Ceres
28-07-2009, 11:19 AM
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,,25825345-2682,00.html
More at the link..
WHILE thousands of South Australian students this week returned to their classrooms after enjoying holidays, more than 830 children stayed at home for their "loungeroom lessons".
Although home-school students make up less than 1 per cent of all SA children, State Government records show the number of families teaching their children at home has risen by 10 per cent in the past six months, from 385 in December last year to 427 in June.
The number of children taught by their parents now stands at 838 – almost 8 per cent more than in December last year.
Home schooling has been the subject of contentious debate in the community for decades.
While home school advocates believe they can offer their children a better education because they love and know them and can provide one-on-one tutoring, child psychologists and mainstream teachers are more sceptical.
Home schooling was recognised as a legitimate form of education in SA in 2001.
Parents who want to teach their children at home need to provide a detailed curriculum plan.
Home school advocate Beverley Paine (http://homeschoolaustralia.beverleypaine.com/articles/teachingtipsindex.html) – who taught her three children at home from 1986 and has written several books on the issue – said parents were choosing to teach their children for several reasons, including a belief they could better tailor their education.
"There is a belief that they can cater to their children's educational needs better than the school can . . . and (there are) those that are frustrated as they watch their children lose interest in learning and start falling behind, or not keeping up with what they consider to be where their children should be for their age," she said.
"Home education quickly becomes tailored to the child's individual learning styles and needs and for for this reason becomes very efficient learning. This leaves more time for the child to learn via play and exploring his or her environment through interests and hobbies."
But University of Adelaide child psychiatrist Dr Jon Jureidini (http://health.adelaide.edu.au/psychiatry/clstaff/jureidini_jon.html) said he hadn't seen a convincing reason why home schooling was better for children.
"We feel children who are home schooled are missing out on important social interactions," he said. "It depends on the individual situation and it is not inevitable, but often people choose home school because they have what might be thought of as an idiosyncratic view of the world, so if that is all children are exposed to, then that can be potentially limiting.
"If there is a good reason to home school your child – I don't often come across good reasons, but if there is a legitimate reason for home schooling – then the important thing is that children are exposed to a breadth of experience and social contact that prepares them for adult life."
Ms Paine said the decision to teach a child at home was a "huge" one for parents, who then worked hard to provide social interaction with other children.
"There are social elements of mainstream school well worth missing out on, but that aside, most families work very hard to provide social interaction with other children, and it is a requirement of the registration process anyway," she said.
"The increase in the number of home-schooled children, together with the ease of linking up with other families via the internet, has made it a lot easier for families to form home-schooling groups."
More at the link..
WHILE thousands of South Australian students this week returned to their classrooms after enjoying holidays, more than 830 children stayed at home for their "loungeroom lessons".
Although home-school students make up less than 1 per cent of all SA children, State Government records show the number of families teaching their children at home has risen by 10 per cent in the past six months, from 385 in December last year to 427 in June.
The number of children taught by their parents now stands at 838 – almost 8 per cent more than in December last year.
Home schooling has been the subject of contentious debate in the community for decades.
While home school advocates believe they can offer their children a better education because they love and know them and can provide one-on-one tutoring, child psychologists and mainstream teachers are more sceptical.
Home schooling was recognised as a legitimate form of education in SA in 2001.
Parents who want to teach their children at home need to provide a detailed curriculum plan.
Home school advocate Beverley Paine (http://homeschoolaustralia.beverleypaine.com/articles/teachingtipsindex.html) – who taught her three children at home from 1986 and has written several books on the issue – said parents were choosing to teach their children for several reasons, including a belief they could better tailor their education.
"There is a belief that they can cater to their children's educational needs better than the school can . . . and (there are) those that are frustrated as they watch their children lose interest in learning and start falling behind, or not keeping up with what they consider to be where their children should be for their age," she said.
"Home education quickly becomes tailored to the child's individual learning styles and needs and for for this reason becomes very efficient learning. This leaves more time for the child to learn via play and exploring his or her environment through interests and hobbies."
But University of Adelaide child psychiatrist Dr Jon Jureidini (http://health.adelaide.edu.au/psychiatry/clstaff/jureidini_jon.html) said he hadn't seen a convincing reason why home schooling was better for children.
"We feel children who are home schooled are missing out on important social interactions," he said. "It depends on the individual situation and it is not inevitable, but often people choose home school because they have what might be thought of as an idiosyncratic view of the world, so if that is all children are exposed to, then that can be potentially limiting.
"If there is a good reason to home school your child – I don't often come across good reasons, but if there is a legitimate reason for home schooling – then the important thing is that children are exposed to a breadth of experience and social contact that prepares them for adult life."
Ms Paine said the decision to teach a child at home was a "huge" one for parents, who then worked hard to provide social interaction with other children.
"There are social elements of mainstream school well worth missing out on, but that aside, most families work very hard to provide social interaction with other children, and it is a requirement of the registration process anyway," she said.
"The increase in the number of home-schooled children, together with the ease of linking up with other families via the internet, has made it a lot easier for families to form home-schooling groups."