Learning in the Absence of Education

Essays on Homeschooling

© Beverley Paine

Fathers in The Home School

At the South Australian 1996 Home Education Conference there was a session on fathers and education. The session was firmly based on a strict Christian perspective and was very patriarchal, and prompted me to offer a different perspective.

Fathers are an important part of the home learning environment, although many mothers who are single parents find they have to fulfil both roles for their growing children. The decision to educate children at home goes beyond the academic and social world of learning, and becomes enmeshed in the total parenting experience.

Because they support home education, homeschooling fathers often spend a lot more time with their children than other fathers. This allows for increased opportunity to expand traditional gender roles and to take on greater responsibility for the day to day activities of the children.

Some time ago Robin obtained this anonymous sheet of advice to fathers at a parenting workshop. If you change the word father to 'parent' it becomes equally relevant to mothers.

• Be involved in your baby’s birth. There is no more profound experience. Once you have seen that child emerge, and have held him or her, you will be bound to that child forever.
• Recognise that you do matter to your children. A father is crucial to a child’s health and happiness. Being there for that child is the most important thing you can do with your life.
• Decide what kind of a father you want to be, and then go for it. You are free to be the kind of father you wish your father had been. How do you want to be different from your father? Which of his fathering talents do you wish to hold on to?
• Consider not just what you can do for your child but what raising your child can do for you. Child rearing is an opportunity for liberation from childhood pain and an opportunity to re-create yourself, a chance to get it right this time.
• Think of what kind of help you need to be the kind of father you want to be. You can’t do it alone. As men we have not been trained to be good fathers. Who can you talk to for advice? Where can you go for classes? What books can you read? Who will listen to your uncertainties?

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More than 60 essays covering a wide range of home schooling concerns and issues, such as late readers, value of play, socialisation, learning maths, part time school, and thoughts on testing. Learning in the Absence of Education is an intimate and honest look at day-to-day homeschooling life spanning several years. Includes articles on learning maths, reading and writing, spelling, socialisation, part time schooling, fathers and homeschooling, value of play, grading and testing, coping with stress and illness, and much more.

"These essays are the real life experiences of a long term home educator and activist and make inspiring reading... a valuable resource for all those interested in home education.... What I particularly appreciate are the personal day-to-day stories that are so specific in the incident or outcome These are essays written over time that reflect natural learning (read life) as it really happens.

I really enjoy Beverley's writing style in this book. It is very direct, sometimes even challenging the reader. She tries to be scrupulously honest always so we read of advantages and disadvantages of whatever topic she is discussing. She will also point out the ideal situation and how she thinks she falls short. Sometimes she is self-deprecating; sometimes she glows with enthusiasm for their successful lifestyle. There are touches of humour and sometimes wry cynicism.

Hopefully this book will answer many people's questions and fears about natural learning. It is all in here: how right it feels when natural learning is working well, what happens when we have insecurities ourselves, and the results so far. By presenting the natural learning case in this essay style, Beverley has been able to reflect the different moods, the ups and downs, that make the book a valuable resource for all those interested in home education, whatever their current style."
Janine Banks, home educator, Qld

ISBN 1876651016, 128 pages... $22.95

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