Hey IMs,
I want to look into home schooling as an option for my son. He just turned 8 and is currently in year 2.
He has found it difficult to maintain friendships and seems to be a target for bullies. He is more of a “loner” type rather than one to have many friends. So no doubt this is a huge factor.
I’ve found he plays up at school and is in “trouble” most days. This worries me, when he is home, he does his homework and is a well behaved child the majority of time. So I almost feel like he is a different kid at school.
I believe he is more of an introvert hence his issues at school and difficulties maintaining friendships etc he also prefers to stay home doing his own thing rather than attending group activities and sports.
I feel like school is a dead end for him. It’s only breaking down his self esteem and confidence along with motivation. So I’ve come to wonder whether I can do the homeschooling option and at least give him a chance to flourish rather than wilt away😞
Could anyone give me some advice on where to start and maybe share opinions and experience with me on homeschooling?
Cheers xx
5 Replies
I’ve home schooled in NSW and in SA.
It isn’t a difficult thing to do and there are a couple of ways to do it.
1. Is distance education. Basically a school sends out materials and curriculum and you supervise your child to do it, and send completed work back etc. it by far the easiest method.
2. You apply to homeschool through your states governing body, they come do a home assessment and look at your school plan based on the states curriculum (they send you a copy). It usually requires yearly inspections which are no big deal if you are organised and actually doing the work.
I found the actual ‘schooling’ part of the day only took a few hours because you aren’t trying to coordinate 24 other children.
They will want to know you are giving your son plenty of social activities. There are homeschool social groups that they’ll give you a list of. I’d also look into some social skills groups in your area (speech therapists and OTs usually run them). Your son may wish to go back to school at some point (many kids do).
What type of education would you like to teach him? Eg. Just standard, Waldorf/Steiner, Religious based, Montessori etc? There will be Facebook groups of all of these you can join and ask for tips and advice on where to start but it just depends what route you'd like to go teaching wise as the advice will differ :)
Also lookat changing schools. Its easy to think they will all be mostly the same, but if you find the right one its gold -amd a whole lot easier than homeschooling!
Make a list and then start really looking, I found at least 5 schools worth looking at, small, high support, flexible, understanding etc.then i scratched a few immediately from the interview. Now we are in the right one and my child is excelling and loves it.
Get a paediatric review. Their might be a reason he plays up and struggles to make friends and if you don't identify that, it will disadvantage him in the long run. I recently registered for provisional home schooling while we waited for a paediatric review though and it worked well to pull him out and have things calmer and reintroduce school with support and treatment interventions in place. Not smooth sailing, but much better
My child attends weekend activities where half the children are home schooled. I have also thought about this option as my child doesn’t really fit in. The group my child spent years with are getting into trouble and have no interest in working at school. My child has tried but struggles with new friends as most are pretty set in their groups. Weekends are fine as they all are goal oriented. It’s hard at lunch and my child has expressed they would love to not have to go to mainstream but still get an education!