Yesterday I was asked that, if my
children ‘had their way’ would they homeschool their children. I’ve touched on
this subject previously, late last year because I noticed that it is a question
that is occurring more frequently for me. That if my “children’s experience of
homeschooling is a good one, won’t they wish to pass these extraordinary
benefits onto their children”. And wouldn’t
it be interesting to see statistics on how many home educated young people go
on to educate their own children.
I responded by saying that, while I
would love my children to home educate their children, it's something they will
work out for themselves. In our situation the partners have not been home
educated, so home education is new to them. Their lives will follow paths
determined by their needs, not what has happened in the past.
"If they could have their way" assumes that there
is a chance they can't - which I don't believe will happen. Home education
tends to develop individuals who have considerable self-understanding and
awareness, people who know can identify what they need and how to meet those
needs, and have a good idea about what they want and how realistic and
achievable that is. They use whatever resources are at hand and think laterally
about possible resources and tend to actively problem solve - all this helps
them achieve what they need and want. They create pathways to "have their
way" so to speak.
Secondly I don't think my children's experiences of home
education was either 'good' or 'bad' - it was simply an experience that they
benefited from in many ways. The educational side of their childhood - how we
home educated, what we did, etc - is nowhere near as important to determining
the type of adults they have become as their genetic inheritance (personality
traits, inherited medical conditions, etc) and the quality of their parenting
experiences. Offering them an education free of the confines and restrictions
of school simply allowed my children to grow up to the be the people they are,
not who someone else (including me) wants them to be or thinks they should be.
As parents and home educators we responded to our children's
needs as they arose. I think most of us eventually end up doing that because it
makes sense and it works and it is what makes home education more responsive
with better results than school based education. How we measure those results
is an individual thing: my perception of success and benefit will be different
from my child's perception, both during childhood and then looking back on it
as an adult.
For many years people would ask my youngest if he thought
home education was better than school and he could only honestly reply that he
didn't know: he had not experienced school and was not prepared to make a judgment
about it. He was happy learning at home in the way he was - that's all he could
say. Would he home educate his children? He says, 'that depends' - he is aware
that there will be many factors to take into account when the time comes around
to make that decision and that his personal experiences as a home educator are
important but only one of those factors.
As a movement home education is are seeing second generation
home educated children but it is also seeing home education children becoming
school teachers and many children of home educated children going to school
too. I don't see this as saying anything about the effectiveness or benefit of
home education, simply that people are people and have access to a wide
selection of choices to suit their needs.
At the end of home education most of us define success and
benefit differently than how we did at the beginning: we're grateful for the
friendships we've created with our children, we're grateful they know their own
minds and can problem solve their way through life, that they are autonomous
and responsible, we're happy that our choices helped them get there, but we're
also aware that what we did is what we did and that they need to carve their
own paths through life. And isn't this the whole point of parenting and
educating our kids, to get them to this point? I love that my children make
their own choices and don't feel the need to emulate my example.
If
you haven’t already done so, please think about joining our
Homeschool Australia FAQ, it is a friendly, on-topic homeschool
Yahoo group. We encourage people to share information and
tips, as well as reviews on favourite homeschooling resources
and where to get them. And, of course, to ask questions about
any and all aspects of home education! To join send an email to HomeschoolAustraliaFAQ-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HomeschoolAustraliaFAQ.Our Learning Naturally Yahoo Group aims to cooperatively widen our
understanding of how learning occurs naturally in the home and
community, and to share advice, tips, trials and tribulations so
that we may all grow! We want to help dispel some of the myths
that are out there about Natural Learning and Unschooling and
make it easier for everyone to capitalise on these approaches as
home educators. To join send an email to: learningnaturally-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, or visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/learningnaturally.And once subscribed, don’t forget to post an introduction and begin asking questions, sharing tips and ideas, etc!
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