Ashley's home education hacks
Ashley educates her daughter at home. Given her experience as a home educator, Ashley is perfectly placed to debunk some of the biggest myths about home education. But what are they?
Ashley says the most common myths she hears about home education are:
- Home educators have to know everything.
- Home educated children miss out on opportunities for further education
- Home educating costs a fortune.
The reality is more nuanced, as Ashley explains in our video.
Video: Myth busting
Ashley addresses the biggest myths about home education.
Ashley: Hi, I'm Ashley, and I home educate my daughter Asaiah. There are lots of myths around homeschooling, and lots of them don't really hold up. So let's debunk some of them, shall we?
Home education is going to cost a bomb. That's not really true. Home education can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. There are so many free resources available, and you can tailor it to your family's budget—so much so that I made another video all about that.
To home educate, you have to know it all. That is far from the truth. Like, I know—not a lot. There are things I know, but I don't know everything, and nobody does. You're a facilitator of education, and you can use resources, tutors, and everything around you to help give your child the best education possible.
Home-educated children miss out on opportunities for further education. Home-educated children have so many pathways to higher education—GCSEs, A-levels, vocational courses, apprenticeships, and direct entry into university. Now, obviously, Asaiah is still really young, and we're not there yet, but there are so many ways to get to higher education, and being home-educated doesn’t hinder that. It’s just a different type of pathway.
Everyone will want to have their say. That's just the reality. You're taking a path that's so different. And I know for some people, that's really tricky to navigate, but one thing that we did is involve our family in that journey. So we send a yearly newsletter in video format, just letting them know the things that Asaiah has done and the skills she’s gained, like swimming.
We try to include them if she’s got any extracurriculars and ask them if they have any skills they’d like to share with her. Everyone will have an opinion, but ultimately, you know what’s best for your family.
Her education is easily defined. Absolutely not. There are so many ways to home educate. There’s Forest School, there’s autonomous learning, tutor-led learning, and flexi-schooling. But there are just so many ways to tailor it to your family and to your child while staying true to what you want to achieve.
Home-educated children suffer socially. That’s not true. Home-educated children thrive socially. Socialisation happens all the time. For example, Asaiah goes to many different clubs. She goes to Forest School with other children who are her age, older, and younger. She has loads of clubs she can attend.
She’s super confident, super chatty, and super bold. I think that’s because she’s able to thrive in different social settings with children of different ages. She’s in the real world all the time, at her own pace.
Home-educated children can thrive socially, academically, and in the world of work. Even though everybody does have all the opinions in the world, it’s really important to know what your values are as a family and what’s in the best interest of your child.
Where can I read more about challenging attitudes and home education?
She also noted the common myth that home educated children suffer socially. Read this article to find out more about keeping your child socially active whilst home educating.
If you want to learn more about home educating, be sure to check out our guides on making your home a fun learning zone, coping with emotional challenges and ten common fears and how to tackle them.
For general advice about parenting and wellbeing, take a look at these articles from BBC Bitesize Parents' Toolkit: how to chat with your child about their mental health, five ways to manage your wellbeing as a parent and nine indoor craft activities to do with your kids.
Where can I find more support for home education and parenting?
The BBC Bitesize home education collection is designed to support you and your child’s learning at home with free resources for early years and foundation stage (EYFS), primary and secondary-age students.
Bitesize Parenting is the go-to place for the whole parenting community to find stories, expert advice and fun activities.
If your child has special educational needs and / or disabilities, be sure to check out the Parenting SEND collection. Bitesize also has a collection of Sensory Stories, an immersive video series that transports you on unique sensory adventures, for children with additional or complex needs.
For more information about home education, these BBC News articles cover the rise in families deciding to educate their children at home and, from 2021, the impact of Covid on home education.
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