Homeschooling
Following on from some observations in Part 5 of the Authentic Living series ‘Authentic Education‘ I would like to have a look at the alternative to conventional education. I have been doing quite a bit of research into homeschooling recently and hope to invite some guest articles on the subject very shortly.
Homeschooling in the UK currently keeps a very low profile, much of this is due to concerns over authorities interfering (my previous article mummy state covered this).
It is legal to homeschool.
They just don’t broadcast it. Why? I can only assume they are worried about losing their control? The government like to have a hand in education so that they can influence cultures, beliefs and behaviours. Just like they have a hand in everythingelse especially when it has to do with our children. No doubt you have heard about the new ‘big brother’ style database also dubbed the ’5 a Day Database’ they are developing. A database that will cost millions and that will hold vast amounts of data on our children which supposedly includes whether they are getting the mandatory 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
So could homeschooling be a viable alternative to conventional schooling?
The drawbacks would obviously be the money aspect and time factors. Some may also add here that they are not ‘qualified’ to be a teacher. Well for a start studies on homeschooling have shown that the level of competence of homeschooled children not only beats the school average but that there was no difference in that level whether you are qualified or not.
Consider for a moment that some of the teachers at school have gone from school, to university to teacher training college, and then straight into teaching. Some of these ‘teachers’ are still shy of their 24th birthday. They have spent 16 or so years in education being taught to teach. What are they teaching, words from a textbook? if not then when and where did they gain the knowledge, expertise and most importantly life experience to teach, talk and set an example to our children. I am not blaming them, many of them are very intelligent, and very passionate about teaching but surely they should have been asked to go away, get a job (other than teaching), live a little and then become a teacher, when they can be the well-rounded and life hardy individuals that could go on to teach the kids a little something about life, work, relationships and the dynamics of living and not just the words from a textbook.
The positives include being able to offer your children more variety in what they learn, going on more field trips, and not being stifled by an overly rigid structure. There will be many more that I have not thought of due to my lack of homeschooling experience (yet?).
[...] Uh….ground-breaking? Surely DIY childbirth is going backwards! I don’t fancy this at all…with the NHS the way it is, I’m sure they’ll have us all delivering our own babies before long, in fact they’ll probably spend a few billion teaching this technique to save a couple million on qualified doctors haha, such is the budgeting within the NHS. Mustn’t jest too much though I am fortunate to have some great doctors who treat my crohns. Littlemummy Retro – The very simply titled Homeschooling [...]
“What are they teaching, words from a textbook? if not then when and where did they gain the knowledge, expertise and most importantly life experience to teach, talk and set an example to our children”
You make a very good point there. Many classes are just reading from the textbook and answering dull questions with little to no thinking.
Agreed, there could be a lot more practical work in schools, which may help encourage creativity and thinking outside the box.
Nice article – 18 years of working in schools, on and off, very rarely showed me any learning taking place… two years of home ed and so much learning has gone on (much of it for me!!).
Very interesting that you have a view from both sides of the fence, Lucy.