I am seriously considering to HE Jamie , I need as much info as i can get really and how to get through to a boyfriend who will not be supportive of this.
It’s due to Jamie’s numerous allergies and health problems, he is already struggling at pre-school because they will not be careful with cross contamination and don’t want to change their art supllies to gluten free ones.. so each week he has another bad stomach and a runny nose and doesn’t sleep.

Anyway, we will be in Germany for 2 years from september but i do want to start with HE there once he hits english compulsory school age..

Any info will be helpful!!

just a small point..isnt HE illegal in Germany?

well he wont be school age there til he’s 6 by then we will be back in England!!

oh ok, now i understand your last sentence!
best book for doubting partners is ‘free range education’..nice easy to read bite size chapters..not too heavy, just each chapter a families journey..
my dh wasnt allowed an opinion one way or the other until he done some reading and understood where i was coming from. i seem to have numerous conversations with people with unsupportive partners initially but they usually come round!
mummyk x

Muddlepuddle has lots of good info on HE for young kids and general HE stuff

My partner wasn’t very supportive of my decision to HE, and after almost 3 years he still isn’t really.  I just have to carry on and do what I feel is right, but I would imagine it’s a lot easier if your partner is on board.  Mine has never read any info on home ed, so maybe see if your partner will do some research with you and get an idea of what it’s all about.

As for starting out, there’s lots of good books and websites that I have found really helpful.  Educaiton Otherwise and HEAS offer some good practical advice in the beginning.  There’s lots of websites which offer activities, games etc for children to learn.  Luke’s favourites are BBC Bitesize and Education City. 

These are some of the books i’ve found useful -
Free Range Education by Terry Dowty
One To One by Gareth Lewis
Unschooling - A Lifestyle Of Learning by Sara Mcgrath
Playful Learning by Mariah Bruehl
Radical Unschooling by Dayna Martin

Good luck! xx

Thanks everyone! I do tend to look a lot at waldorf so would be approaching it from that point of view , but do like some montessori too.

I have the book playful learning it’s fab.
I would really want him to go to school but no school seems to understand the severity of Jamie’s problems (he reacts to gluten over his skin!!!) so in some ways this might be my only chance?! At least til he’s older and can communicate his needs..

Just a thought, but have you considered contacting the Education Dept and (with help from the Citizens Advice bureau, perhaps) discuss your concern that school / nursery could worsen his allergies and then bring in your concern that the education dept might be liable if he were to have a severe allergic reaction.  At the very least, contact Jamie’s nursery and ask to see the written risk assessment that has been done about cross contamination for severely allergic children - if they haven’t done one, then ask why not and ask when it will be done (and then follow up) as you have severe concerns for his health.  Can you get a letter from his dr stating what his issues are?  I mean, you are not threatening to sue them, just gently dangling that potential threat in the air.

In the very health and safety and litigation conscious world in which we live, surely this would put a rocket up someone (it would me, if I were a manager in that situation).

HTH
Tanya

I have several friends who have partners/husbands who are not convinced, and like Hippymum has said it is hard.  The books that have been recommended here are good ones especially the Terri Dowty one.  I read this and gave it to my Dh to read too.  Another good book that we both read before starting our home ed journey is What is the point of school by Guy Claxton.

Could you perhaps come up with a list, together, of all the pros and cons of sending Jamie to school and home educating him, to help you both to work out what your individual concerns are so that you can do further research on those to work out what is best route for your family?  I would strongly advise you to come to the decision together.