WORTH READING (or listening to the above audio) BEFORE YOU START HOME EDUCATING

What is Deschooling?

Deschooling is not a method or philosophy of Home Education as such, it is more of a transition period from school education to Home Education, most often used for children who have recently left a formal school environment.

It is time for the child to adjust to learning without the rigidity and formality of the school system, and for the parents to observe their child and how they learn. Often the parent can need longer to deschool than the child, especially when the niggling questions arise such as 'is the child learning enough?'.

How it works.

During this time the child is, in essence, rediscovering themselves. In school, their natural curiosity and desire for learning has often been dulled by the limits imposed by the school day and the tasks they are required to complete. For some children, school has had such a negative impact that they do not want to engage in anything that looks like education at all! They will refuse to put to pen to paper, to read, or even to listen to their parents when they begin speaking about something that feels like it might be leading towards a lesson or a question. It is important to remember that this is completely natural, and is vital in the child’s transition from a very formal, one-size-fits-all method to a more relaxed, personalised one.

Don’t Panic!

Parents may panic at the start of the Deschooling process because they find their children spend the majority of their free time just staring at the TV or playing computer games. Remember – the child has not had control over their time other than the brief period after school each day when they are able to sit and wind down for a short while. At first they may want to nothing other than those activities which they are used to doing during that after school down time. Consider how children are during the summer break. The first week of that holiday period looks nothing like the last, as during that time they are beginning to move away from the lifestyle they are used to. The first week or two you may find your child wants to engage in every activity you suggest, and is willingly up and out of bed by 7am everyday. As the weeks progress, you find that they do not want to do what you suggest, and spend their time watching tv, playing on the computer, and complaining that they’re bored. And often, usually right at the end of the holiday, they have rediscovered the simple pleasures of just being. Of playing in the garden, a walk round the field with the dog, a visit to a grandparent’s home. They will start to come up with their own games and self directed activities. Deschooling is really just another period like this. They need time to move away from being told what to do, where to be, how to play, when to eat, drink, and use the toilet; time to take back control of their own bodies; and time to rekindle their often lost passions for castles, gardening, dinosaurs, baking, painting, music, rock climbing, beachcombing, or whatever it was they loved, and had time to love, before school dominated their lives. Just as it is normal for children to go through this process, it is also normal for parents to find themselves worrying about it! Allow it to take its course, and the child will naturally come back to their inbuilt need for information and their innate desire to learn.

How long should you deschool?

The time taken for this process is usually linked to the length of time the child was in school. The general rule of thumb is one month for every year of school, but this is not a hard and fast figure. Some children may take longer, some need very little time at all.

One factor that can alter the length of the Deschooling period is the child’s experience of school. Some children who leave school to be Home Educated do so because it fits better with their families lifestyle or beliefs, but had few or even no negative experiences in school. These children are often the ones who need little time to adjust. Some children leave because of difficulties such as clashes with teaching staff, lack of help with learning difficulties or other special needs or bullying. Children who have left school after an upsetting or traumatic time can often have very negative views of education, and so it often takes these children longer to recover.

Also, older children may need to overcome some of the negative peer pressure, or even bullying they could have encountered in school from children who saw learning as ‘uncool’. This can make the Deschooling period stressful for the parents of older children simply because it can feel like time is running out. It is a very fixed expectation in our society that children will achieve set milestones at certain ages – GCSEs or similar exams at 16, advanced studies at 18 and then on to University, College, apprenticeships or employment from there. These are set by the school system, because of the need to have children in classes which progress at a projected pace. Home Education removes the necessity for these age limits. Children can take their exams earlier or later than they would in school, they can focus on one or two subjects at a time instead of 8 to 12 subjects all at once. They might not even take them at all! (See the exams section for more information on this.)

Deschooling is often misunderstood.

Deschooling is not that widely known about or understood. A lot of people will see that you have deregistered/withdrawn from school your child in order to let them sit around doing nothing all day. There are two things here that are untrue. Firstly – this is part of your plan. They have the time to recover, whilst being allowed the freedom to direct their own learning, be that as trips to museums and art galleries, as listening to classical music all day, cooking and baking, or in making “potions” for casting spells…and leaving them forgotten under pieces of furniture for weeks before the cat knocks it over and dyes a patch of your living room carpet purple!

But secondly – in Home Education, everything is education. Life is education. When they are tired, they sleep. When they are hungry, they eat. When they need to pee, they can go without asking permission. The first thing they learn is to listen to their bodies again, and this is massively important in allowing the brain to function to its best ability. They learn that their parents will listen to them, will hear their problems and work with them to solve them. They learn to trust themselves, to make strong, genuine connections with their peers based on mutual interests rather than the current trends in toys, fashion, music, or gaming.

Why you shouldn’t use the term Deschooling with professionals.

It is unfortunate that a lack of understanding about Deschooling has led Local Authorities to believe it an unsuitable term, they assume it means no suitable education is being provided. Changes made to the EHE guidance in 2019, now state that the education must be suitable from the first day of home education, so with that in mind, we strongly recommend not using the term Deschooling when liaising with the LA. Instead, we suggest you explain you are having a transition period, where you are adjusting and figuring out what works best for your child. If you are required to write a report during the time you are Deschooling, it is important to remember that baking, walks in the woods, documentaries, discussions about world events are all educational, education does not only include sat to the table with a workbook.  Our guide to writing a report will help you respond to the LA, and you can join our group where you can get advice from other Home Educators.