If you have ever thought about educating your child at home rather than at a traditional school, you are not alone.

Thousands of families in the UK are choosing home education because they are either disillusioned with the state education system or because they want to school their own children to a particular agenda.

According to the 1996 Education Act, every child of a school age in England and Wales must have a suitable education, whether in school or otherwise

It says: “The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable to his age ability and aptitude and to any special needs he may have either by regular attendance at school or otherwise”

And more and more families are choosing ‘otherwise’, opting for home education for various different reasons.

“Home education is not for everyone it takes a lot of commitment from both the parent and child”, says one Gloucestershire mum, Hayley Clayton, who has both home educated and comprehensively schooled her three children – Abbi, Jacob and Chris - according to their individual needs.

“Chris is home educated because the school could not meet his needs...he has flourished at home,” said Hayley.

But she also stressed that clear boundaries must be drawn between parent and child.

“The relationship can be stressful if a line can not be drawn in the sand between being the educator and the parent,” said Hayley.

There is no one-fits-all approach to learning and home education can provide an alternative for families who don’t suit comprehensive schooling.

To home educate, families are not required to follow a curriculum, work to a set ‘school day’ or work towards formal qualifications and many parents who choose to home educate are not qualified teachers.

However research has found that in the national literacy project assessments, 80.4% of home educated children were at the same level in their studies as the top 16% of school educated children.

Parents who home educate have reported that they found it had more benefits than expected pointing out that they could work on what they want, when they want.

Although formal qualifications are not compulsory, following qualifications is still popular when home tutoring, by contacting the exam board to make arrangements to take exams as external private candidates.

Teaching at home can be done in many different approaches, depending on each family and student’s preference in tutoring and learning.

Some parents may educate in a formal manner with timetables and structured set work such as curriculum based targets, other parents may take an autonomous approach and allow the child to choose which subjects and when to learn.

CASE STUDY:

Paigle Turpin-West was home educated by her mum, Bev, from pre-school age.

Her education did not follow a traditional curriculum – the emphasis was on the subjects Paigle was most interested in and motivated by – including psychology which she began studying aged 12.

“My mother was in charge of my education  but I was very self-motivated and tended to organize my own study.”

She concentrated on English, psychology and drama – the subjects she is most passionate about.

But her education also included other traditional subjects including maths and science.

Now 16 Paigle is hoping to take A levels at college and is in the process of choosing a college and looking into how to apply.

With no formal GCSE qualifications Paigle has to prove to the college that she has the ability to study at A level.

“I’m really confident about studying A levels – a lot of home educated students choose to go to college to study A levels.

“It is quite acceptable now and most colleges expect applications from home educated students.”

She does not feel it has been a disadvantage at all.

“The benefits for me were great – because I could set my own timetable for my classroom study type work it meant I could also do a lot of volunteer work.

“I feel as though I gained a great deal of life experience which I might not have been able to do if I had been at a traditional school.

“If a parent is thinking about home schooling their child I would advise them to find a solution which best suits their child.

“Home education worked really well for me but it is not for everyone. Some young people will respond better to a tutor for example rather than a parent educator.”

A number of websites offer good advice about home schooling including:

The Home Education Advisory Service: http://www.heas.org.uk/

Education Otherwise charity: http://www.education-otherwise.org/

Parents in Gloucestershire are also advised to speak to the Local Education Authority – Gloucestershire County Council on 01452 425000.