Home Educating?

[farmerdrea]

Hi, Magpie, from another South Island unschooling family! We're in Canterbury, where are you? There's a reasonably large group in the Chch area, but we're a bit far to pop into town too regularly, so make do with the local smallish homeschooling community, and the community at large. Our children are 15 and nearly 11, and we've been at it since forever, though both children tried a very brief stint at public school about 3 years ago (their choice, and they both lasted about 1.5 terms!).

Cheers
Andrea
NZ

[Trinity]

There are areas in England where home ed is really happening and accepted. We have a very extensive network in our area, although I know of other places where it is quite rare, and people would get the "OMG you can't do that can you!!!!" response.

I really like the sound of the part where you get a payment grant towards the cost of home schooling. It certainly seems a little out of balance here when we consider that the cost per head for the government to keep a child in school and the fact that there are no concession for children who are being educated otherwise.

Thanks for sharing about home ed in NZ. I do feel avery strong conncetion with the place for some reason. Who knows maybe we'll end up out the one day.

Love
Trinity

[Stonehead]

Watch out for the local government fascists, though. Highlands Council is the latest to warn of "flaky" parents taking "scary" numbers of children out of school. (About 100 families in the Highlands is all!)

One councillor leading the rush to attack home schooling, Dr Foxley, has been quoted as saying:

"A parents’ right to teach their child at home appears to override the child’s right to a comprehensive education.

“The council has a real responsibility to look after the interests of the child and that could mean going against the interests of the parents,â€

[baldowrie]

oh are they scared of loosing their jobs then?


If state education was better 'flaky' parents wouldn't feel the growing need to remove their children from the system and home educate.

[red]

the way the law stands at the moment - the parents are responsible for their child's education however they do it - using state school, private school or home ed - in fact technically if a school fails its ofsted - the parents should be hassled for providing a poor education!
people seem to have lost track of this - parents and politicians alike - that the parents are responsible - you hear parents complaining that the school don't teach their kids the right things, and thinking that manners and social traists should be taught other than at home, and the teachers gaining powers to interfer out of school hours! and the politicians thinking they know better how to raise a child... scary scary.

[celticmyth]

post removed by poster

[Magpie]

Hi Andrea

We are in Dunedin - not too many unschoolers here, as you can imagine, but enough non-crazy families to make it ok

Stonehead - I am sure we, as unschoolers with no set curriculum, would be classed as the flaky ones, but I can see the children learning all the time anyway. As John Holt said, just taking them out of school, and doing nothing else with them, is better than leaving them in school.

Magpie

[Magpie]

Not that we do nothing with them - just realised how that sounded!!

[red]

I think school works out fine for alot of people - I did ok. -
home ed has been a great choice for me and my son - but its not for everyone (and just as well or all the interesting place to visit would be busy all the time!!)

[Magpie]

He he Red - school holidays finish here this week thank goodness! We can have OUR library, swimming pool, museum, art gallery etc, back!

[farmerdrea]

LOL, Magpie! That's just what my children say! They really don't like to go out and about when the "hooligans" (their word, not mine) are about en masse...

Andrea
NZ

[Trinity]

Yep... rings some bell here too! We tend to avoid 'places' during the school holidays.

When we arrange home ed trips to museums etc the guides always say how enthusiastic and attentive our kids are. I notice the natural curiosity of the children seems to invite them to ask the most articulate of questions! Their motivation to learn and ability to cooperate is breathtaking at times... 'Tis indeed an education for all. I feel like over the past three years I have relived the education that I never quite got at school.

[Magpie]

Yes, me too. We have weekly sessions with an education officer at our museum, a lot of the Mums drop their children off, and leave, but not me - I might miss something! I find it all so interesting, and have learned a lot. We dissected a cow's tongue last term, and studied the taste-buds. They have a lot of taste buds in the bitter-sensing section of their tongue, which I worked out is so they can sense the bitter-tasting poisonous plants. Fascinating!!

[Annpan]

Learning together sounds great, a good way to bond with your child too. Says something for the mums who disapear and then wonder why there 10 year old stops talking to them.

I get excited about home educating (my 7 month old is bit young yet) I find that I want to let her day dream and sing to herself etc. whenever she likes and I have already witnessed her ex-teacher-gran (who is a lovely and wonderful woman) commenting on her "pay attention" and "don't fuss now" when she was being fed ("yuk - don't want carrots gran")

That I think is my dream about keeping her at home. Going to museums and taking our time on the exibits that she likes, allowing her to daydream and sing to herself. Kids start school frightfully young and are forced into line, to act like other kids and do what the cirriculum dictates - I was reading before I started school and by the time I was 6 my teacher refused to give me any more books as I was already 1 year ahead of the rest of the class. No way could I let my child be treated like that.

I believe that it is a very strange thing our society does to force children into these institutions so young.

In the film Uncle Buck John Candy says "I don't want to meet a 7 year old who isn't a silly-head and a day-dreamer" Here, here

[red]

too right Ann!

I've been surprised at how much fun it is - it reqally is enjoyable - people tell me that they couldn't do it etc -b ut actually its easy (course I am lucky that I can make my work fit around it)

I remember as a kid going to V&A musuem in London and rushign around answering the questions on my clipboard 'how many buttons on the dress etc' swapping answers with friends.. learning nothing. its lovely now to go to these places and look at what we are interested by, and walk past other stuff as wel please - learning something because its interesting.