It's now been 18 months since I pulled Spud out of school to home educate him, and so I thought I would give everyone an update to how it's going. When I first pulled Spud out of school, I thought it would be for a temporary basis, however from quite early on, I realised home education was the best choice for Spud, and so I made the decision to home educate on a permanent basis.
I'm quite fortunate in the fact that I work from home myself, as I know home education can be a challenge when you work outside the home. I'm also fortunate in the fact that I work for myself, as working from home and working for someone else could get in the way of things, but thankfully I don't have to worry about working to a timescale or routine.
That's the beauty of blogging, I can work from literally anywhere, including home education groups and educational days out. Combining both Spud's education and my work life makes home educating so much easier. You don't receive any financial help to home educate, not a single penny, so working is important to be able to keep the household going.
Spud was so unhappy at school, and looking back I regret not pulling him out sooner, but for so many reasons, I wanted him to give schooling a try. I wanted him to socialise on a daily basis with children his own age because although we do get to socialise with home education groups and meetups, it's not daily - although thanks to technology he does have some form of social interaction on a daily basis with friends and family members his own age.
There was also the fact of me worrying about him not receiving a 'proper' education. I'm not a teacher, however, you don't have to be a professionally qualified teacher to teach - thankfully! Whilst I may not have a honours degree, or any university degree, I am fortunately educated to some extent and can teach the basics and some.
The beauty of home education is the fact that everyone has different learning ways, what may work for one, may not work for another, and in school Spud was behind and struggling. At home though, we can learn at his pace, and go over and over things that he may not fully understand, whereas the in-school environment for many different reasons can't accommodate or find time to do such.
We use a variety of learning tools to help Spud on his home education journey, including online educational resources, good old fashioned books, and even some newer ways of learning thanks to technology - watching videos, playing games and learning on apps for example.
Another beauty of home education is not having a set classroom, we can work from wherever we want too, whether that's in the house, in the garden or at an entirely different venue. We could effectively visit a different educational place every single day if we wanted too, and even a trip to the park can be classed as home learning.
Physical education can be a whole mixture of things, from kicking a football around the local park and football courts, to running around the garden, visiting trampoline halls, dancing in our own living room, and swimming with family, there's also the 'basic' walking that can be done too, along with lots more.
Whilst I don't feel our town has as much home educational resources to offer as other towns, I'm fortunate in the fact that I drive and we can travel further afield to other locations to access and attend home education groups and activities.
Spud has made some new friends at a teenage home education group meetup, and even walked away with an award for confidence at the end of the last term (just before they broke up for Christmas). 18 months ago, Spud didn't have an ounce of confidence, so to see him walk away with a certificate for confidence had this mama feeling all kinds of different emotions.
If anyone is thinking of home educating their child/children, I'd highly suggest looking into things further. So many people assume you get financial support when it comes to home educating your child, when in reality that couldn't be further from the truth. There is no financial support whatsoever, and as far as I'm aware no grants to apply to or anything. So everything you do on your home education journey falls down to you at your expense. That's everything from educational trips, to the books, pens and paper, and any educational resources you may use.
Thankfully there is a whole internet full of free educational resources, and a library card becomes your best friend! You don't have to spend much money on home educating if you don't have the resources too, in fact, I'm sure there is a way where you could do it on the very cheap or even entirely free, of course, thing is something you'd have to source yourself.
The best part of our home education journey for me is watching my son get back to his usual self. The son I and everyone else knew. When he started secondary school he very quickly withdrew and became someone no one knew, he was on medication from the doctors for special shampoo as he had dermatitis on his scalp, caused by stress - YES stress! No child should be stressed! Thankfully quite soon after pulling him out of school, the dermatitis cleared up and my son returned back to his usual happy self!
Always go with your gut instinct when parenting, because only you know your child/children best!
Jada x
