Dave, many people are 'getting at me'...I am their prey, always have been, and you are friends with one of those folks.

The whole point you have missed is that Home Educating families so very often know that school is absolutely wonderful for many children, as I've said so many times before. We do not have a problem with others sending their children to school. What I have a problem with is being told that home educating is bordering on the criminal, when 'the system' nearly made my child give up on life.

She is far from alone. If you read home educating magazines you will read the same story, over and over again, of children who cannot cope with factory farm schools, tick boxes, exams, tests, pressure, being bawled at, being bullied. They are so often deeply sensitive children who need quiet lives, who WANT quiet lives and they are sent into places that literally drive them half mad with fear and worry.

I would NEVER expect, let alone *force* a child to learn something they have no interest in, because I know that a child won't learn it.
Why the hell should they? Who decides what a child learns in 'The System'?   What makes them think they know what is best?

"YOU MUST LEARN TO READ AND WRITE!"

Some people can't. Yet they are able to build their own houses, be your builder, your plumber, whoever...

"YOU MUST LEARN MATH!"

Some people can't. Yet they get by OK, with simple sums that are needed for everyday life.

"YOU MUST LEARN SCIENCE!"

Some people may never want to. They love the magic that lies inside things, without ever wanting to know the scientific facts.

Some adore History, some Geography, some are born Mechanics, some are Healers, some are simply wonderful at listening to others...They are artists, musicians, writers, potters or poets..

Everyone has something they are wonderful at, no matter how small the wonder might be. It is how nature has designed us, as a species, to have different skills, different interests, different brains which light up in different areas...

The National Curriculum seeks to destory these natural gifts, turning off many children from their natural love for YEARS. Some never recover it, some do.

Some adore the National Curriculum. They love to be told what to do, what is expected of them, and they thrive on achievement. That is right...for them.

It is not right for all.

You educate your child your way. I will not stop you.

My children learnt their way, eventually, when they were free of The System, which was a System that poisoned their souls for a while.

They are now free of that poison. Thank God.