Ben was at school for a year but off sick a lot -I think he was too young at 4 and got exhausted - and I found he learned more at home. When we moved to another part of the country, I used the move as an opportunity to keep him out of school, and it was such a success that I did the same thing for Tabitha. At first I was very formal about it and had fixed hours, but I soon relaxed.
We’ve got books for Maths and English that tie in to the National Curriculum, which children follow at school, but we also do a lot of topic work on things that interest them, Tabitha follows a curriculum called Primary Maths, and Ben follows the Bobby Moore School of Football Maths Book, which makes the subject fun.
Now we might start off with a bit of maths and then write to a pen friend and then go to the shops. I don’t consciously turn a shopping trip into a lesson but when we get back, I'll realise they have learnt things like Maths, geography and even issues such as fair trading.
We meet up with other home educators through a parents’ group. We go on outings or just get together in our free time to relax together. Other people I’ve talked to say home-educated children are less likely to be stroppy teenagers, perhaps because they’re isn’t the same peer pressure. Certainly, my two are at ease in adult company and seem to be well-balanced people. Mind you, if they really wanted to go to school. I wouldn’t stop them.