Learning in the Absence of Education

Essays on Homeschooling

© Beverley Paine

The Ups and Downs of Home Education
(continued)

And much more, of course!
What I don't like about home education:

• The process of becoming legal - or recognised by the community that our home educating family has a right to choose home education as an alternative. I dislike the enforcement of regulation that is often discriminatory and without legal basis.
• Social isolation - I need friends too, not just my kids. Where are all the natural learners? Why don't they live near me? There are two problems here - the lack of social opportunities to hang out with like minded others to share ideas and stories, and lack of opportunity to take a break from the children, or to access other people with specialised skills within the home education movement.
• The penny pinching, miserly attitudes; the ones that say if it costs it isn't any good, that everything has to be free or really cheap. You get what you pay for! The lack of financial support for great networking ideas like newsletters and camps.
• The apathy. Everyone wants everything done for them, want leaders to follow, people to tell them what to do and how. Why don't they just put their kids back into school? I know it takes time for some families to learn to use their imagination and write their own learning programs, organise their own excursions, etc, etc, etc... but do they really have to lean that heavily on experienced others?
• Lack of support for the few who try to give the many what they ask for - networks, legislative change, group learning opportunities. Hey, just a subscription renewal can keep the home education journals we all want, and need, alive! Things bring to mind the absolute lack of feedback - when you give a few hours of your time helping people get started on this liberating path, it is nice to hear from them again, to find out how it is turning out. The silence can be deafening....
• In-fighting between home educating groups or individuals of differing philosophy or practice. Why can't all home educators get on with each other? Why all the faction fighting, the nastiness and pettiness, the put downs and insults? The scare tactics employed by both homeschoolers and bureaucracy, the maintenance and active promotion of fear tactics. Is 'big brother' really going to steal our children away, lock us up, etc? Where is the common sense, or at the very least, a fighting spirit born of the knowledge we are righteous in our choices? And there is a general level of intolerance, not J just towards different home education philosophies, but toward schools and bureaucrats - the 'them versus us' mentality...
• Another negative aspect of home education is the contradictory information available from everyone! This just adds to absolute confusion that often reigns when
• new comers are seeking information.
• Lack of confidence. The only thing to help here is hands on experience, but accurate and up to date information would be useful.
• Lack of money. Home education usually means living on one income. You have to become a creative genius to make things happen - which is actually a positive or bonus if you think about it!
• Having to hang out with children for most of the time - and feeling guilty when I want to do something for myself, like obsessively build houses or write novels.
• Worrying if I am helping my children learn everything they need to learn to equip them for adulthood, and not being able to discuss this with most of my peers, and having very few home educating contacts with older children to bounce worries off.
• Having to constantly say the same thing over and over to new homeschoolers - which is why I wrote my book "Getting Started with Home Schooling - Practical Considerations", but still find myself talking for hours to help them find the confidence within themselves - my kids think this is a downer - not me! They hate the amount of time I spend on the phone.
• Worrying about future educational implications beyond the compulsory years.
• Feeling weird, different.
• Having to justify why my children are not at school whenever we go out.
• Needing to justify our decisions and choices to parents and in laws who don't accept our decision to homeschool.
• All the other daily stresses that normal families live through in the normal course of life but which get put down to home educating - 'burnout'. The biggest problems I have had in life whilst home educating have had nothing to do with education - ill health, relationship problems, financial problems, building problems, etc. The only educational problems I encountered were when we tried school.

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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

available from
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Homeschool Australia SA HE Network Unschool~Kidz! About Beverley Paine

Disclaimer: The information on this page is opinion,
written by someone without legal qualifications.
Always seek qualified legal advice if in any doubt as to your legal position.