Home education is not the preserve of educational revolutionaries, neither it is only an option for the middle classes or those who can afford tutors. There are many reasons why people choose to home educate, many choose to from before the child reaches statutory school age and see home education as a continuation of the natural learning process. 

If you have taken the time to visit this site and read this far you will probably have a good reason for considering educating your child at home. From our membership of the UK-Home-Ed and Fluff-for-home-educators lists we have found it a great comfort to realise that there is a wide diversity of parents and children home educating. Some of the reasons for home educating include:

Bullying

Boredom

Discipline

Providing a more suitable education

I actually like my child and want to be with them

Readers' Submissions

Bullying

Bullying is still a serious problem in many schools. Most schools will make all sorts of promises about "Anti-Bullying Schemes" but there really is very little that they can do. Often, when a child is the victim of bullying, they can be made to feel like the problem, especially when it gets to the point that they feel they can no longer attend school. As an adult one would not accept this mental (or physical) torture at one's workplace for example, so why expect a child to "take it on the chin". Read Wendy-Jayne's story.

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Boredom

Yes, school can be boring! If your child does not happen to have exactly the right interests and abilities to fit in with the one size fits all education provided by the National Curriculum they could become bored and de-motivated. On the other hand if the child's interest and ability is particularly keen in one or more particular subjects then there is a good chance that they will quickly be completing work that is too easy, and get restless or bored.  (How many times has your child surprised you with their knowledge of the computer or other electronic equipment) I would be surprised myself if they were "taught" that at school, I would imagine that they picked most of it up by "playing" with it. If your child has a particular ability in one or more area it is highly unlikely that the school will be able to devote the necessary resources to allow them to reach their full potential, likewise if they are struggling in any particular area. You, as a parent, intimately know their strengths and weaknesses and are in a position to devote attention to THEM, not divide it among 30+ others.

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Discipline

This can follow from the boredom issue sometimes. Your child could be labelled a disturbance if they become bored or restless. Discipline is a controversial subject; you may feel that your child being unfairly victimised by an over rigorous system or that the school as a whole is "out of control". It can be argued that  many schools put adherence to "the system" above learning. A huge part of school is about learning to comply with the rules, regulations and minutiae of school life, something that is completely irrelevant to real life (do you have to ask permission to use the lavatory at work?)

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Providing a more suitable education

When you home educate your child you are able to devote attention to them, and help with any difficulties before they they become frustrated. 

Paula Rothermel, of the University of Durham carried out a research project, involving 1000 families. 

Quote: "Preliminary analysis of the reading assessments for the six, eight and ten-year-olds indicated that when contrasted with national attainment levels, the home-educated children demonstrated a high standard of literacy."

Quote: "A cohort of four-year-olds were assessed using a simple maths and English based appraisal at the start and end of a ten month period. The results of the initial assessment indicated that two out of three of the home-educated children scored over 75% on the tests. Nationally the figure for four-year-old children attending school and achieving in excess of 75% was just one in 20."

Quote: "Overall, home-educated children demonstrated high levels of ability and good social skills, apparently benefiting from a curriculum tailored to their individual needs and from the attention given to them by their families. It is possible that the self-motivation so evident in many of the children stemmed from greater parental participation in their learning process, a more flexible curriculum and an individualised educational programme that reflected their own interests."

Read more on the Paula Rothermel research project, and press articles relating to it.

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I Actually like my child and want to be with them.

The reasons so far may appear a bit negative toward school. You may just decide that you actually want to be with your child and carry on rearing them as you have been doing. Some people may level the accusation that you are 'over protective', and that you will damage them socially. Read the FAQ on socialisation though.

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If you would like to submit your own experiences or reasons please use the form below. The submissions will be reviewed and added manually.

Readers' Submissions

I have decided to educate my daughter as I feel the education system if failing her. She is a very bright 12 year old with learning difficulties. We have recently moved to Derby as my partner is at uni here and I am also going to uni in September, I have applied to schools here and I have not heard anything from them, despite phone calls, no one has the manners to even return a my calls. Therefore I have decided to educate L[full name removed-webmaster] from home, I have no faith in the state education system and I can't afford Private school so home education I believe it will benefit her.  At least with her being at home she won't be bullied and also I can give her homework, which she didn't get at her last school, but then all of the children with learning difficulties didn't unlike the students without learning difficulties so you can see why I no longer have faith in state education.
Amanda Foran

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