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Alternative Parenting Group?


Queenie79
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Hi there

 

I'm just wondering if there are parents out there who take what might be termed an alternative way of parenting. Be it an eco/green way, home schooling, natural medicines, vegetarian etc etc

 

I'm interested in finding like minded parents to see whether there is scope for setting up a group/meet up. There are lots of ideas out there such as forest playgroups (difficult in Shetland), beach playgroups or groups of Mum's that meet for walks/talks etc.

 

I'm sure this happens informally but it might be good to establish something more formal for those who might feel isolated by their choices or simply fancy a get together of like minded people.

 

pm or feel free to discuss further in this thread

Cheers

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  • 1 month later...

I'm not on Shetland (yet) and my kids are all grown, but I did homeschool two of the four and would be happy to share my experience if that is helpful to anyone. That said there seem to be nearly as many reasons for homeschooling as there are homeschooled kids - my two boys were/are super bright and were not sufficiently challenged by mainstream schools - so how much help swopping notes will be kinda depends on your reasons for homeschooling and what you hope to gain from it. Also the law re. homeschooling, particularly in Scotland, has/is changing.

 

Hope you can get your group off the ground :)

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Also the law re. homeschooling, particularly in Scotland, has/is changing.

 

Not sure that's the case, Annie. I home educate my kids, and keep my ear quite close to the ground on these issues. I've not heard of any proposed changes......can you point me at some details?

There was the Badman review in England, if that's what you're thinking of, but that was thrown out with the Labour govt, and had no bearing on Scotland. Mind you, the educational fascists are always cooking up something, so I wouldn't be that surprised to learn I've missed something!

 

I'm not in Shetland yet , either, (working on that!) but if I make it happen soon, then I'll continue to home educate. I'm always surprised its not a more popular choice in Shetland, especially where children travel quite far to school, or even have to board during the week.

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I'm always surprised its not a more popular choice in Shetland, especially where children travel quite far to school, or even have to board during the week.

 

It's no surprise. We have excellent schools here and all children that I have discussed home education (which admittedly is limited to my children and a few of their friends, one of which has been home educated) with would prefer to go to school than be home educated, and certainly when I was at school I had friends that stayed in the hostels that loved coming down to Lerwick and although the experience of the hostel itself was mixed, I don't think many would have chosen to be home educated as an alternative.

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I remember something in the news a while back. There were accusations made about parents who keep their children home to educate them themselves not being properly checked upon. There were also accusations of no education.

 

Aye, that sounds like the Badman report. It was lots of assertions and assumptions, with no real data no back any of it up. It started with the outcome it wanted to see (compulsory annual registration requiring local authority approval) and worked backward (like most government policy these days!). It would be nice if government collected data and did a bit a science before deciding there is a problem.

 

And the 'checking' thing is interesting. You, as a parent, are responsible for education, legally. School is not compulsory, though most people think it is. This leads to the assumption that home educating parents should be 'checked', even though there is no real legal basis for this. It seems most local authorities go far beyond the law to 'check' because they believe they have a duty to. So they cry to government that they don't have the correct powers. Then the government is shocked to find out there are a small number of people legally educating children their own way without government intervention and oversight, so they weigh-in with lots of accusations and anecdotes in an attempt to change the law. The last government threw so much mud that much has stuck, and brought a small part of public opinion to their view. Doesn't change the fact that, so far, it is baseless. Its just about control, and on principle they will always get minimal co-operation from me until that changes.

 

Zebedee; I'm glad your school experience, and that of children you know, was so positive. I suppose my surprise is that boarding in hostels, and long days travelling to school is not seen as a more negative experience. I've no doubt the schools themselves are of a high calibre; Shetland is famous for it! Most of my children's friends say the opposite; they hate school and would love to do what my kids do! I think that tells you all you need to know about Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire schools!!

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Also the law re. homeschooling, particularly in Scotland, has/is changing.

 

Not sure that's the case, Annie. I home educate my kids, and keep my ear quite close to the ground on these issues. I've not heard of any proposed changes......can you point me at some details?

There was the Badman review in England, if that's what you're thinking of, but that was thrown out with the Labour govt, and had no bearing on Scotland. Mind you, the educational fascists are always cooking up something, so I wouldn't be that surprised to learn I've missed something!

 

I'm not in Shetland yet , either, (working on that!) but if I make it happen soon, then I'll continue to home educate. I'm always surprised its not a more popular choice in Shetland, especially where children travel quite far to school, or even have to board during the week.

 

Sorry, only just seen this, bear with me please as I'll have to check back with the friend I got the info from ... it may have been a proposal rather than an agreed change, nothing to do with Badman though. I happily admit to not having my ear to the ground any more, my youngest is 20 now ... my how time flies !

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I was under the impression that the law as such was not changing, just that LAs were under greater obligation to "check up" on children being educated outside of the state system. Recently there have been some very high profile cases were children have been "missed". This has meant that many home educators now feel as though they have to prove that they are not "abusing" their children.

NOSHED (North of Scotland Home Education) used to be useful network, not sure if they're still on the go though.

 

 

Edit - they are, it's a group on yahoo.

legal stuff for scotland is available here - http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/12/17133313/0

and http://www.schoolhouse.org.uk/ could be useful too.

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