Dear Robert G, also re your grandaughter,

I have met a number of home schooled kids, without exception, so far, they have related much better to adults than to their peers. To use some psychobabble, they seemed very parentified. My teenagers who go to a co-ed public school struggled manfully to find a point of contact and failed. Probably there are exceptions, but, you'd have to be a supremely gifted home school parent to replace the social learning that kids get from other kids.
Some are socially skilled with grownups, but their skills with other adolescents seemed poor. They lack a layer of savvy, the protective skin that kids more used to the rough and tumble of other kids develop. Some parents may not like that skin, but I reckon every one of us has to develop it sooner or later to survive.
School is a child's first experience of themselves as separate from their parents, as an individual. This can be tough going, but kids are strong enough to cope, by letting your granddaughter go, by expressing your confidence in her ability to deal with what, after all, are only other 5 year olds, you give her something just as important as academic achievement. More so, probably.
And if in year 4, some boy tells her he'd like to stick his beef into her, she'll be learning another important lesson, how to tell him to go jump.

The research that Julie Novak refers to is pretty dodgy and hardly convincing. She refers to a few studies that indicate that the numbers of home schooled children in the US is increasing; but so what? Is the US a model of what is good? I don't thnk so!

Julie refers to two(!) studies that show that home-schooled children achieve academically. But how representative were these studies. Were these studies published in peer-reviewed Journals?

There is no indication of what age the children in the studies were. Were they in grade 1?

Is there any evidence how well they do at University? Julie writes that prestigious US uni’s select home-school students on the basis of test scores and a portfolio of work. What does this mean? How many do they select, and how well do they do if they are selected?

The main point for Julie seems to be the ‘freedom’ that home-schooling provides. Freedom from what I wonder? Freedom from having to understand how the rest of the world thinks?

Is it really such a bad world out there Julie? Do you need to have that much control over your children or is it your anti-government ideology that drives your argument?

Way back when I was a hippie in the 70's, we wanted to home-school our children also - teach them magic and music and art and to love each other - definately not the meat in the taco type of love LOL.

Just as well the 'govment' stepped in and stopped us. My kids did go to state schools, learned what they were taught there and then what I wanted to teach them when they got home.

They were able to decide for themselves which was better. They all got to uni and are doing well.

Bravo to Ms Novak for her discussion on this interesting and contemporary topic. As an 'almost-50' mother with two Primary School aged children, I am intrigued by the concept of home schooling. Next year my husband and children and I are moving from the city to a 100 acre rural property, near a regional town in the Southern Highlands, NSW. This will be a wonderful new experience for us as a family, and I'm considering homeschooling for my children. Life's a journey, and there are no rights or wrongs. I'm not talking about values and ethics. I'm referring to those people who are cynical and criticise anything alternative. It is a joy to have the children around, and to be able to incorporate all facets of life, family, the spiritual, and social into the 'everyday'. I hated school, and left at 14. I've now lost count of the number of degrees I've attained (both attendance and distance education), including a teaching degree and a PhD. Yep, after 34 years of solid employment and concomitant study, I, with my husband, am moving into semi-retirement, and what a thrill it would be to share more time with our dear children.
Doc.

As a home educating mum I read the above comments with interest.

To RobertG: Can I encourage you to ask your question (which is valid because it's your concern and you have questions about the future of someone you care about deeply) on a homeschool support board.
http://www.home-ed.vic.edu.au/Networking/Discussion.htm . This site would be a place to start. You would also be welcome to contact me personally at theforum@grandyzine.com.
On a homeschool support board you will find parents who are living the life of homeschooling with one child. They will be able to share with you their experiences and thoughts from a perspective that enaj is simply not able to speak about. Not through any personal lack but simply by practicality. She has no personal or extensive experience in this matter. Regarding her reference to "I have met a number of home schooled kids, without exception, so far, they have related much better to adults than to their peers...", I have met many children and adults who attended conventional schools, who also do not/did not relate well to their peers, or indeed adults. All 5 of my children relate well to their peers, to adults and have only ever been home educated. Of any feedback that I've ever heard from my own friends and contacts who homeschool with one child, I have never! found any negative issues specific to those circumstances. They have only ever been about the normal homeschool challenges. So please be encouraged.

Regards,
Marion

Dear enaj and Mollydukes-FYI: More details of one of the studies referred to by Julie can be found here : http://www.hslda.org/docs/study/rudner1999/Rudner1.asp.
Another article to read would be this one: http://www.homeschoolchristian.com/Position/WileRebuttal.html. Dr Wile also has many more references to specific studies at the bottom of this article. This article would address some of mollydukes questions in particular.
This next article is a great one regarding Homeschooling in Australia
http://www.aare.edu.au/99pap/bro99413.htm.

All of these may help you to gain a more informed insight into homeschooling and the good thing that it represents to the Australian community, both now and in the future.
In my experience everyone is unique and special, and that would have to include both of you. (I'm sorry if that offends you enaj, that's not my intention here) If we seriously believe that we have nothing special to offer,then the world as we know it is a lie before our eyes. Everyday we see people making a good difference in the lives of others. That can only happen when individuals bring their "special" talents and gifts into the lives of others, into the community. If we were all the same we wouldn't need each other, but we do. Life proves that point over and over again. Theories are all well and good but we must apply and make them accountable to what we see being testified to in the world around us.

Regards,
Marion

Home education is an alternative to school based education. It gives parents choice. Once upon a time all kids learned at home and in their immediate community and apprenticeships were the way they were inducted into adult life. That model of education worked for millenia. Some of us like the idea of trying methods that helped to build about great civilisations, ours among them. Schools, the way they are today, are a relatively recent invention and as far as I can see, fail way too many children. Literacy and numeracy remain national problems, despite the money the education system has thrown at them over the last century. Why can't schools get it right? For ALL children? Some home educators are interested in the academic education of their children, not just the social development. But it's the social atmosphere of schools that freak me out. Sex and drugs peddled in primary school? Should I be worried as a parent? Or should I encourage my child to 'have a go' and grow that thick skin so she can cope(?) better with whatever life throws at her.

With adult children who were variously schooled and homeschooled, I can honestly say that it's not where your kids get that education, but how much effort, you - the parent - puts into that process. If you leave their education and social development in the hands of strangers then you'd better be happy with the consequences.

Beverley
http://homeschoolaustralia.beverleypaine.com
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