Saturday 19 April 2014

HOME SCHOOLED... ONE READER'S STORY

Have you ever wished you didn't have to go to school? Reader Alexandra is home schooled - but she still gets up at 6am! Read on to find out why...

Alexandra says:
I went to school as normal when I was five and stayed until Year Three, but my parents had some issues with the school and eventually it got to the point where my brother, my sister and I all left to be home-schooled. I stayed out of school for two years, and then went to secondary school - but I was attending a year early. In some ways this was good but in some ways bad - I found it hard to make friends and some of my classmates bullied me because I was younger than them. They thought I considered myself smarter than them, but that wasn't true at all... sadly, the teachers didn't stick up for me, even when I turned to them for help.

At the start of Year Eight I opted out to be home schooled again, and I've been working this way for a year now. Many people tell me how lucky I am to be home-schooled, but it does have some down sides - I still have to wake up at 6am every morning because I play a lot of musical instruments and I have over three hours of practice to fit in every day! Also I don't get the chance to mix with other children my age very much, so socially that's quite challenging. I do have friends though - I do ballet, gymnastics and tennis and in all of these activities I have made friends my own age. I miss being able to see my friends every day, and I miss silly things like snowball fights! I do PE at home, but I miss inter-school matches in netball and hockey... they were fun!

On the up side, I love that I can wear my own clothes - and I get to work with my younger sister, who is also home-schooled, so it's not just me alone. I don't have to take the long car trip to school every day and I don't have to study my least favourite subjects. Well, not as much as I used to! My dad teaches me maths and science and I have two tutors who teach me Spanish, English and French. My auntie teaches me Latin. Being home-schooled has helped me to progress dramatically in these subjects but i feel I lack knowledge in History, Geography and Religious Studies, for example. Music is a key thing in my life and I play four instruments at a high level, which keeps me busy! Add to that my other hobbies and interests and it all makes for a very interesting life. I don't think that being home-schooled is any better or worse than going to a regular school, but it's right for me, at the moment at least.

When I'm older, I would love to go to university to study medicine as I'd like to become a paediatrician ( a doctor who works with children.) At one point, I dreamed of becoming an Olympian gymnast, but somehow I don't think that will happen! Recently we've been looking at boarding schools and I will soon be starting at one of them as a day-pupil - I am very excited about this and hope this will be the right school for me, the place I will stay until uni. Being home-educated does get lonely sometimes, so I am looking forward to a new challenge!

Do you think you'd like being home-schooled? Or would you miss your friends and teachers? COMMENT BELOW to share your ideas and views!

4 comments:

  1. It sounds like Alexandra has fun being homeschooled but I think going to an actual school is best for me. Secondary school has made me adapt to having different teachers for different subjects and I honestly prefer to switch teachers cause they have different techniques. Plus teachers remind me a lot of myself personality-wise and I found most of my friends from school so public education plays a big part of my life!

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  2. Be home teacehed sounds cool but like to go real school and sullde be pround.

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  3. I would like to be home tutored but I don't want any issues in my social life so I'm happy with going to school besides I don't think I would have anyone to teach me and I don't think we could afford a tutor right now.

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  4. I don't think I would like being homeschooled as much though it does sound pretty awesome. Have a good time in boarding school by the way :)

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