Home Schooling

A lot has happened since I last added a post to this blog, so much so that I have decided to turn the blog into my experiences home educating my son. He is 15. He was attending High School, and half way through his GCSEs. His predicted grades for GCSEs were D, E and F. For him, he could not see the point in going to school. He did not want to be there, although he had lots of friends, always been popular and easy to get a long with. All through his time at school he has not found the academic side easy or rewarding in any way. His difficulty lies in his inability to record thoughts and information in his brain to a piece of paper. If you find this hard, then you'll struggle at school. No matter what they say about support and strategies to help kids with this, they don't exist, and if they do, they are ineffectual. Classes are too big to manage properly, and kids who need extra help get overlooked - that's a fact.

My son Matthew started truanting, the odd day here and there. Then it was every day. As parents we co-operated with the school in getting him there, and trying to encourage him, but when I was bothering to physically take him to the school gate, watching him walk through the front door only to later get a phone call to say he wasn't there - then I started questioning the point of making the effort, and all the pressure and family upset and arguments that were ensuing as a result. It was also worrying that all day, whilst not at school, we had no idea where he was or what he was doing.

We have been home educating him for several months so far, and my son Matthew has been very happy. His general attitude at home has changed, because he feels he is not being pushed into something he doesn't want to do, and because we don't focus on academic attainment.

Our first and foremost aim is that he regains his confidence by releasing the academic pressure, and allowing him to relax and regain his awareness of the world about him, to find and develop his interests, and find a direction in whatever way it may be he wishes to go.

Amongst many things we did today, I took him to see a very old lady (she is 97) who I visit through a charity. I visit her once or twice every week to give her company as she has no family. She is an extremely positive lady, despite being confined to bed and chair and living in one room. She has a love of life and a sparkle in her eye, despite being very frail. She and Matthew spoke for some time, and he shared his interests with her, which she enlarged upon and encouraged him in. What an education for him. He later remarked upon her interest in life and her amazing knowledge about everything. He learnt that elderly people are a great source of knowledge, and that they don't all moan, and that they are to be respected.

A job well done for today.