And I can see Chemistry in prep

Thanks to my fretting - how can a kid sit a GCSE exam when they've never stepped foot inside a school? - Victoriana popped into my mind.

Victoriana is one member of my extended family who adopts certain righteous standards of living. She thinks all children should go to school FULL STOP. Shut up. They should be forced, okay? What is wrong with you?

I am in the conflict-avoiding wing of the family. (True! It's true! Arguments find me! I don't go looking!)

But maybe you can imagine that me and Victoriana have had some issues about the school/home ed landscape. And maybe I should report my sense of relief that I no longer need to creep about when I'm visiting family in the house where she lives. Because she now anticipates the argument and drives off in a huff before we get there. Mostly so she doesn't have to be near my feral, knuckle-dragging, home ed kids. Or me, because I am 'rude, stupid, childish'. (Credit to the woman! She has my character nailed!)

Now Victoriana's thoughts on education are reasonably up to date, don't get me wrong. No longer should the early morning punishment regime of naked swimming in the cold water pool be given by the house master. Of course not! We move with the times! Caning was always going to be enough.

But in the flow of her argument it follows that kids need their minds controlled, their ambitions outlined, and their habits formed for the benefit of people who have to be near them. To achieve these ends, all kids, even home ed ones, must eventually attend a school where they can submit themselves to the proper GCSE exam regime.

Either that, or become prostitutes. This is the choice, and it is plain and simple.

This has formed a little of my thinking about future careers in prostitution. But as Shark says she quite likes the idea of first taking exams for English, History, Geography, Science, etc. etc., I feel duty-bound to consider the exam options in our own playful, non-conforming, home education way.

So now I'm actively looking for models of how to take GCSEs without ever needing to go to a school before exam day.

Yes, we can easily find like minds to play with.

Thank goodness someone's willing to lead some workshops.
And we should be able to find an age-appropriate syllabus
to guide us through some territory.

Having an adult or two around who've followed chemistry before
is always helpful. Parents are wise and wonderful people, aren't they?

And passionate people can think up ways to make ideas fun.
There's singalong too, helping out.

Videos, of course. And Khan Academy.

Plus our own inventive and practical home ed history of making bath bombs,
volcanoes, and unwise experiments involving oil down the toilet and citric acid
all over the bathroom floor.

Indeed, I bet we can do all these, and more,
yet still take in a great view on the way home from class.

So I can see routes ahead to exams without school, oh yes I can.

And it is not that I am engaged in any war with Victoriana, of course not!

It's just that I DON'T WANT HER TO WIN.