know what to do with me so the essentially ignored me for 5 years. I left with 2 GCSEs. I’ve since gone on to work in preschools then get a degree, then work in post 16 SEN (after my schooling this was something I was drawn to but didn’t want to work in a school 😅). Anyways because of all my health issues I’ve chosen not to have children but I’d always thought that if I did have them I would have homeschooled. I studied homeschooling at university and found it fascinating. I would have loved it.
Oh wow, what an interesting story - thank you for sharing! Sorry to hear school was such a rough ride for you, but sounds like you turned it into a positive in a way by helping other children with their education. We are loving home educating; of course, it’s not without it’s hard times but that’s life I guess!