Home Education South West Newsletter                         Sept 2010

  This is a question home educated children hear on a regular basis.  If you are out and about in the community during term-time, on a week day between the hours of 9am and 3pm, people who don’t know you (and some that do) presume your child is either sick or that the school is closed for some reason – and they want to know which!

You need to have a good reason as to why your children aren’t in school, people expect children to be in school.  I have always presumed that it is as simple as that.

Then something happened this summer during the holidays, that prompted me to think more about this.  When I was in a shop with my children, one of my sons drifted off into a daydream whilst I was ordering at the counter.  The shop assistant laughed and said to him, “Where were you?  You looked miles away.”  Then jokingly said, “were you thinking about school?”  I won’t go into what my son said, but this got me thinking.

“Common ground”, my husband said. 
For the same reason adults, who do not know each other very well, talk about the weather, when people talk to children the subject is school.  We are all affected by the weather and it is presumed that all children go to some kind of school.

However, I would argue that where as the weather is a pretty safe, neutral subject, the subject of school is far more personal.  In the adult world, it is like complete strangers coming up to you and expecting you to answer, “No work today, ill or are you just unemployed?”  Maybe it’s not even as extreme as that, just “How’s work?”  But this is not a question you would expect a shop assistant, a stranger to ask you, when all you are doing is buying a loaf of bread.  Work can be a touchy subject, something people want to keep private or are stressed about or simply don’t want to think about whilst having a day off.  For children school is like having a job.  They have to go everyday, whether they feel like it or not, unless they are ill.  They may find school stressful or just boring, but unlike a job they can’t quit (unless their parents discover home ed).  So to be continually asked about it when out and about must be pretty tiresome for any child, home educated or not.   For children, to have the majority of small talk to be centred around school all the time is like adults always being asked about their job regardless of whether this is a stressful or sensitive subject or not.

We need to show children the same consideration that we show adults, even when it comes to small talk.  A lovely sunny day is common ground for all.

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In part two of ITV’s The West Country Tonight 'Back to School' series, they asked local parents and their children why they home educate.  Click the link to watch this positive television article on HE.

Local HE groups

‘Not back to school’ picnics
As children all over the country return to school after their summer break...
 others are still enjoying the lovely weather with friends

One of the added bonuses of home educating, is not having to join the hordes of parents hitting the high street looking for new school shoes, uniform, PE kit, pens and things for the lunch box.

HEC organised a ‘not back to school picnic’ at Charmouth beach on the Tues 7th, with over a dozen families getting together to enjoy the beautiful weather. Many took the opportunity for an end of summer dip in the sea and there was a rather chaotic, but fun game of rounders to complete the afternoon.

Home Grown Kids in Devon and the East Devon HE group had their picnics on the Weds 8th.

Tamar Valley home education group will be holding their ‘not back to school’ picnic on 15th Sept.

New Group 
Natural Learning - a new group starting 7th October 2010.  Meeting at Embercombe (click for examples of programmes they run for schools) on Thursdays from 10 - 2 with lunch included (mainly harvested from the organic garden).  There will be an option for older children to stay after lunch with their parents or without, if they are ready to do so.  Currently the age range is 2 - 13yrs, but the group are open to any age range.

Activities will include nature walks, bush-craft, green woodworking, den-building, storytelling, movement, nature based crafts  (including such activities as making charcoal to draw with, digging clay for modelling, seeing sheep sheared, cleaning the wool, then dyeing and making felted items), working in the garden, harvesting and cooking the food, baking bread, pizza making using outdoor pizza ovens...

Children will need full, fully waterproof gear and good cold weather clothing for the winter months.
For more details contact Linda:  linda_ananda (at) rocketmail.com

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National Schools Film Week - 14th - 22nd October
Choose ‘primary’ or ‘secondary’ age group, choose a cinema location near you, pick a film, book seats and enjoy for FREE. There are also educational resources available for most films.

Ask a Biologist - if you have a question about any aspect of biology or palaeontology then perhaps you’ll find the answer here; ask the experts.

Planarity - challenge game to stretch your brain - Arrange the vertices such that no edges overlap!

Everyone’s Reading - list of around 260 titles, with synopses, aimed at readers of 11 -18 years of age. Although aimed at schools, it provides a good springboard into the publishers’ and authors’ collections.