Fran starts school next week. Although the reality of how much I will miss her is sinking firmly in, I’m still feeling very positive about it. It seems she is too, though she isn’t saying much. If asked, she says she is looking forward to stretching herself to a new challenge, which I like and certainly beats “finally I get to have some friends and be taught properly” which i think is what people imagine she feels.
Last week we went and met people and talked over various things. I have to say I like the atmosphere and the ethos. How flexible we manage to make it I don’t know; I have asked for some ability to educate off site at time if we are doing good trips etc. I got the impression they were amenable potentially to some of that, but we’ll see. She does CATs on Wednesday to help stream her and we should have her time table by the end of the week ready for next Monday. She’s chosen the options she wants, which we’ve encouraged her to play to her strength in really; quantity matters less to me that quality and life. GCSEs feel far from the be all and end all. We’ll do history at home quite probably, as they can’t fit her into that.
After that we uniform shopped and again I felt very cheered up. The lady was lovely, in fact everyone was extremely welcoming and positive and the kids who came into the shop while we were there seemed nice enough. It was the first time I had been there while kids were too; given it was over lunch/tutor time, I was staggered by how calm and organised it all was! Uniform was eye-watering but she looks lovely in it, even if she has been put into the luminous orange house!
I have to admit, that despite being sad that we are at the end of an era with Fran, I am pleased and excited for her. She’s ready. She is REALLY ready. She’s worked so hard this last week or so, sharpening up her brain with verbal/non-verbal reasoning to get ready to do her best at the CATs. She’s swallowing the reality of the things that will change in a very grown up manner. If I’m sad that she won’t be home educated any more, I’m mostly sad because I know that it is the right decision at this moment. I know carrying on being home educated through belief it is best wouldn’t actually fit her needs best right now. We could have done the GCSE thing from home but I think she is ready for so much more than just getting down to harder work and exams and I really think this will give it to her.
Hope it goes well for all of you
I absolutely understand all you’ve written here – as I suspect you already know. I too feel that starting this year has been the right thing for ds1 and ds2, for completely different reasons (from one another, not just from Fran), and yet it all boils down to “this feels like the right thing for this particular young person at this particular time”. The mixed feelings are still there, of course – it is the end of an era, and the beginning of another adventure. You and I are so used to spending so much time together with our children, and we have to somehow cope with our own feelings about the whole thing whilst also supporting them through these new situations. Lots of luck to Fran, and to you 🙂
I am very interested in how/why people are making these decisions and whether they plan to ‘play it by ear’ with each child, as it were, or if this is likely to become a ‘family policy’. I wish Fran luck with it all and hope she enjoys it.
We are working on IGCSEs at home with our teen (two down and probably four more to go) and it has had a pretty big impact on our home ed. But, then, I am aware that everything changes as they get older anyway, so I have no idea what we would be doing if not plodding through the IGCSEs. The reason for doing them is to keep doors open at 16 – not really for the sheer enjoyment. But, we are learning, and I have hopes that we can make history more enjoyable than we managed with geography…
I can’t imagine either of mine in school because they’d never stand the uniform, never mind anything else… I just hope college really does treat them like young adults or I can’t see that being a hit either. Fingers crossed for us all!
I am sure that it will be OK for all of you and you know what. if it isn’t you can fix that too.
Just to pick up on one tiny point…..Fran will ALWAYS be home educated, even if she spends a good part of her “working week” hours in a school environment. She and you will not lose the skills and the enquiring mind that have been the mainstay of your lives thus far. At least that is our experience, now having both children in school by their own choice :o) xXx
Yes, I agree with Maggie. Just think of the school as a resource in Fran’s education – one among many:)