It’s been nearly a year since I took my children (currently aged 7 and 10) out of mainstream education, so I thought I’d share some reflections on what’s been a huge, yet positive, change to our lives.
Originally, I used to use the term home schooling which quickly changed to home education or ‘home ed’ after taking them out of school. However, I am now gradually starting to use the phrase home learning after seeing it on the local authority’s paperwork. Either way, they all point to the same thing and have the a common factor: they are at home and not in a mainstream classroom. Don’t be surprised if I use the terms interchangeably.
So why would anyone take their kids out of school? Or not send them in the first place? There are so many answers to this question, but I will only speak for myself and our circumstances which is that my daughter had reached that point of what is referred to as ‘school avoidance’. Seeing the phrase in print here doesn’t seem a huge deal; doesn’t carry the weight of what you actually experience with a child whose nervous system has exceeded its limitations because of an environment that they just don’t slot neatly into. Watching and trying to support a child who is avoiding school and downright miserable every morning is stressful and, for me, was heart breaking. It impacts the care giver who’s trying to motivate them in the morning, any siblings and, I imagine, those child centred teachers who genuinely care and see the child, not just the behaviour.