Freedom Hoskins
Freedom Hoskins is an English Traveller who home educates her children. She is very passionate about home education believes that everyone who has a desire to home educate should be able to. Freedom believes that everyone should have access to the knowledge and resources which will give them the best chance of educating their children in the best possible way. Freedom considers it to be really important that people who want to home educate understand the issues surrounding home education and the law.
Freedom loves researching and writing about things which help people to be well informed about their choices, and she is currently doing a training course with Travellers Times magazine which is helping her to develop the skills she needs to inform members of her community about subjects which are important to them.
Home education is available to everyone
All children need an education, but this doesn’t always have to be in a school setting. If you are from the GRT community and your child is in a good school where they enjoy learning, then that is brilliant for all involved. However, not all children enjoy school or want to be there and not all parents want their children to go to school. Sometimes attending school doesn’t fit in with a family’s lifestyle, especially if they are not in the same place for long periods of time.
Home education can be a fantastic way of making sure that your child is being educated well, without them attending an actual school. Every child legally needs to be receiving a full time education.
In England and Wales, home education is the default method of education for children, which means that school is actually an opt – in service and the parent can choose to either register their child or to continue to educate their child at home as they have been doing since birth. There is no legislation that makes it illegal for children not to be registered with or attend a school. If you do decide to continue educating your child at home and not register them with a school, there is no legal requirement to inform your local authority.
If your child has previously been registered with a school and you then decide you want to home educate them, you just need to de-register them from the school they attend. This can simply be done by sending a letter or email in to the school explaining that your child no longer needs their place at school. The school is then legally obligated to remove your child from their roll. There are letter templates available, from our page here, for people who might need help with this.
Once your child has been de registered you may be asked by your local authority to provide a report which details how your child is currently being educated. These reports should only be requested in 12 month intervals. Lots of help and information is available online for people who might need help with writing an education report.
Your local authority may also request to visit your home to see or speak to you and your child, but this is not a legal requirement and does not help in any way to prove that your child is receiving a suitable education. It is always best to keep everything in writing to make sure you have an accurate record of what has been said.
You do not need to be a teacher to be able to home educate but you do need to be present and be willing to help and encourage your child with their learning. Some parents struggle themselves with reading and writing due to many different reasons, but it is still possible to home educate, as there are so many different tools and resources out there now which make learning fun and easy! Many parents find that they end up learning many things too when home educating their child!
Education can be provided in many different ways and can take place anywhere and everywhere, and there are no set hours for when or how home education must be carried out.
Learning is very much age and aptitude dependent, but whilst at home, a lot children will learn from books, magazines, documentaries, TV shows etc. It is really beneficial to find out what your child is interested in, as letting them learn about their interests can make learning a lot of fun and much easier too! Just by speaking to your child and discussing things in depth, your child can learn so much! Turning on the subtitles on the TV is a great addition to your child’s education too!
There are many online resources which help with education such as online classes, educational websites and educational apps, but as with everything on the internet it is always best to supervise your child whilst they are using them. Some good examples are Twinkl, The 2 Pound Tuition Hub, You Tube, Teach Your Monster To Read and Reading Eggs. Also, Minecraft and other online games can be educational and really beneficial to your child’s education. You may also find that tutor may be helpful to your child, either online or in person.
It can be really beneficial to get involved in your local home education community as you may find events and meet ups which your child would enjoy. There are usually educational trips organised which can be fun and can be a good way of helping your child socialise. Some areas also have classes available such as sports, gymnastics, forest school, horse riding, swimming, dancing etc. and if you can’t find something your child is interested in, you could always organise one yourself!
There are other things that help to educate your child too which are usually forgotten about, as they are sometimes not seen as ‘typical’ education, such as daily chores, helping with family businesses, learning the family trade, helping to look after pets and other animals, helping to fix broken things such as mechanical items or vehicles etc. Also, taking part in cultural events or gatherings can be educational and beneficial to your child’s health and well being. Travelling is one of the best forms of education! All of these things, and many, many, more can be included in an educational report if and when you are requested to provide one.
