Home Education

[LS2242]

Hi

 

Can anyone give me any info on home education. How do you follow the ciriculum. I am not the brightest crayon in the box and I dont think I would be the best person to teach him, but I could not afford a teacher to help me. Do the LEA supply any help or anything or would it all be down to me??

Thanks for any info

[KarenT]

You get no help from the LEA - it's regarded as a choice to opt out of the education system so you're on your own. No funding, books - nothing.

 

There is no legal definition of a 'suitable education' so you can more or less focus on the areas you think are most important for your child. The law says that as long as the child is equipped for adult life in their community with the option of being able to move beyond it if they so choose, and the education considers their age, aptitude and any special needs, it's a 'suitable education'.

 

I work mostly from national curriculum workbooks which I buy online, or some people use the school support type books you get in WH Smith etc. For us, our priority is focusing on J's social and emotional development and that takes a considerable time, so we do less academic work so we can fit that in. We do a lot of social visits, field trips etc and meet with other people. Again, it's tailored to what J needs personally rather than aiming for exams and that sort of thing.

 

There are as many ways of home educating as there are home educating families - over time you find your a way that suits you and it will most likely be unique to your circumstnaces and needs.

 

A good place to start is Education Otherwise. Lots of general information there about HE, legal requirements, deregistration from school, education styles, resources etc. There's also a discussion forum but it's not used that much. There's also HE Special which is a forum for parents who home education children with special needs. Some people on there are experts in understanding the system and legal rights/obligations.

 

There's a good book on home educating with Asperger's but I can't remember its name and I have to get J up now so will post it up later.

 

That's just the tip of the iceberg - don't want to overwhelm you!

 

Karen

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[KarenT]

This one:

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9781843100379/Home-Educating-Our-Autistic-Spectrum-Children

 

Karen

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[jlogan1]

i thought of going down this route,dont know your circumstances but i have 14 year old dd who hasnt been to school for over 2 years,was going to home educate because was getting nowhere with school until i was told that i would then be on my own,but if you dont de register from the school it is then up to the education authority to rpovide there education,it has taken me over 2 years to sort out and in the end i went direct to education authority but we now get a supply teacher who comes round once a week for just over an hour,but at least it has got the education ball rolling again,and it was the education office that advised not to deregister,its not ideal situation my dd is now on the way to doing 2 exams plus the ed auth are also paying for her to do an art course wholly on line but its probably more than what i could do with her,so please be aware of this,hope works out.

julia

[justine1]

Hi

Be very careful when making a decision like this,once you de-register you will find it hard to get him back in the system.Any work you have put in to get him help thus far will go out the window,so when(and if) he does return to school you will have to start from scratch.

 

You could ,as in jlogan1's case,do it temporarily and not de-register but to do so (I believe)you will need to get a medical letter of some kind to give to the LEA explaining why you not bringing him into school.

 

I also thought about doing this,actually tempted three times over the past two years.The first time I pulled both my boys out of school due to ongoing racist bullying,they were out of school for nearly three weeks.I made a complaint to the LEA and they came to visit me.If not for the fact that we were able to move home I would have had to home educate as there were no other schools nearby(it was a small village.)The other occasions was done to Sams constant exclusions I just wanted to give up,but I soon realised that I wouldnt cope,with two younger children to care for during the day and me persuing my own education,it became more unrealistic.I also believe I couldnt give Sam the education he needs and if his behaviour became challenging what would I do? We would be with each other 24/7 no break.

 

Good luck whatever you decide.

[jlogan1]

i totally agree try and get some advise before de registering, the thought of home ed at one point seemed ideal when my dd wasnt going to school and was recieving no eduacation it was only after 2 years that i phoned the ed auth who for one reason or another had never even heard of my dd or the fact that she hadnt been attending school,we never had letters from gp ,in fact we still have not had a diagnosis for AS ,hopefully will get assessment next week but have been waiting for 2 1/2 years since it all started,and in all that time we never heard anything from LEA,it was as though she didnt exist and the school were trying to keep it quiet.so after a few phone calls to LEA at least we have something in place because i dont think i could home ed it was very daunting and now with just 1 hour a week at least dd is doing something.so my advise would be check everything out before you de register because then you get no help.

julia

[Kathryn]

See the pinned Home education topic at the top of this board where you'll find some links to Home Ed organisations and resources. Many people on this forum are doing it and can give advice too.

 

If you deregister your child from the system, LEA's are under no obligation to provide any help. Some do provide a bit of support, ranging from library cards with greater borrowing privileges, to advice and info about tutors and resources, and maybe advisory home visits at transition stages eg. year 5, but it varies widely. Go to the education section of your LA website to see what happens in your area.

 

K x

[Canopus]

The legal issues surrounding home education can be found here.

 

http://www.aspergersupport.org.uk/legal/ishelegal.html

[LS2242]

Thanks everyone. I am just looking at my options at the moment and I wont be making any rash decisions. If I am honest I dont think I would cope with him 24/7 but I have to keep my options open at this stage. I have to research before I can dismiss the idea completely. School are currently on my side and have started to bring in the EP and a behavioural support worker and have done a referal to SALT but whilst they all take forever to put anything in place and fight over who is going to pay for what, my son is not coping in the school environment and I am increasingly becoming concerned about him. Every passing day, there is no help within school with his social and emmotional skills, which is effecting him mentally. I am concerned as I have a feeling we are at the beginning of what could be a possible breakdown/depression and being his mum I feel I have to try and prevent that from happening. As many of his stresses are school related, I feel I have to address this. I do have the support from school so things could be worse and I should be greatful, but actions speak louder than words!

Thanks again everyone.

[lindy2017]

Hi

 

Can anyone give me any info on home education. How do you follow the ciriculum. I am not the brightest crayon in the box and I dont think I would be the best person to teach him, but I could not afford a teacher to help me. Do the LEA supply any help or anything or would it all be down to me??

Thanks for any info

Hi, I am at the moment home teaching but it is hard as my 11 year old son is having melt downs etc., the seconday school are looking to get some tutor but he said he cant guarntee it he is still registered although he ahs only been for 1 taster day which he hated school know he cant attend the school too mcuh stress .....imm hoping we will get help they said 1 hour a day my son is a bit freaked out at some stranger coming the the hosue but the school is aware of it.......i am waiting for CAMHS appointment and they are tryying everything to hurrry it up ..he talks about killing himself and starving himself when he ahs the meltdowns... does anyone else have this problem ... its so draining waiting an hour or 2 sometimes for him to come out of it.........lindy

 

 

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