Alternative education in the UK is under attack. Home educators are under suspicion. Small schools are shut down by VAT on fees. Part time learning groups set up by parents are treated as illegal schools. Our kids need alternative ways to learn. School isn’t always the right thing. Who is listening?
a white child's face
Anni wasn’t happy at school. She was crying in the evenings and saying she had tummy aches in the morning.
Her dad went into school for a meeting. 1/
Is your teenager coming out of school and not sure what to do? Here's the advice of a home educated 17-year-old.
"It can be hard if you've just come out of school to know what you're interested in, because you might think “All school stuff is boring. I'm not interested in any of that”. /1
When I talk about the effect on children of behavioural practices which are used in some schools, I’m often told that these are trivial. Here's why I disagree.
open.substack.com/pub/naomicfi...
This is a raw, hard-hitting video about the reality for many children and parents.
It shows that the ‘SEND crisis’ isn’t just about children. It’s about families whose lives are completely overturned by the lack of understanding & provision for their children.
www.theguardian.com/education/vi...
I don't know if it could help but @drnaomifisher.bsky.social has a few courses around gelping teenagers, particularly around accepting a different path that isn't school and to heal from burnout.
@drnaomifisher.bsky.social is characteristically insightful:
"If you harshly control young people's behavior & make them focus on nothing except exam results, they're probably going to get better exam results. The question for me is: is that worth it?"
drjamesmannion.substack.com/p/commuter-m...
New episode of the Rethinking Education podcast is out now!
Hosts @rethinkingjames.bsky.social & @realdavidc.bsky.social speak with @warwickmansell.bsky.social & @drnaomifisher.bsky.social about the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill currently making its way through parliament:
I've read some of what @drnaomifisher.bsky.social says about motivation and between that and what I see with my son in school (and in the past with me): you're not going to enjoy something that you're *made* to do, you have to be scored on and is made into a chore.
My autism courses for parents are HALF PRICE just until Sunday. Pre-recorded, short and packed full of useful information. Please share the code EASTER with any parents who might want to know.
courses.naomifisher.co.uk
Good point!
Please give this a watch. The issues are similar in Scotland sadly.
My autism courses for parents are HALF PRICE just until Sunday. Pre-recorded, short and packed full of useful information. Please share the code EASTER with any parents who might want to know.
courses.naomifisher.co.uk
We need to help them out.
Making home less fun improves nothing.
It needs to stop. 9/
This is a raw, hard-hitting video about the reality for many children and parents.
It shows that the ‘SEND crisis’ isn’t just about children. It’s about families whose lives are completely overturned by the lack of understanding & provision for their children.
www.theguardian.com/education/vi...
Our new book is OUT NOW. It's an illustrated guide for professionals and it covers how to make schools fit for children, what happens when school goes wrong&working with children outside the school system.Informed by research, professional expertise and lived experience. @elizafricker.bsky.social.
Just ordered this book, looking forward to reading it. @drnaomifisher.bsky.social @elizafricker.bsky.social #edpsychs
We need to help them out.
Making home less fun improves nothing.
It needs to stop. 9/
This is a high risk intervention. It risks pushing children into misery and burnout. Instead of helping, we’re making the child’s life worse.
This can’t be the solution. If children are unhappy at school, we need to ask why. 8/
I was surprised the first time I heard a story like Anni’s. Now I’ve heard similar stories too many times. But one thing that I do know is that parents are still being told to make their children less happy at home, so that school seems like less of a contrast. 7/
Her dad was horrified. Hang on a minute, he said.
She’s not happy at school and your suggestion is that the way to improve this is to make her less happy at home?
How will that improve things at school?
They didn’t have an answer. 6/
The solution? Make home less fun. Give her fewer choices, and less attention. They said that if she stayed home from school, then her parents should interact with her as little as possible. Take away her toys and put her in the front room alone.
That way school would seem better in comparison. 5/
Home was just too much fun and Anni was used to life being too pleasant. She was used to being able to make her own decisions and expected adults to listen to what she had to say. 4/
He was surprised, because it turned out that the school didn’t think the problem was anything to do with Anni’s time there. The issue, as they saw it, was that Anni’s parents were too nice to her at home. 3/
He’d expected a conversation about what was happening during the school day and whether there were any changes which could be made. 2/
a white child's face
Anni wasn’t happy at school. She was crying in the evenings and saying she had tummy aches in the morning.
Her dad went into school for a meeting. 1/
It can be almost like a kind of attitude of “I don't like anything like that”, even if it's not school stuff.
My main advice is, think about what you're interested in and start there". /4
I realise that can be hard for people who've like just come out of school, and they've got no idea what they want to do. No idea of what they enjoy. /3
.Suddenly, as soon as you think of it as a school subject. It's like you think, “no, I don't like that”. But there will be something they are interested in, even if they don't know immediately. For me, what I've done through my whole life is pursuing what I'm interested in & what I enjoy. /2
Is your teenager coming out of school and not sure what to do? Here's the advice of a home educated 17-year-old.
"It can be hard if you've just come out of school to know what you're interested in, because you might think “All school stuff is boring. I'm not interested in any of that”. /1