I think that one of the biggest questions that most parents have is what should I be teaching when I'm home schooling?
What parents may not be aware of is that to my understanding that you do not actually have to comply with the national curriculum.
At the moment both of my children attend mainstream school they are both in different schools and in different years.
What I have found is that depending on the school and the age at your child is that what they are actually learning will very this is obviously due to the national curriculum.
Plus funding and school location..
The developmental goals that are set by UK education authorities they use things such as key skills in order to assess as well as SATs to determine what level your child is at academically.
With regards to the National Curriculum there are a number of things that the school have to comply by when it comes to teaching your children.
As a parent I personally do not all ways agree with the things that is set for my children to learn.
I strongly believe and feel that there are other things that they should be learning in order to help them to become independent and integrate within Society in the future.
When I originally set up this blog it was due to the fact that I was very determined to home-school my children but due to unforeseen circumstances this was not possible for me to do at the moment in time.
We are currently having both of our children assessed for special Educational Needs.
what I have found is that my youngest child is actually getting more support with this with regards to my oldest who seems to be at a school where they are not complying with our wishes to have him tested.
He is due however to take his SATs within the next couple of weeks so hopefully by then we should determine whether or not homeschooling is still an option.
Well I have fun with both of my children is that they are very good at numeracy this is something that I personally struggle with due to having dyscalculia.
Their dad however has a degree as a design engineer and I believe that their gifts of numeracy is probably come from him if you believe that things like that can be genetic.
My oldest and youngest child also struggle with verbal communication I do not think that to be honest this is something that we should worry about.
It is my understanding that in today's Society the majority of today's society struggle with verbal communication.
one of the reasons for this I have found is due to modern technology and also the lack of of personal interaction that people tend to have with one another.
Especially when it comes to communicating verbally nowadays we seem to rely on technology more in order to achieve this.
What I tried to do with both of my children every day when possible is get them to read aloud to me, so that I can see whether they are clearly and concisely pronouncing their words correctly.
Due to both of my children living in different Counties I've also found that with the addiction which still is not very clear when communicating verbally.
They have already picked up local isms to where they live they have already started to shorten certain words and abbreviate the way that they say things.
At times I found this to be quite frustrating as I would like my children not to learn Queen's English as such but to have clear and concise dictionary.
Ao that when they do communicate with people more widely in the future their local accents do not become a hindrance.
With regards to handwriting which in my opinion is a must and is a very important it is one of the things that I am glad that schools still teach.
I would like my children to know how to use a pen and pencil.
I do not want them to rely on technology in order to communicate with people although this is the main way that people communicate now.
When I have posted on this blog I have tried to do a mixture of things that I believe would be suitable depending on the age of the people reading it.
I don't want this blog just to be tailored at people of a certain age, I've tried to include a mixture of different things that I feel would be of interest to people.
This is the other reason why I've now had to add a warning label saying that this might not necessarily be suitable for young people.
That does not necessarily mean that anything on my blog could not be viewed as long as it included parents supervision and obviously parents to make their own decisions.
My aim in the future is to still seriously looking at homeschooling my children but until I can clearly and concisely assess what their level of Reading comprehension and understanding is.
Not just in the classroom but in everyday life, I feel that this is something that I'm currently not able to do.
Once they have been assessed to determine whether or not they do have special Educational Needs that mean that they will require additional supports in order to help them integrate within Society as adults in the future.
Then I will be able to make it more clear and concise decision as to whether homeschooling would be the better option.
When it comes to things like higher education such as considering whether or not they should look at taking their GCSEs.
In my opinion GCSE'S have become an absolute joke no longer do they have GCSEs grade A to C apparently they have now I've changed it from 1 to 7
I know very little about this and it is not something that I'm going to stress about or stress out my children about.
I will just have to like every other parents watch that space like I have said to my children you're still young I want you to have a childhood yes having an education.
It is important however to have a job, become independent, supporting yourself financially and hopefully being in a position where you can potentially become a homeowner.
So that when the inevitable happens when I say that I mean me and her dad is no longer alive they are in a position where they are able to take care of themselves.
I think personally at the end of the day that is what education should be about.
Yes it would be great it would be fantastic especially within the UK if more young people had a future in high paid jobs where they could potentially go on holiday three times of year provide for their families and be homeowners.
But as we know that is not a realistic expectation. What is a real expectation is enabling your children to gain relevant key skills whether that's through homeschooling part homeschooling or even relying on the government to provide it.
The key point that people have to remember is that it is to enable our children to become adults who will be independent be able to take care of themselves and to become a member of society and not over time I'm to become a burden.
I know by using the word burden it seems harsh but there is an opinion out there still in society where people are believed to be a burden.
Especially they are unable to successfully integrate into modern-day Society.
That may due to a number of reasons not just due to poor educational backgrounds.
It could be due to personal circumstances it could be due to ill health.
It could be due to the economy.
It could be due to their own personal financial circumstances.
The list is endless, what you want to be able to do as a parent I believe it's armour your children for the future.
Knowledge is power it does help and I think by teaching your children and necessary key skills that they need in order to be strong and independent in the future starts with a strong Foundation.
One of the two things that I believe that children need to know how to do a matter who they are is to read and write.
Then be able to count and then it skills are a must everything else can come within time.
But if you were to strip away those key things which I'm not academic.
In order to support a child you have got to look at the things that a child needs, how to do and to me that is to be able to take care of themselves successfully.
That comes from looking after their own personal well-being and that is emotional physical financia.
If they can do those three things look after themselves emotionally physically and financially then they are onto a winner.
Posts
