Homeschooling GCSE'S

Hi I am in Year 10 and am currently being homeschooled due to mental health reasons. I missed most of year 9 and didn't do much work until the end of the year, currently i am trying to only focus on studying the core subjects as i want to put my all into those. I have a maths tutor but am still looking for English and Science ones. Study wise I'm in a good flow now with maths and science and if i continue the way i am i will have completed all the topics by the end of the school year, however i have no idea where to start with english as i have missed so much of the work.

I am currently reading A Christmas Carol and analysing that, and am also analysing and comparing power and conflict poetry but i cant help but feel like i am missing so much extra things i need to cover, if anybody could give me a rough guide of EVERYTHING i need to study and work on down to the tiny little details that most people wouldn't think of i would really appreciate it.

I'm also not sure whether i should start studying my other subjects, at the start of year 10 when i was at to school i was taking, sociology, history and business BTEC but as a lot of that is coursework i had thought about just studying business studies instead, i also missed out on a lot of history over the whole course of school so I'm not sure if its worth picking it up again if it could take away from my focus of the core subjects, the same with the other two.

I worry that only taking the core subjects wont be enough long term. I plan to go back into school at the start of Year 11 so i would really like to feel more confident when it comes to knowing more content then i did before and not feel incredibly behind, i would really appreciate it if anybody could help me out here.

On a side note i currently have absolutely no social life whatsoever and was wondering if anybody has any experience in joining clubs (preferably sports) whilst being extremely shy and quiet as currently i feel it would be my worst nightmare but i would love to have some reassurance from people who have been or are in a similar situation to me, this would help with me being able to go back into school in September as i have struggled making friends for the past few years now.

Thank you :smile:

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 1

Lbland23

Original post

by loved-anomaly

Hi I am in Year 10 and am currently being homeschooled due to mental health reasons. I missed most of year 9 and didn't do much work until the end of the year, currently i am trying to only focus on studying the core subjects as i want to put my all into those. I have a maths tutor but am still looking for English and Science ones. Study wise I'm in a good flow now with maths and science and if i continue the way i am i will have completed all the topics by the end of the school year, however i have no idea where to start with english as i have missed so much of the work.
I am currently reading A Christmas Carol and analysing that, and am also analysing and comparing power and conflict poetry but i cant help but feel like i am missing so much extra things i need to cover, if anybody could give me a rough guide of EVERYTHING i need to study and work on down to the tiny little details that most people wouldn't think of i would really appreciate it.
I'm also not sure whether i should start studying my other subjects, at the start of year 10 when i was at to school i was taking, sociology, history and business BTEC but as a lot of that is coursework i had thought about just studying business studies instead, i also missed out on a lot of history over the whole course of school so I'm not sure if its worth picking it up again if it could take away from my focus of the core subjects, the same with the other two.
I worry that only taking the core subjects wont be enough long term. I plan to go back into school at the start of Year 11 so i would really like to feel more confident when it comes to knowing more content then i did before and not feel incredibly behind, i would really appreciate it if anybody could help me out here.
On a side note i currently have absolutely no social life whatsoever and was wondering if anybody has any experience in joining clubs (preferably sports) whilst being extremely shy and quiet as currently i feel it would be my worst nightmare but i would love to have some reassurance from people who have been or are in a similar situation to me, this would help with me being able to go back into school in September as i have struggled making friends for the past few years now.
Thank you :smile:

Hey I'm in Y11 currently and fully know what its like to have no social life and be really quiet/shy. Do you know what exam boards your with because each board has a different spec. If you just need a friend im here tho I'd love to know your intersts

Reply 2

Jl3000

I was in like the exact same position in yr11 and it’s sounds like your doing all the right things. You can cover content so much faster on your own as in schools there more distractions and teachers tend to yap so don’t worry about getting behind.

My advice would be aside from the core subjects continue which ever subjects interest you and if there’s any you hate studying drop them. Have a look at the international a levels spec for your courses that would normally have coursework as they usually don’t have any so instead cover the content in more detail I think.

For English just use the spec or if you can afford it see a tutor. It doesn’t have to be that often I only had a tutor for English bc it was my worse subject and I saw them every other week. Was more just to check I was on track and then I got given booklets to work through.

And for social life, being homeschooled sport was my social life. I’m incredibly quiet and socially anxious but never felt uncomfortable at my club. It’s awkward at first but was 100% what helped my confidence when I got comfortable with the people and environment and where I met most of my friends.

Good luck !!

Reply 3

rowan_12194

Original post

by loved-anomaly

Hi I am in Year 10 and am currently being homeschooled due to mental health reasons. I missed most of year 9 and didn't do much work until the end of the year, currently i am trying to only focus on studying the core subjects as i want to put my all into those. I have a maths tutor but am still looking for English and Science ones. Study wise I'm in a good flow now with maths and science and if i continue the way i am i will have completed all the topics by the end of the school year, however i have no idea where to start with english as i have missed so much of the work.
I am currently reading A Christmas Carol and analysing that, and am also analysing and comparing power and conflict poetry but i cant help but feel like i am missing so much extra things i need to cover, if anybody could give me a rough guide of EVERYTHING i need to study and work on down to the tiny little details that most people wouldn't think of i would really appreciate it.
I'm also not sure whether i should start studying my other subjects, at the start of year 10 when i was at to school i was taking, sociology, history and business BTEC but as a lot of that is coursework i had thought about just studying business studies instead, i also missed out on a lot of history over the whole course of school so I'm not sure if its worth picking it up again if it could take away from my focus of the core subjects, the same with the other two.
I worry that only taking the core subjects wont be enough long term. I plan to go back into school at the start of Year 11 so i would really like to feel more confident when it comes to knowing more content then i did before and not feel incredibly behind, i would really appreciate it if anybody could help me out here.
On a side note i currently have absolutely no social life whatsoever and was wondering if anybody has any experience in joining clubs (preferably sports) whilst being extremely shy and quiet as currently i feel it would be my worst nightmare but i would love to have some reassurance from people who have been or are in a similar situation to me, this would help with me being able to go back into school in September as i have struggled making friends for the past few years now.
Thank you :smile:

heyy I'm in y10 and would be happy to help you (although my English lit isn't that great but I've done a Christmas carol) or if you just need a friend

Reply 4

PinkMobilePhone

Chat Forum Helper, Life & Style Forum Helper

Okay well when you talk about only focusing on "the core subjects", what exactly are you referring to? The two main core subjects are Maths and English Language (not English Literature, which is what you would be reading A Christmas Carol for).

You've also stated Science. Which sciences... all three of them?

If you're going to be going back into school in Year 11 then your best bet would be to study all the subjects you'll be taking in school for your GCSEs. There's no point only focusing on "core subjects" because during Year 10 the other kids in school will be learning half the syllabus for around 10 subjects, as schools spread out the GCSE material over 2 years.

My advice would be to contact the school you plan to attend and ask them which exam boards they use, and work out which subjects you will be taking, and then plan to focus on ALL of those subjects whilst you're at home, otherwise when you get back to school you're going to be wildly unprepared for your exams.

Honestly going back to school in Year 11 is a terrible idea for reasons stated above - most home educated kids avoid it and schools generally don't like taking home educated kids on during Year 11 as most of the time they've missed half the GCSE material. If you were my kid I would just home educate you until the end of high school, and have you sit IGCSE English Language, IGCSE Maths, plus 3 other subjects of your choosing at a private exam centre as a private candidate, albeit having to bear the brunt of the exam costs.