Kids Education School Gallery: Educated

Saturday, 9 July 2011

Educated

INFOMATION
Educated
Many people in the UK do not realise that British home education (known as 'homeschooling' in the USA) is legal, and becoming more popular all the time. Although laws in the four countries of the UK (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales) are not the same, home education is legal in all of them.
According to the 1996 education act in England and Wales, it is parents who are responsible for providing their children's education 'in school or otherwise', suitable for the age, ability and aptitude of each child. The same wording is used in Northern Ireland. Scottish law says that 'every child has a right to an education, and it is the duty of the parent of every school age child to provide that education, either by sending the child to school, or by other means.'

Home educators in the UK do not have to be trained teachers, nor do they need any special qualifications to educate their children at home. Some British home educating families choose to use a structured 'homeschool' curriculum; some pick and choose school-type text books from bookshops; some use the Internet and libraries to find suitable educational resources; some follow the children's interests and do little or no teaching as such.

In other words, there are no rules for how families go about their home educating in the UK. It's up to each family to ensure that their children receive appropriate education, which will vary from child to child. Although the previous government attempted to introduce bills that would require registration and compulsory visits (at great financial cost to the tax-payer, and a terrible infringements of parental and childrne's right) the bill has now been abandoned entirely. You can find the latest information about home education and the law on the Freedom to Grow website.

Why home educate?

Some children are taken out of school due to bullying or other serious problems, but there are a growing number of British parents who home educate their children from the start. This site explains

What made our family decide to home educate?

Short version: we moved to Cyprus in 1997 when my sons were eleven and nine years old, and decided to home educate for a few months while we settled in. We liked it so much that we continued. My sons are now 24 and 22. One works in a media group in the UK after spending four years working on a ship, and was recently married; the other has just completed his third year at university in the UK. Neither has any regrets about not having been to secondary school.
This site 'home education in the UK' was launched on February 1st 1999, so is now more than twelve years old.

Educated