Home Education - causing your child to receive an education "otherwise than at school" - is not only acceptable and efficient, but also allowed for under the Education Act. The act makes it a parent's duty to ensure their child is educated, but this duty may or may not be delegated to a school. In other words, it is education, not school, which is compulsory in this country.

You don't have to ask anyone's permision to home educate, even if your child is already at school (unless they attend a special school because of a disability etc) If your child is not yet 5, and is not yet at school, you need inform no-one. Legally, from the end of the school term following your child's 5th birthday (not 4th, as many schools would like you to believe), all you need do is ensure your child is receiving an education suitable to his/her age, ability and aptitude. All this means is you go at your child's pace, and so long as s/he is doing things s/he enjoys s/he WILL learn from them. Most children of this age are already being educated at home, without their parents thinking of it as such. If your younger child already has a variety of activities and so on, you really do not need to begin to do anything else specially for the purpose of home education when they reach their 5th birthday. There is also no legal obligation to follow the National Curriculum, or indeed any set curriculum at all, do specific separate subjects or school type learning. Your child need do no writing just for the sake of it, as if they are surrounded by the written word (which they are in our Society, writing being one of the main forms of communication) they will learn to write soon after they are able to read - without you actually teaching them. and you don't need to specifically teach them to read either, as most home educated children seem to just learn this too. If you read to your young children and they see you reading for pleasure, then reading will be something they want to do. Many parents say their child seems to not be able to read one day, then suddenly the next day, they can, almost as if they have "cracked the code".

It might sound risky to new home educators, not actually teaching your child, particularly in areas like literacy, but parents who have trusted their children's inate abilities have found they all learn to read sooner or later. I have yet to meet a home educated child who failed to teach themself to read and write. Even children who are withdrawn from school because they don't seem to be learning anything soon start to take an interest in reading and writing at home, particularly if their parents make it into games and allow them to make their own home-made books, posters, mesages, cards, games etc.  and even dyslexic children (some of whom are not actually dyslexic but labelled as such at ridiculously early ages because they are simply not ready to learn to read or write yet) do better at home, where their parents can devote time to one-to-one activities, specific dyslexia reading approaches or schemes etc. If your child sees you getting enjoyment from reading every day it will be one of their goals anyway, and most children achieve their goals, providing they are encouraged and have the necessary resources.

What if your child is already in school? Well, regardless of what age or class etc. you may simply write a letter to your child's head teacher informing them that you are now taking direct responsibility for their education, and that their name should be removed from the register as they are now (not "will be" or "going to be") receiving education otherwise than in school. There is a specific way the letter should be worded so that it is made clear that education IS taking place "otherwise than in school" - if the letter says the child will be home educated, or that the parents intend to home educate, then this implies that the child is not yet receiving any education outside of school and their name does not have to be removed from the register, because the only reason a child's name can be deleted from the school register is if they are now being educated elsewhere. The Education (Pupil Registration) Regulations make it clear that the head cannot unreasonably refuse to deregister a child (e.g because s/he does not think the parents would be able to manage, or because s/he does not agree with home education.) The head teacher then has 3 days to comply. (This 3 days is to allow time for them to inform the Local Education Dept. that a child in their area is no longer attending). The L.A (Local authority) have a duty to ensure that all children are receiving an education, so if they are informed that your child has ceased attending school because they are now being home educated, they will contact you in due course to make enquiries as to your provision for your child's education.

So long as you are aware of your legal right to home educate, it is unlikely that you will experience any real problem, although some local authorities can make unnecessary demands on parents. Local authorities are allowed to make informal enquiries to satisfy themselves that your child is receiving an "efficient full time education, suitable to his age, ability and aptitude and to any special educational needs he may have". Remember it is your child, and your duty to educate them, and by law you have the right to choose how this takes place. In addition, the L.A has no legal authority to impose their demands on you, for instance insisting on visiting you at home, or leading you to believe you must follow a particular curriculum etc. They must accept your educational philosophy and provided you are causing your child to be educated, they cannot dictate how this happens. This includes making demands for written work, specific subjects etc. home education is comletely different from school; schools must educate roughly 30+ children at a time in each class, and without strict timetables and set lessons this would be totally chaotic. At home, your child really will learn from being in the real world, and anything learnt at school can just as easily be learned at home (if not more easily) If you find this difficult to accept, try looking at a Key Stage 1 or 2 practise workbook, which are easily got from Waterstones etc. you'll soon notice that the "lessons" being taught are simple everyday things like telling the time, weighing, measuring, addition etc. which can very easily be incorporate into your everyday life, so that your child learns without thinking it is a chore. The reason such things are taught formally in school is because those children, segregated from the real world and adults other than those in authority, don't have the time or the opportunity to learn all these things. simply taking your home educated child shopping, involving them in preparing meals, baking, helping around the home, growing things in the garden, doing simple science experiments (many great books available for ideas!) will teach them everything they would be learning at school- and more - but because they are doing it in a relaxed setting and are able to take as much time as they want over it, they are more likely to learn effectively.

What if you are a Single Parent or live on a low income? Single parents are just as likely to home educate as families with 2 parents. As for income,  many home educating families live on quite low incomes, because there is usually one (or both) parent at home because they have chosen to spend their time with their children. Some parents choose to work part time or work from home; working parents can often share childcare with other home educating parents, sometimes making up rotas, so that each family has other people's children round to their homes for one day per week, and in turn their children go to another family on other days. home education does not cost any more than if you send your child to school. True, you will have expenses such as books and pencils, paints, other equipment, but many children would have these anyway, and these can be given as gifts at Xmas or birthdays. some families say any additional cost caused by home education is balanced out by the fact home educated children are not subjected to the same consumerist peer pressure as school children. home educated kids do not care what other kids wear, or have! Your home educated child isn't going to come home and say they "need" a certain type of bag or trainers because "all the other kids have them" (In fact, this, with school children, is always an exaggeration!) They are not going to beg you for an expensive mobile phone, which will then be stolen, and they are not going to want expensive presents to take to other children's birthday parties. home educated children will go about happily in comfortable, but of course attractive, clothes, many of which have been bought at charity shops, chosen for their colour usually! home educated kids don't demand crisps or coke, or specific brand names. So your shopping bill is likely to be a lot less expensive. If you go on holiday, it can be at an off-peak time, when it is less expensive. Many single parents decide to stay at home full time to home educate, but some do work and it is not illegal to work and also home educate, so long as you are causing your child to be educated, it doesn't have to be you who is there to supervise or facilitate this all the time.

What do children get out of home education? Happiness, freedom; acceptance, the knowledge that they are valued not because they have "performed" well, or pleased someone, but because they exist in the world and because of that their parents are overjoyed; Contentedness, confidence, and self-belief because they don't know the feelings experienced because of ridicule, humiliation, bullying, rejection etc. It's as simple as that.

What about social life and support etc? well, although it is not necessary for children to mix with other children exactly the same age as them, home educated children can meet other children around their age locally. You would be amazed how many familis are home educating in your local area. It is estimated that over 50,000 families now home educate, but these are just the families on membership lists of organisations for home education. It is actually thought that for every family who become members of, say, Education Otherwise (the original home education organisation and the largest) there will be at least 2 who do not. this means the figure is possibly nearer 150,000.  There are many local groups and activities, in every town, and most home educating parents tend to form close supportive friendships with at least a few others, sometimes attending home education events or taking their children on outings etc. or just meeting up at each other's homes for shared educational activities- or fun, play etc. (usually they are all fun!) For older kids there are often activities arranged that they can attend with their friends, after about age 14 or 15 they may not want to do things with their mum! They could go ice skating, climbing, swimming, cycling, skateboarding or rollerblading etc. There are many home educating tenagers in the UK, and ironically at about the age when most teenagers have had enough of school work, many home educated teenagers actually reach 15 or 16 and choose to go into the education system to study for GCSEs, most of them out- performing their school attending peers.

GCSEs are by no means compulsory though, and many home educated children go on to find work using their hobbies and interests and their employers give them work because they are impressed at their self-confidence and motivation. And many home educated children actually set up their own businesses, using their skills and interests to earn a living doing something they really enjoy.

So, if your child is having problems at school, maybe being bullied or truanting, or feeling ill and refusing to go to school, or whatever reason you have for thinking about what it would be like if only you didn't have to send them, or if you already want to stop sending them but didn't know this was possible,just don't send them. Go and collect them now, if it's that bad, or if you REALLY think they can wait, just don't send them back tomorrow. You don't have to ask to withdraw them from school, and so long as you send a deregistration letter, and begin home education (although techincally the L.A should be reasonable and allow you a certain length of time for you to "establish" home education, and/or for your child to recover from school if necessary)you are no longer under any obligation to send them to school. Parents are not prosecuted for home educating, only for failing to send registered pupils to school. A home educated child is not a registered school pupil, therefore no-one can make them go back to school.

Get in touch with Education Otherwise for more information and to find out about joining as a member. You can visit the organisation's website www.education-otherwise.org
or telephone their Helpline 7 days per week 0870 73 00074
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SEND YOUR CHILD TO SCHOOL!

If you are a single parent and would like specific help with any issues around problems with school refusal, truanting and so on, and feel home education would benefit your child but are worried about coping on your own, or what the reaction of the school might be etc please contact me as I deal with these issues on a regualr basis for Education Otherwise.