A mother who took her daughter out of school due to the young girl’s anxiety said she is now thriving being taught at home.
Seana-lee May, 30, has been homeschooling her daughter Millie-Rae, 11, full-time since September 2023. She originally took her daughter out of school during the pandemic. When Millie-Rae reached high school, she started refusing to go to school after just five days. The mom of three then decided that homeschooling was the only option and has been teaching Millie-Rae her ever since.
Ms. May, from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, said that since the change, Millie-Rae’s performance has improved in every aspect of her education, and she doesn’t think she'll send her back to a mainstream school.
“I am a single parent, so it can be hard to juggle everything, but I know that Millie-Rae is happy, and she is learning,” Ms. May said. “She likes the fact learning is one on one. If she doesn’t understand something, I will try and explain it in a different way.”
Millie-Rae is one of 5,330 children in Wales not attending a mainstream school.
“Ever since she started school, she had a period of kicking and screaming,” the mom said. “She would refuse to go to school and she was falling behind. When it came to high school she was so excited to go back to school, but it lasted five days. She started kicking and screaming and refusing to go.”
Ms. May said even during those five days of high school in September 2023, Millie-Rae would throw tantrums and get sent home.
She said: “Her behavior was really bad. She was snappy and irritable. She would cry a lot and on the last day she was sent home with a bad tummy. I tried to explain to the school that she was probably just trying to get out of school, but they still sent her home 30 minutes before the end of the day.”
Millie-Rae has recently been referred to a specialist to investigate the possibility that she has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as she struggles to concentrate, especially when in a large classroom.
“She struggles in a classroom environment, she needs someone to sit with her and explain things,” Ms. May said. “It was overwhelming for Millie-Rae. She does struggle. If someone says something she doesn’t like, she is not one to brush it off—she'll take it to heart.
“She will often sit and swing back and forth on her chair, but I am not bothered what she is doing, as long as she is learning.”
Ms. May said that Millie-Rae is “thriving” in every aspect of her education.
“She is flourishing; she is performing so much better than she would be in the mainstream system,” the mom said. “I am really happy with how she is doing. In every aspect of her life, she is performing better—she is very confident. The home educator from the council will come out every six months to check on Millie-Rae, and she is very happy with how she is doing.”
Ms. May said that she would also like to pull her younger daughter Lottie, aged 6, out of school as she struggles to socialize, but she also worries that homeschooling may make it worse.
“I just don’t like the way the schools are at the minute,” the mom said. “They are far too strict, and teachers do not get enough time to spend with children. It’s the social aspect with Lottie, if I were to pull her out, which I would like to, I don’t think she would join a group or a social club.”
Despite not being in the mainstream school system, Ms. May said that Millie-Rae now socializes more than she ever did at school.
“She still goes out to see her friends, she attends drama club and goes to the youth club,” Ms. May said. “In fact, she goes out more now she is being homeschooled than she ever did in school.”
