I suppose the biggest immediate issue with home schooling is that everyone, especially in a leafy middle class area, will think you are insane.
Before we made the decision we picked brains, researched, asked opinions and we were hugely grateful for our friends' honest and frank messages of support, concern and enthusiasm. Making a big decision in the wake of massive loss and grief was something we had to battle with between ourselves.
In the end, we got tired of the question 'why would you take your children out of school?' and turned it round. We asked ourselves (and others) - if we are fortunate enough to be able to meet their academic and social needs ... why would we send our children to school?
And there's the answer. We wouldn't. We'd take them places, show them things, get private tuition. We'd swap our 9am-3.30pm days for 8am-8pm and have a look to see what we could fit into that.
It would be an omission not to explain that the lovely local school the boys attended was terrific. It was great before we took the boys out - it was great after. We didn't move them because they weren't getting the education they need to succeed later. We did not move them for behavioural reasons - they'll proudly tell you they have never had a behaviour code in their whole school career. My boys are rule-keepers. They love order, safe boundaries, justice and fairness.
Maybe that's why we're different. We have every faith in the state school system - heck we might be back there next year or the year after - but that's not the point. My husband and I live and work in a flexible way. I'm a qualified teacher. We have a wonderful family and social network. Children grow up so very fast.............. Why would we send our children to school?
