Mali's home education journey
For Mali, traditional school brought a serious strain of anxiety, which has since been tempered by transitioning into home education. Mali has seen an uptick in grades since starting home education, which she feels provides a greater sense of freedom and independence than traditional schooling.
She studies psychology and other core subjects, spending much of her free time on artistic projects and ice skating. Listen to Mali talk about her experiences, and read on for more tips about parenting and home education.
Video: Mali talks about independent learning and home education
Mali: I had a lot of panic attacks almost every day when I was in school. So I would, like hide out in the toilets while I was having a panic attack, and then I would miss out on a lot of lessons. Being in a classroom with loads of people, it just kind of made it worse, I guess because a lot of people would be talking and it was just really loud and I would just start panicking.
My friendship groups have changed because a few of my mates, we don't, were not really in contact anymore. We've drifted apart. It just happens. But most of my friends I'm still in contact with and I hang out with quite often. In school I did, hair and beauty, art and "sweets", and then when I was home educated, I started doing psychology and all the core subjects. Psychology I've always kind of been interested in, but I've never had the chance to do it. So I've learned quite a lot of stuff that I've always wanted to like, know. And it's just it's a very interesting subject for me.
I think the reason I like home education is because you have a lot more freedom than in school, and you can try to do the work in your own time. It's not like five lessons. You have to be there on time. You just kind of do the work in your own time.
Art is kind of just something fun that I do to pass time. I make 3D models of like sea animals, and I do a lot of doodling and sketching in one of my books.
I've been a lot more confident as a person in general and in my work, my grades are a lot better. Like in Maths, I used to get like 20% in tests and now I'm kind of getting 90s to 100 and stuff.
Where can I read more about independent learning and home education?
If you connected with Mali's story, you can find more about independent learning in our guides on autonomous learning, teaching your child problem-solving strategies and helping your child to learn independently.
If Mali's words about mental health struck a chord, you can find more advice in our articles on looking after your mental wellbeing, managing stress, mental health and behaviour and handling emotional challenges.
For more general wellbeing advice, check out BBC Bitesize Study Support and the Bitesize Parenting wellbeing collection.
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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