Homeschooling

Since the late 1800’s mainstream education became compulsory for the vast majority of children in the UK, with this becoming more apparent due to the rise in the importance of attendance in the recent years. This has caused mainstream schooling to be considered the ‘norm’, although it can be seen that other alternatives to this mainstream schooling are being explored due to its increased in accessibility for all. Many parents have decided to break the ‘norm’ and branch out into these alternative forms of education such as home schooling often allowing these parents to take their child’s education into their own hands. In this post I will be exploring home-schooling and the advantages and disadvantages of this educational context.

There are many different approaches to home schooling with a variety of different styles that can be adopted dependant on the child and their individual needs. Some of the most popular of the approaches include:

 “Unschooling” “Charlotte Mason” “Montessori” “ Relaxed/Eclectic homeschooling” “Classical” and “Waldorf” 

This is a short film about homeschooling in the UK

The idea of ‘Deschooling’ was supported by many progressive thinkers of the mid twentieth century who criticised the idea of formal schooling. Central to these thinkers was Ivan Illich. He believed that mainstream schooling was not doing what it should be and was turning children away from education rather than encouraging them. He thought that the education system undermines children confidence and their problem solving abilities. Schooling was not aimed at educating children but to serve the needs of the government and other professionals. (Wood, 2011)

  There are many advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling. Some of these advantages include:

·         The freedom given to both the parent and child.  

·         The child can receive one-to-one attention that mainstream schooling cannot offer  

·         Fits every child’s individual needs with opportunities to create a personal and tailor fitted curriculum. There are many helpful websites, such as this, which allows parents to explore what would suit their child best

·         It gives children the chance for outdoor learning that they may not achieve in mainstream schooling for example a child is able to visit a museum to learn about a topic rather than just  using text books and online resources.

 There are also many disadvantages of homeschooling, including the following:

·         Do parents really have the sufficient expertise to teach?

·         Parents may force their own personal views upon a child and not letting the child form their own unbiased view

·         Some children are simply not suited to this style of learning and need a firm learning structure

·    Has been a problem in the past with overlooking the safety and well being of children in home schooling. The case of Khyra Ishaq
·  Without full efforts from the parents, a child may have no or little social experience                 

References

BBC (2010) Starved girl Khyra Ishaq's death 'was preventable' 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-10770907 (Accessed: 09 December 2014)

Home School Curriculum Advisor. (2014) Choosing  Home School Curriculum 
http://www.home-school-curriculum-advisor.com/choosing-home-school-curriculum.html (Accessed: 09 December 2014)

Wood, K. (2011) Education: The Basics. London: Routledge