This began as a very interesting discussion on bullying and how Home Schooling was a option for those having this problem.
It has along the way become a discussion on schooling in general( state, private or alternate )and in particular it seems that it is now becoming an argument about who is Right, those who keep their kids in school or those who keep them out.
There should be no argument here, Childrens Rights are at the forefront of this topic. The government is changing Australia underneath our noses, with the new IR laws and now possibly a new education law and i hear talk of them considering complusory national service again.What is happening people is they are stealing our rights and freedoms.
We need to band together as parents and stop them affecting our children regardless of which choice of education you use. Become a united australia, everyone will Always educate differently,no one way is right for all,but democaracy and choice is the backbone of australia.
Lets just be parents who want the best for our children, stand together and tell the government that choice and freedoms and differences are part of a healthy society. Everybody the same and everybody doing what the government demands starts to sound like a dictatorship not a democaracy. Don't argue or put each other down Join forces to make good changes. Lets make the government accountable. We all have to be accountable and resonsible for our actions,The government is no less accountable than each of us.

Maya. Don’t be so hard on sajo. Sajo comes across to me as a concerned parent, just like the rest of us. He just has his own ideas and thoughts and some interesting ways of presenting them. Everybody is different and we need communication otherwise people don’t change and/or learn.

There is one thing about dealing with school/bullying problems and/or homeschooling issues and that is that you cannot really appreciate or understand how it will make you feel, think or react until you are living it!.

Swilkie, I cant help you with the best way to homeschool because I have not been successful. I didn’t find it easy, you have to be dedicated and motivated and you have to enjoy it otherwise the kids notice! I didn’t enjoy it, and I have other responsibilities like running our small business from home and fighting the bullies in the DET.

Only the 8 year old is happy at home for now, the rest begged me to find a good school for them. They all have their own computers and each have cable online. I bought them the relevant books and I even paid for one hour of math’s tutoring – it wasn’t enough for them. I can’t keep up with them financially or other. My older kids prefer being bored at school and with their friends than bored at home with their siblings and mother.

Like adults, when kids get bored they start picking on and antagonizing each other, this is no doubt what is happening at school and that is why there is so much bullying happening.

Eco. Sorry. I did realise that it was articles that you were referring to. With the “bad children” comment. I have probably just been brainwashed by my 8 year old son who insists that all children at school are bad. I have to keep telling him that it’s not the children that are being born bad, it’s the adult’s responsibility, because children are learning and the adults should ensure that children are in an environment where they are learning good things not bad.

There is a broad range of ideas and methods in Home Education. I will outline a few different approaches for you to the best of my knowledge:

1. The ‘school’ approach at home: where a curriculum is (more or less) set based upon the 8 core areas and followed with only a few variations to fit in with the needs of the individual child. It offers more one on one attention than would be received at school, thus learning is much quicker, taking approx 2 hours a day and more ‘field trips’ for practical understanding of the topics they are studying. Usually plenty of extracurricular activities are involved for sporting and socialization aspects and plenty of reading and opportunities to expand on their knowledge are offered to use at their leisure. Often the problem with this approach is that the children can rebel against a parent taking on the ‘teacher’ role and it takes great levels of co operation between the parents and children to keep the momentum going. I have seen this work very effectively for some families; I have also seen many families opt for another learning style after finding this very high maintenance.

2. The ‘Un-schooling’ approach: the basic philosophy is that children are naturally inquisitive and seek out learning in the most appropriate way for themselves. It is believed that children will always learn what they need to learn in via exposure to the materials and given the opportunity to experience it first hand, seeking help when they desire it. Children are only taught information in an incidental sense and encouraged to take an active role in all aspects of ordinary life. Any questions they ask are answered, and questions are encouraged. Generally un-schooling families have fabulous conversational qualities with one another, chatting on a great range of subjects in a short space of time. The children always have access to learning opportunities, sporting opportunities and extracurricular activities, but these are used as the children see fit. Much time is devoted to any special interest and they learn through active involvement in these areas.

Often, community service is a large part of life and practical experience is vital to ensuring they can continue on with their interests. Commonly parents who adopt this method experience periods of concern over their child’s abilities as it is harder to see the results. In all cases I have seen the children excel, given the basic resources and autonomy, though at a different rate than their school counterparts. For example a child may choose not to learn to read till 8, but by the age 6 is doing ‘high school’ maths and geology. This ‘uneven’ education usually is equalized by the teen years, however they still retain their special interests which they are very adept at. Often this can be extremely helpful in choosing career paths and helping them to find rewarding life interests.

3. The ‘Middle of the Road’ approach is the one I have seen adopted by most home educators. It is very subjective, but includes a little of each of the above education styles. The parents generally ensure that the children learn the basics at an early age, but try to use their interests as catalysts in order to do so. The children are given a great level of control over their own education, as long as broad subject matter is covered and the children are progressing well. It is a blend of experiential and directed/paper based learning which has a little of the bonuses from both styles yet allowing flexibility in the learning environment. It allows the parents and children to feel comfortable about their education whilst having plenty of room to move and learn in a more practical sense.

I hope this helps to give you an overview of the styles I have seen in home education. The options I have put forward are very different, but the results are often very similar and in my experience, they all tend towards the un-schooling approach as the children get older. The result tends to be happy, well rounded individuals, capable of living in the real world and functioning as adults with defined interests and values.

It is interesting how the Federal Minister deals with different issues! When I wrote to the Minister in April 2003 in relation to allegations of educational neglect, victimization, bullying by way of humiliation, discrediting, marking down and exclusion, vilification, manipulation of test scores, misconduct and a conspiracy to cover up from the adults in power in the State Education system I received a reply from an adviser called Alan Tudge.

The letter included the following:

“I must say that, while I am not in a position to comment authoritatively on the matter, the procedures for calculating admission scores appear to be complex, so much so that in the case of both your children scores were apparently incorrectly calculated by officers of the NSW Selective Schools unit and subsequently corrected”. (my comment – or vice versa!).

Mr. Tudge indicated that he sent a copy of my letter to State Shadow Education Minister Mr. O’Farrell, I had also written to Mr. O’Farrell and he had advised that he would look into it and get back to me. I heard nothing. My correspondence and calls were ignored.

Then Ministers changed and when I contacted the new Shadow Ministers they all said the same thing. That they had been advised that the issues had been addressed and the matter had been deemed closed. When I advised them that the matter was closed internally and unfairly by those that we alleged were responsible and it was a conflict of duties/interests and that we had been denied procedural fairness the Ministers informed us that the matter was outside their jurisdiction and they did not have enough resources or funding to investigate individual cases!.

How can the safety, welfare and wellbeing of individual children in education be outside the jurisdiction of Ministers for Education? It begs the question – “What exactly is their role?”

The letter ended with “On behalf of the Minister, I take this opportunity to wish your children all the best in their schooling and trust that they will be given the opportunities they deserve to develop their talents to the fullest”. Cont……

There are many reasons parents choose to home educate and many methods by which they do it - that is the whole beauty of it. What is it that really suits your child? Are they academic or of a practical bent, slow or quick, have learning disabilities or gifted - all of these can be catered for with fair to excellent resources available to suit any budget (for those who feel that it is a priviledge only the rich can afford, we are a single income family with eight children). For one child I am the "teacher", for another I am a "guide" as they learn quickly, for another I am a "companion" as we explore subjects which he is interested in but fall outside of a "curriculum", and we learn together.

And the end result? Well-adjusted, educated children able to talk to anyone of any age. Nor are my five boys emasculated in a female-oriented environment.