This was an interesting read! My daughter is in reception and her school have a policy giving parents the option of keeping 4 year olds at home on Wednesdays so that they don’t run out of steam by the end of the week! My summer born child will benefit for most of the year. I think it’s a really good idea and meant I didn’t have to negotiate a flexi-schooling agreement, which I would probably have tried to do. So far we’ve mostly used the day for rest but it has meant a few nice and quiet mid-week library and pool visits, as well as running errands and seeing family.
Unfortunately, I get the impression that the school wouldn’t be as keen on extending this into year 1 and beyond, but we’ll see!
That’s fantastic Lou - I hadn’t heard of that besides one school in Cambridge that is, like me, inspired by Charlotte Mason. (She didn’t think children should go to formal school before 6.) Fingers crossed you can extend to future years: it wouldn’t work for every family but has been a blessing for ours.
Nov 24, 2023Liked by Will Orr-Ewing, Catherine Oliver
This is so interesting! Here in the US we’ve had a number of “university model” private schools appear. I taught at one for a few years and loved the culture. Students at all grade levels attended 2 days/week and received instruction in math, science, English,(literature and writing), and history. Then the teachers sent home structured assignments to complete under the parent’s supervision. While most schools in this model are private, the fees are more affordable than a full-time school, and I’m aware of at least one public (government) school that runs on this model. It’s definitely a great tool for parents.
Nov 24, 2023Liked by Will Orr-Ewing, Catherine Oliver
Will, it sounds like you are getting so much pleasure out of your one day of homeschooling! What a special time for you both.
We are beginning to tap the local public school for some resources. Our 12yr old joined the after school theatre group that meets there 3-5x a week. We’ve been thrilled with the combination. The school does a play every quarter and I’m delighted to finally have something be “free.”
For the schools, there would be a good bit of incentive to offer all sorts of hybrids because unless my kids are enrolled at their school, they don’t get those tax dollars. Even a one day a week art/history/foreign language combination, perhaps led in one room schoolhouse fashion, would bring them loads more funding.
But for now, families I know just opt to enroll in specific classes--physical education or art or math--and do the drop off & pickup times to match. This doesn’t win the parents any breaks unfortunately, it’s more work really.
A fascinating US vs UK perspective Rachael. There is so much more the UK could do to use the tax system to incentivise families to make more imaginative choices for their kids schooling. I believe some US states even let parents have vouchers for home charter schools so that all the costs of home education can be covered by tax vouchers!
Nov 24, 2023Liked by Will Orr-Ewing, Catherine Oliver
Thank you for sharing Will. We also flexi-school at the moment on a somewhat verbal agreement with our local state school. I will continue to push for this set-up as I feel it is what best suits our little one. I became a freelancer when I had my little one but it is tough going. My partner has a much more typical 9-6 job so flexi-schooling falls to me. (My heart is with Home Ed but I haven't been able to make it work financially for us, hence our flexi-schooling current set-up.) It is good to hear how others are doing it. We are a bit of an anomaly in our area. People are either at school full time or are home educating.
It's great to hear there are others out there Cherry. My hope from WFH experiments over the pandemic was that it would allow more parents to flexi-school but it seems like employers are becoming more experiment-averse alas...
I had never heard of Charlotte Mason before I read this post. What a delightful, useful discovery. Thanks very much!
So delighted to hear it Solana!!
This was an interesting read! My daughter is in reception and her school have a policy giving parents the option of keeping 4 year olds at home on Wednesdays so that they don’t run out of steam by the end of the week! My summer born child will benefit for most of the year. I think it’s a really good idea and meant I didn’t have to negotiate a flexi-schooling agreement, which I would probably have tried to do. So far we’ve mostly used the day for rest but it has meant a few nice and quiet mid-week library and pool visits, as well as running errands and seeing family.
Unfortunately, I get the impression that the school wouldn’t be as keen on extending this into year 1 and beyond, but we’ll see!
That’s fantastic Lou - I hadn’t heard of that besides one school in Cambridge that is, like me, inspired by Charlotte Mason. (She didn’t think children should go to formal school before 6.) Fingers crossed you can extend to future years: it wouldn’t work for every family but has been a blessing for ours.
This is so interesting! Here in the US we’ve had a number of “university model” private schools appear. I taught at one for a few years and loved the culture. Students at all grade levels attended 2 days/week and received instruction in math, science, English,(literature and writing), and history. Then the teachers sent home structured assignments to complete under the parent’s supervision. While most schools in this model are private, the fees are more affordable than a full-time school, and I’m aware of at least one public (government) school that runs on this model. It’s definitely a great tool for parents.
Thanks so much Erin.
I think a common term in the US for this sort is set up is ‘cottage school’ - which feels delightfully Victorian.
A good example of a Christian classical network of them here: https://highlandslatin.org/cottage-schools/
Will, it sounds like you are getting so much pleasure out of your one day of homeschooling! What a special time for you both.
We are beginning to tap the local public school for some resources. Our 12yr old joined the after school theatre group that meets there 3-5x a week. We’ve been thrilled with the combination. The school does a play every quarter and I’m delighted to finally have something be “free.”
For the schools, there would be a good bit of incentive to offer all sorts of hybrids because unless my kids are enrolled at their school, they don’t get those tax dollars. Even a one day a week art/history/foreign language combination, perhaps led in one room schoolhouse fashion, would bring them loads more funding.
But for now, families I know just opt to enroll in specific classes--physical education or art or math--and do the drop off & pickup times to match. This doesn’t win the parents any breaks unfortunately, it’s more work really.
A fascinating US vs UK perspective Rachael. There is so much more the UK could do to use the tax system to incentivise families to make more imaginative choices for their kids schooling. I believe some US states even let parents have vouchers for home charter schools so that all the costs of home education can be covered by tax vouchers!
Thank you for sharing Will. We also flexi-school at the moment on a somewhat verbal agreement with our local state school. I will continue to push for this set-up as I feel it is what best suits our little one. I became a freelancer when I had my little one but it is tough going. My partner has a much more typical 9-6 job so flexi-schooling falls to me. (My heart is with Home Ed but I haven't been able to make it work financially for us, hence our flexi-schooling current set-up.) It is good to hear how others are doing it. We are a bit of an anomaly in our area. People are either at school full time or are home educating.
It's great to hear there are others out there Cherry. My hope from WFH experiments over the pandemic was that it would allow more parents to flexi-school but it seems like employers are becoming more experiment-averse alas...
I’m always excited to find someone else who loves Little Tim!! And to hear from the parent of a younger child.
Then you’ll enjoy meeting my son Helen - he’s a superfan!
I hadn’t ever heard of it either and I’ve been a teacher for years! It’s a bilingual school though they do everything a little bit differently!