Well, mostly. Sometimes we stay in pjs all day, but that’s OK too.
I just thought I’d clear that up, as I watch the flurry of tweets about back to school ranges, stationery, new uniform coats, and see other bloggers reviewing shoes and uniform.
I got a PR contact about reviewing uniform, along with a school run outfit for me. I’d have loved to spend £50 on an outfit for me, as my usual clothing is charity shop best. (Do people usually spend £50 on an outfit for the school run? Do people usually dress up for the school run?? My children aren’t good at mornings and they get that from me. We used to have to be out of the house for 7.30 at the latest to get them to Montessori, and me to work, and I can assure you I wasn’t titivating at that point of the day.) But when I replied saying that we home educate I didn’t get so much as an oops in reply, which I thought was a bit rude, though I guess she’s probably really busy dealing with all the real people.
Sometimes not doing the whole school thing does make me feel that we’re a bit invisible. That we can’t understand the realities of life. That somehow we’re wimping out of dealing with the stuff that makes us stronger – you know the sort of thing, “I was beaten to within an inch of my life by a demon headmaster daily, and it never did me any harm.” I know that’s just my own insecurity talking, but I know you know what I mean.
The reality of it is that we educate every day, in all sorts of ways, just as all parents do. Yes, you do. You were your children’s first teachers, and you don’t really get to step down. I know whenever I tweet about home ed someone will come back to me with I couldn’t be that brave, or I can’t do maths so I couldn’t teach my children at home or something along those lines. But who taught your child to walk? Or talk? Sit at a table and eat with cutlery? Who read them their first book, or counted their toes at bathtime?
You did all of that, didn’t you? That’s all home education. And to a large extent, all you have to do is keep going. If you’re really nervous about what your child needs to know, there’s a massive wealth of resources out there, things like Core curriculum as I reviewed previously. There are reading schemes, downloadable resources, websites – I’m even considering launching a dedicated one of my own (do let me know if you’d be interested).
Or let’s turn it around and look at it another way. You probably went through the education system yourself. And it hasn’t given you the tools or the courage to feel you can teach your child to count? Is that really a system you *want* to put your child through then?
Just a thought.
You don’t have to send your child to school. It’s legal and doable to keep them at home with you, and there are all sorts of resources and groups around to help. In fact, I’m going to do a thing here now, and I’m going to ask my home educating friends if they’d contribute to a carnival that talks about home education, and celebrates why we do it. If you’d like to be involved, please leave me a comment, or drop me a tweet, and we’ll look to put something together in the first week of september. I hope you’ll join in.
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