Where i live (the Netherlands), it is not allowed to home school your children. We do have a system where you can choose a school you see most fit to your needs. Would we do so if we did had the chance, I think so.
My oldest child is 5 and currently going to a Christian based school. Not because I am a Christian, but because the school fitted the personality of my child better than the other available schools.
One of the main reasons was because there aren't classes of 30+ kids. My son is in a group of 8 kids and gets more personal guidance that way. The entire school felt more relaxed then other schools. The fact that it does teach him stuff i don't agree with, did not change my choice. Because i believe that teaching a child doesn't stop when he gets out of school. We frequently discuss stuff he had in school, teach him ourselves (my wife has a degree in teaching elementary school) as well. We read a lot with all of our kids, practise basic maths (most of it in little games) and explain that there are multiple ways to look at religion and society.
The results are pretty good so far. He scores top grades on the national tests (we have an institute that makes independent tests so results between schools can be compared). So what I am trying to say is that education does not stop when your kid walks out of the school. If anything it actually just starts. So in my opinion, most schooling should be done in home. It is a shame that so many people rely on schools to educate and form our children while we are responsible for them. It is our jobs to turn them into good persons.
Thats really interesting about the law there Desi.
The Special Rapporteur to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights 8th April 1999 stated:
"The respect of parent's freedom to educate their children according to their vision of what education should be has been part of international human rights standards since their very emergence."
Do you know thats a fact with no test cases Desi or just being told that by the state ?I wonder how that would go there if the state were challenged in the European court ?
Im in the UK and looked very closely at the UK law before returning here.
Its legal here but they arn't going to tell you what the rules are unless you go looking but its legal in all parts of the UK and always has been. In England and Wales Home education is given equal status with schools under section 7 of the Education Act 1996 which says:
'The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full time education suitable a) to his age ability and aptitude, and b) any special educational needs he may have, either by attendance at a school or otherwise.'
Where "otherwise" refers to the right to home educate your child. Other parts of the UK have their own similar arrangements. Scotland, Northern Ireland
As in independent schools,Home schooling has no requirements to follow any particular curriculum or indeed any set curriculum at all. Home education has the advantage of being able to follow a particular child's interests. In this way during the early years it is easy to cover a wide variety of 'subjects areas' by studying one or two topic areas, which also encourages basic literacy and numeracy skills. Experience shows that if young children are not formally taught at all, they can still learn as much or more than they would in school, if they have varied life experiences, a stimulating environment and an adult around who is willing to answer umpteen questions, or help to find the answers. That part is KEY
Guidelines if wishing to take your child out of state schooling we found was almost just as simple.
If your child is a registered pupil at a school, then you must write to the proprietor of the school, informing (him/her) of your intention to withdraw your child from school and saying that you wish the child's name to be deleted from the register. It is important that it is the proprietor, who may be the Head or the Board of Governors or in some cases the LEA, who receive this letter, so do check first or address it appropriately. It would be courteous to send the Head a copy. It is wise to hand deliver or ask for confirmation of receipt of the letter and of removal of the name from the register. The proprietor then has a legal duty to inform the LEA within 10 school days, of the withdrawal of said child from the register.
We used this exact tactic when we wished to take her out of state school and avoid secondary for a few years. We had a brief meeting with some school officials who came very unprepared and just tried to cajole and imo bully us into continuing state education thinking we had no clue as to the law. It lasted all of 15 mins then I explained the UK law requirements to them and then thier tone began to get a bit more threatening but was clear it was just bluff. I ended up quoting the UK law to them and providing above letters complying to requirements and then told them to go soak their heads and try to force it and see what happens. We never heard from them again.
We had a similar situation when going into sixth form and having a "minimum of two" subjects "required" by the state to continue at higher state school whereas she only wanted one, allowing her more time on her degree course as she had no intention of attending traditional University when already 1/3 of the way through one so "minimum requirements" were irrelevant to her, it will be a masters level course before she needs to attend a redbrick and that will depend on the degree pass level not some state system of ticking boxes just because. We did a bit of talking and working with the school head about a "second subject" and again the law gives no rule of how long a subject has to be studied so engineered a "second subject" she would complete in one year what other students would do in two on the understanding she would attend school part time having so much free time over and use those free periods by self studying at home to ensure success of the "second subject". By this time there was a track record of home study and academic achievement's plus a letter from Cambridge attesting to her first degree year results and having effectively covered the "second" course at degree level in her first year to a high standard there wasn't much argument is was achievable at a lower level. That satisfied the states "requirement" of two subjects and hers of more time being devoted to her Degree. It also helped immensely her attitude to study and relationships with the teachers there over the last few years, this has been possible only because of the periods of home schooling instilling a positive attitude and adapting as well as responsibility and having to "wise up" on what you can and cannot do.
All any state school will tell you is A B C on to regular Uni take a massive loan or pay massive fees and for what ? half emerging from a uni cant even add up properly or have proper life skills. There are options depending on your choice of study, in fact most jobs don't even need a degree just the skill and experience.
Right now University fees are going to the moon, even for softer degrees its becoming crazy expensive. Had we not home schooled my daughter would not be getting a free degree through Cambridge as we would not have been looking into what was possible, certainly no one would have told us especially the state system.
I can't tell you how much ive learned about teaching one on one nor how much information is out there and what courses are available, help and also funding. They just don't tell you about it, there isn't a book to read on it perse its a matter of rooting out information and talking with all kinds, timing and determination.
