What do we do afterwards?

Question

At the moment my mother is home-educating me. I went into Year 10 in September of this year (am currently fourteen years old) and am going to take my GCSEs in 2008. At the moment we're just studying for all the appropriate work needed. My main question is, I want to go to Art school when I'm 18 - but want to do A levels as well as 5 or 6 GCSEs. You need an art and design A level specifically to get into the art school as well as a portfolio of your art work etc. Anyway, I just wanted to know, after I have done the GCSEs in 2008 do we just then do the appropriate coursework for the A levels? By the way I asked about this before, and just got really condescending replies from people saying that I had no friends (which I do) and that I should go back to school because they would teach me better! My mother has been artist for several years and teaches me very well! I'm also thinking about going to art classes maybe, or maybe a private art tutuor for a while.

Thanks!

Answer 1

It's all very well your mum being an "artist". That doesn't mean she's a qualified art teacher. Big, big difference.

Look, you're just a kid, and you have no idea what is involved in A levels. It's not just a matter of "doing the appropriate coursework". You need to know your subject in depth to get a good enough exam performance and portfolio.

Also you'll need 2 other good grades at A level to get into a decent art school.

Is your mum qualified to degree level in 3 subjects? No, I didn't think so.

OK - if you don't want to go to school that's fine. But be prepared for a massive disappointment in your A level results.

If you're very bright indeed you might just get by with a lot of input from private tutors. Not just in Art, but in your other 2 subjects as well.

Hope your mum has the money to pay for this.

Answer 2

You sound like you are doing very well as you are. If you can do the GCSE's then you can do the A levels. Don't forget to register at an exam centre.
You probably know that the portfolio is important, but if you can draw then the uni will see this when they examine your portfolio.Sometimes its better not to have too much influence from a teaching class, and you already have the benefits of your mother being an artist.
Apart from your art A level you only need one other, to study art, and prob if they like your portfolio they would want you anyway. You can ask your local uni what sort of things they are looking for (its not too early to ask now).
Have you thought about evening classes? You can get permission to attend these if you want to. You get a form from the centre and your mother would fill it in.
I used to teach my daughter at home. Also had a son went to art school. He did an art access course at the uni for a year as he had no portfolio, but excellent drawing ability. (He'd just gone off to do something different.) Then he went straight onto the course. Good luck.

Answer 3

I think it would be a very good thing for you to take either art classes or have a private art tutor. Homeschooling doesn't mean that everything has to be learned at home. It is obvious that you have put a lot of thought into this and know what your goal is. You know that you need the art and design A level as well as a portfolio. Find out if there is anything else that you will need to do in order to get into art school. You already have a good start toward reaching your goal. I wish you all the best.

Answer 4

You are getting some pretty sensible answers here. I shouldn't worry too much about how good you/you Mum is. My guess is that that part of it is OK. The forum idea isn't bad. Try and get some contact with kids who are at school and find out what they are doing. Look at their work. Not so you can tell your Mum but so you know in yourself.

One of the thing schools do give you is a different way to measure yourself. Find some guys who are doing Art, interact with them a bit. If you already are then great. It's good to have new people to swap ideas with.

Art Classes are always interesting because every tutor has different ideas. I am retired now but I once ran an Arts Centre where we ran pre Art School courses for people like you. No teacher/lecturer will refuse to discuss things with you even at your local school. Thassthe thing about teachers; we actually want to help . . . . . we just get it wrong sometimes. We do too!

Good luck.

Answer 5

Your best option is to go to college for 2 years, on an art foundation course, to build up your portfolio. Your mother might be a fantastic artist but do you have silk screen printing equipment? A kiln? A life model? photography studio?

You will get a BTEC National Diploma rather than A levels, but this still allows you university entry.

If you are being home schooled you could always take A level Art alongside your GCSE's so you have an A Level as well as yout BTEC in 2 years time.

good luck with it.

Answer 6

I would take a private art class or two for the next few years and then as soon as you can enroll legally try a course at the community college on the side, to start building different skills, not becuase your mom is a bad teacher but because as you know different artists have different skills and styles and could teach you new things. This would help you to build up your portfolio and enter into art school.
I don't know where you are from, but here the community college start allowing kids in at 16.

Answer 7

It really depends on you! What do you want to do? Do you want to carry on studying at home or do you want to go to College when you've done your GCSEs? If so, I suggest that you get hold of some college prospectuses, see which A-level Courses you like and speak to the tutors there about what you want to do and what you will have covered when you've got your GCSEs. There are 3 types of colleges:

Sixth form colleges-designed for 16-19 year olds who have left school. These colleges offer both academic and vocational subjects, but specialise in academic (traditional) subects, such as Maths and Science.

FE Colleges- designed for the above and people aged over 19 who have just come back into Education after a 3/4 year break. These colleges offer both Academic and Vocational (practical) subjects but sometimes focus on the vocational subjects more, such as Performing Arts (Drama) and Health and Social Care.

Adult Community Colleges-designed for adults aged over 19 who are learning for pleasure. This type of college is geared towards people studying non-accredited subjects (i.e. non GCSE/A Level subjects) at beginner and intermediate level (e.g.GCSEs). However, some of the colleges, such as the one I've worked in do offer a few more specialised courses, such as GCSE French, AS Law and AS Psychology (which I'm teaching) in the evenings. If you do decide to go to college, I therefore think that the FE (Further Education)/Sixth Form Colleges would suit you better because they offer a wider choice of courses which you can study during the day. If don't want to go to College, I suggest that you either go to your local colleges on an open day (or get someone else to do it for you) and pick up some stuff about what the courses are like (you don't have to say that you're staying at home-just ask questions about the course), or go onto some college websites, read up about the courses, request some prospectuses, read them and then decide what you want to do. Once you've done that and you've decided to carry on studying at home, go to the main exam websites:

www.aqa.org.uk

www.edexcel.org.uk

www.ocr.org.uk

and download the exam specifications for 2008/9. A-levels (also known as GCE AS/A2 levels. AS=year 1 A2=year 2) are changing, so you'll probably need to download the new specifications when they are available. If they aren't already, download the latest one available and the students and teacher guides for the exams that you are interested in, read them and then once you've picked the exam board and subjects that you like, sign up as a private candidate and go on from there. When you decide to do A2 level, I agree with the others, it might be worth employing a private tutor (if you can afford it) for the more specialised bits of your subjects which your mum won't know about if she's not a subject specialist. Not that I'm saying that she can't teach you, it seems like she's doing a great job on you so far! I'm just saying that when you do your coursework, you might appreciate the more specialist help that you might not get at home because you're studying on your own.

By the way, ignore the people who have criticised you on here. They don't know you personally, your background or the reasons why you have chosen to study at home. Thus, they are in no position to judge whether it's right for you or not. Besides, it's your life, so do what you want! You don't answer to anyone, except your Mum maybe! LoL

Personally, I think it's just as good as (if not better than) 'formal schooling' as long as you put the work in, which you and your Mum obviously have!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do in the future!

Answer 8

A levels are quite different from GCSE's, and you could do with being in some sort of class, or joining a forum etc so that you can discuss topics with others to get other people's points of view and opinions. with A levels you not only have to learn the content, but demonstrate that you can apply the content in many different situations. this will be harder to learn at home. i'm sorry that you have had some inconsiderate answers previously - i guess people just think you should be getting the interaction that school automatically brings.
Good luck with your exams, and don't worry too much at this stage about what you'll do in a couple yrs time - there's plenty of time to decide, and you are free to change your mind anyway!
I'm 26 and only just shaping my career path, and i've done pretty well for myself, gained lots of experience and had lots of fun on the way!

Answer 9

I am afraid that I don't know a lot about the British Educational system, but one of the methods that homeschoolers in the US do to get credit for college is to take a CLEP exam after they have finished their coursework in any particular subject. For instance, if they wanted to get credit for having college calculus they would do the work for the high school class and at the conclusion of the semester take the exam. In this way they were getting credit twice, for high school and college. So...I guess my suggestion is that if they have no age requirements for taking the GCSEs then I would take them as you cover the coursework from now until you are 18. You are very articulate, home education is obviously working for you!!! (I was homeschooled as well and have a degree in Chemical Engineering)

Answer 10

From the tone and content of your question, it is obvious to me that home educating is WORKING. Just compare your writing to the writing of other 14 year olds (and older too) who post qu on this site.

I am in the US, but was raised in England. I also have homeschooled our own children. If you have a good curriculum and outlines of the scope and sequence of the materials needed for your choice of 3 A levels, you should do very well. Ignore those who say deprecating things about home education. Your mother does not have to be a qualified and certified teacher to supervise your education. She is showing dedication to the learning process by believing that you can and will succeed.

Be blessed and work hard. Plan out your next couple of years and choose the courses/scedule well. Many colleges and unis like home educated people because they show that a person is self motivated. <><