Home Ed - finding our tribe at last

This week I hosted my very first home education group at the eatery ... not only was it a first for the business but it was also a first for me! As someone who is now home educating our son, this event was a real eye opener for me and was my first step of delving into the local community of the home ed world. 

There were a few things I learned from this day, and also friends gained, which is lovely for both Alfie and me. 

Home ed was starting to feel a little lonely, me being as transparent as ever, I will be honest and say I was finding it completely overwhelming and questioning whether I'd made the right decision or not. I knew Alfie was doing better and I knew that he was thriving in a home environment whilst learning, and I'll also never regret pulling him out of a situation that was becoming nothing short of dangerous, but there were those niggling doubts of wondering whether it was something I could commit to for the duration of his education journey. I was thinking about how difficult it's going to be to keep Alfie socialising and then the added stress of making sure we are doing "enough" ... I had nothing really to compare it to. I didn't know anyone else personally who was in the same boat and I didn't know where to turn to get the information - government bodies aren't so forthright in making home ed overly accessible (shock!) 

The get together in the shop not only solidified that I've done the right thing, and reminded me why, but also opened my eyes to the wider world of home ed and the people in it. 

In the last week I've gone from feeling like I was a one-man band running the show, to having a wealth of support behind me. Just like when at school we have the WhatsApp groups and social media pages to turn to now, to ask the questions and to come up with ideas and plans together. 

I actually met a woman with children the same age as Alfie, who withdrew them from their school in the same term as we did with him. It's so nice to have someone now who is on the same stage in their journey as we are in ours, who is still learning about it all themselves the same as we are. The best part is that they're very, very local to us too! So Alfie is now starting to connect with children in the home ed community. 

All those fears from earlier last month just start drifting away and I sit and realise that, actually, we absolutely can do this because other people do it too. Other people make it work, we can make it work. 

I'm glad we chose to change direction and follow this route, and I know that Alfie will be all the better for it down the line. The hard work is worth it knowing he's safe.