The mainstream education system has undeniable and obvious shortcomings. Homeschooling is an effective alternative to that system.

Lillian's posts give the statistics. Many others have their own stories to tell.

The current legisltaive environment in Victoria is adequate to ensure that neglect doesn't occur and education does.

The government and many people have not understood or recognised that homeschooling is an ALTERNATIVE. It is different to the mainstream system.

Not all people can exist at all times within the regular mass-produced aims, goals and methodologies of the mainstream education system. In reality people have experiences, beliefs and goals that cannot be reconcilled with what the education act and it's policies and theories dish up to them in reality.

Either we can be fearless and honest and face up to this or we can try to squeeze everyone in under the same carpet by trying to nip and tuck and stretch and add on to it and by trying to push and squeeze the people.

Let's be brave and face the reality. People are alive and full of genius, let's not try to squeeze them all into tight pants please.

Home education is the answer to many of the unnatural restraints placed on children in the artificial environment of the school, not just bullying. The UN supports the rights of parents to educate their children the way that they see fit, as does the Australian Constitution. Educating children at home allows the people that understand them best, love them most and have their real well-being at heart are the ones with the most influence on them. "The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world..."

Susie. I agree with you that a motivated parent would provide a better learning environment. Problem is, not all parents are motivated to home school and not all parents have confidence in their abilities and are well educated. It is also a fact that not all kids want to spend all day with their parents. It really does depend on personalities and circumstances.

There is no doubt however that the amount of time schools spends herding, leaves little time for learning and that the problem with bullying is doing a lot of psychological damage. These are issues that can be minimized and even fixed. I dont believe that you can only elimiate 50% of bullying.

Of my 4 children, two of them would love to be home schooled for the duration of their school life because of their disapointment with school but I just can’t do it for that long. To me it isn’t easy, I cant deal with the questions, I struggle to explain things, I don’t understand things. I get stressed and my children notice and then they feel bad and then they avoid asking me questions. I also need to get back to full time work.

We have taken our kids out of school and homeschooled them for short periods in order to protect them and we will never leave them in a school where they don’t feel safe but we keep trying and searching for a school like the one sajo talks about because I know that my children would just thrive in the right school environment as they love being students, they just need to find the right school and I know that they can exist. There is so much potential in teachers and students in the Public School system that just needs to be supported, guided and nurtured.

I personally think that both the school community and the home school community need to respect, support and help each other with whatever education they choose as best for their children. That would be the ultimate

Thanks, Jolanda! I really enjoyed reading your thoughtful, inclusive and well-balanced approach to the public school - home ed debate. I began to wonder whether I had sounded rather high-handed when I offered the viewpoint in an earlier post of a trained teacher who had home educated her children!

Your point about confidence illustrates much more clearly what I was trying to say. The major sticking point with so many parents is that they believe teachers can offer something that they themselves can't, and that schools - despite some obvious drawbacks such as the bullying problem - have some magic formula which will turn out an educated individual at the other end.

If you have seen as much of the workings of the public education system as I have, you know that this is simply not true. So a trained teacher can proceed with the utmost confidence to do things at home which are completely different from school, becuase they know the ways in which school does not work.

Please don't misunderstand me. I don't mean to vilify public schooling, and I also have the greatest respect for parents who do not feel they can or want to school at home. But I do want to encourage those who are only prevented by their own lack of confidence. All other problems, such as lack of subject knowledge, can be overcome.

One of the concerns that people have when they find out that I have homeschooled my children during different periods and have 2 on Distance Education learning from home at the moment is how will the children cope when they return to school.

This comment always makes me laugh. I mean, we put our children into pre-school after being at home all their life, many from an extremely young age and these kids cope and adjust. The same people even say it’s good for them, so why do some parents seem to think that an older child will be incapable of adapting and coping when starting a new school after being at home? Children are not given the credit that they deserve.

I tell those that ask that it is no different for a child than attending a different park and it all depends on how you present it to them. Of course there are those that have social issues that will struggle, but for most kids it isn't a problem and it is actually beneficial to teach children to be able to adapt and change because change is often like a holiday and when there is change there is hope that things will be better.

My kids have changed schools at least 5 times each at their request searching for the right learning environment. They are confident and self assertive and they know what they want and what they need and they are not afraid to stand up for their rights even if it does come with repercussions because they know that although they may not be protected by the adults in the system, they will be protected and supported by their parents.

The thing that I find homeschooling has going for it is that if the homeschooling parent is capable and motivated, education is able to be better catered to suit the child’s individual learning needs and style. Schools need to work on that.

You both make very good points jolanda and titaniak. However I must point out jolanda that distance education and home education are different. With home education parents decide the curriculum, with distance education this is set by the department. While both forms of education take place in the home, the approaches and philosophy behind them are different. However it is good both exist, as choice in education is important.
I am a teacher and I am a parent too. I agree titaniak, parents do need to realise that they are more than capable of educating their children. Parents today are doing a good job. They deserve better than the negative, hostile and officious attitudes that are often displayed towards them. Parents in this era face more criticism and pressure than any other previous generation.
Teachers often overstep their authority when it comes to dealing with parents, Many need to realise they do not have jurisdiction over parents. Children are entrusted to teachers to educate, and their authority stops there.
Children are at school for more that six hours every day, five days a week, I think it is time that the school system started to shoulder some of the blame for their behaviour.
What others have said in this forum is true, parent rights are being eroded in society today, the Victorian State Government’s draft of the proposed Education Act is evidence of that.