Where can I get some advice about HE ing- Where do I start?

[discoverlife]

especially for my DS2 10yo who has learning difficulties an distractability score that put him in the lowest 5% of the country. He hates school, doesn't get on well with kids his own age and is thinks he is bullied to such an extent that the teacher now give him jobs that he does at playtime to avoid the situations that arrise. I don't know if I could have the patience to 'teach' him for 6 hours a day, but on another thread it has been mentioned that the actual time teaching is much shorter than at school.
My DH is disabled but is very willing to do the teaching himself and we are in the country and there are carpenters, plumbers etc. galore to help with practical studies, DH does have a Degree, whilst I had 9 'O' Levels so we think we have the intelligence ourselves.
We would like it that he doesn't have to go to Secondary if possible.
P.E would be undertaken by my DD who is a lifeguard and aqua aerobics teacher and already takes him on runs, swimming etc.

[singingmum]

Try www.education-otherwise.org.uk
they are really helpful and there are downloadable info sheets that are excellent to start with.
It is however true that you don't have to be teaching 6 hours a day.I rarely teach longer than3-4hrs on an excellent day.You really can fit more in on a one to one basis than in room full of noise.I have 2 dc's at diff levels and still don't need to spend too much time teaching.Dc's learn a lot even when we think they are justy mesing about.Also you can make it more fun at home so he won't even realise sometimes that he's learning.

[PeachyHasAFiggyPudInTheOven]

Search for education otherwise, they have loads of sn info as well

NedMoreCoffee is good on teh Home edding of sn kids front as well, she home edded some of her brood

[singingmum]

Just re-read your post and it sounds as though you have the tools more so than many who are already doing this inc myself and I'bve been at this 10yrs

[discoverlife]

Singingmum, what tools? read this as a panicky 'Ive finally admitted its what i would really like to do'. So I am going to calm down now and read the posts you have all done. And go to that site.
How much trouble will I have getting him out of school etc. especially with him being SN.

[AMumInScotland]

The fact that he has SN does not affect your right to home educate and (assuming you are in England and he is not at a special school) you only have to de-register him from school and you are then free to start HE.

If you were in Scotland, or he was at a special school, you would have to request consent to withdraw him from school (although they can't unreasonably withhold consent, it can still take them a while).

The only other difference is that the education you set up for him has to be suitable "to any special educational needs he may have" as well as his "age, ability and aptitude".

As to teaching him for 6 hours a day, don't worry about it. He might be learning for 6 hours a day, just as he did before he started school, but that doesn't mean you or DH have to be actively teaching for all that time. Huge amounts of learning happen when you are just doing normal things together.

Even if you were going a more academic route, that can be done with far less direct teaching time out of the school environment. My son attends an internet school doing 7 GCSEs, and he only has 3 hours a day of teaching time. Many HErs with younger children reckon about an hour a day is enough to cover the school curriculum (if you wanted to).

There is no reason why he would need to go back to secondary school, unless that's what you and he want at that stage. It might well be that a college course in a practical subject or an apprenticeship might be more his thing. Either way it sounds as though the school is not the best environment for him at the moment, and HE for a while at least can only help!

[PeachyHasAFiggyPudInTheOven]

You do actually have to get eprmission to de-reg from a spcecial school and sometimes that has been denid (home edded my ASd youngest although he wasntr egistered ats chool then, starts 'proper' school next week)

[discoverlife]

He is not Statemented or in a special needs school. In Hereford (have a look at the so-called Home Education part of the Herefordshire LEA, its non-existant. We looked at Bristol etc. and they have information, not Herefordshire.) rather than the council going to the expense of Statementing thay will asses educational needs and pay for special needs teachers in the school envirionment, this means that DS2's school gets the wages paid for 15 hours of 1 to 1 schooling for DS2. In fact what the school gets is a free teaching assistant for the whole class.
The only thing I am worried/feeling guilty about is that his 'special needs' teachers will have to lose some hours unexpectadly.

[AMumInScotland]

If they're not actually providing the 1 to 1 help but using the person as a class assistant, it sounds like they have a lot more to feel guilty about than you do!

The amount of information on council websites is very varied - here in West Lothian there's none at all, but in some ways that's better than the mis-information some councils apparently spout.

You should definitely work from the education otherwise information, and read through the actual legislation if you want to be perfectly clear what the legal position is. But if your son doesn't have a statement, your position is basically the same as that of any other parent who wants to HE.

[AMumInScotland]

PS Well done on going for it - just seen your other thread.