A mum has taken her son out of mainstream education to 'de-school' him after training to be a teacher and wanting to spend more time with her children. Bethany Bishop, 29, took her oldest son, six, out of education in May 2023 and is now transitioning from learning at school to being educated at home.
She applied to train to be a teacher - but decided against joining the profession because she wanted to spend more time with her two sons. Bethany said her son struggled when he first started school and didn't enjoy certain aspects including writing and the homework he was given.
Now, she lets her son choose whatever he wants to do - even if that's a lie-in, playing with Lego, or an afternoon at the park. And she plans to continue home educating him for as long as he wants.
She admits he misses his school friends, but said they meet up with them outside of school hours and he joins other home-educated kids to play. Bethany also hopes to home-school her four-year-old child when he is old enough.
Bethany, from Hexham, Northumberland, said: "My eldest son was in year one and we decided to take him out of mainstream school after researching about homeschooling. Through that transitional period, we did some research and came across the term 'de-schooling' which we never heard of.
"It's the idea that every year the child is in mainstream school you give them a month to de-school. I applied to be a teacher last year and I got accepted but I thought I will be going out and teaching other children when I can teach my own children.
"I wanted to spend more time with my children." Bethany her and her husband had always thought about home-schooling but didn't feel ready.
Her eldest son started reception in 2021 and was taken out of mainstream education in May 2023. Bethany said: "My mum is a teacher and her view is that she is very supporting of home education through primary school age.
"She knows my children and knows me - she knows they will thrive. I have had a really positive experience with his school, he had a lovely teacher and his school was very supportive of us going through a home education route."
Bethany said it has been "surprising" for her son to come out of education but said he is enjoying the freedom it's given him. She said the only thing he misses is his friends but they have kept in touch with them.
Bethany said: "I talked to him about the fact we were doing this. We put forward the idea to him and we asked what he thought.
"The one thing he said was that he would miss his friends but we have kept him in contact with them and joined other home educators in the area. He has found a lot of freedom in that he is going to play with Lego for hours on end, then I am going to read books - he is such a bookworm."
In the UK there is no curriculum for home educators and no requirement for the children to sit exams. But, many home educators will choose to follow the national curriculum.
Bethany said "There is no requirement. This allows the child and parents the freedom to teach and learn through life and the child's interest.
"My child loves nature, so we have done a lot of work on the sea and how waves are formed. We are also looking at bugs and learning how to identify butterflies.
"You can follow the national curriculum if you so wish as it allows you that structure. With exams there is no legal requirement either, however, depending on what career path children would like to go down, exams and UCAS points may be needed.
"There are various routes to go down to obtain the necessary qualifications for home education." Bethany said the day-to-day curriculum is dictated by her son.
In the morning, Bethany and her son will read together and then the afternoon is open. She said: "He doesn't tend to be a morning person but for the most part he wakes up around 8:30am. It is a slow morning but it builds the day.
"Then he decides from there, perhaps, that today he wants to do some baking. We might go to the library in the afternoon or go to the park.
"There are some local home education meet up that we might go to or we might head down to the river or the beach. He does a lot of Lego and K'Nex. They are a great form of learning which we don't really think about."
Bethany said that she plans to continue with homeschooling until her children turn 18 but said it isn't without its challenges. She said: "This is something I hope to continue but I am not opposed to my child saying he wants to go to school.
"I am hoping to be more child-led in how they learn. In terms of how children learn, I am a product of the school system, I have a degree and from my point of view, de-schooling can be harder for the parents than children.
"There is such a preconceived notion of how children should be learning and what they should be doing. For de-schooling my child is loving it but I am constantly second guessing myself about what they should be doing - it has been very emotional."
