h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Home-schooling is an expression that I sometimes come across in conversations at H2G2.
I don`t fully grasp what it means or how it works.
It is a phenomena I am not familiar with.
What is it? When and where on the planet does it occur?
Enlighten me!

Home schooling is simply when children are educated at home rather than going to school - this is legal in the UK provided that the parents can prove that the child is receiving an adequate education. There is a Entry on home-schooling in the UK at A799365.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for your help.
Do you know if it is common?

I don't have any numbers, but I would imagine it's quite rare. People usually need a very good reason for taking their children out of school, and few people have the time to educate their own children.

As far as I know, home schooling is NOT legal in the Republic of Ireland.

It is legal in the US, and I know several women who have homeschooled one or more children for at least one year. It is considered to be a less expensive alternative to private school for those who are unhappy with the public school system. (I should point out that public schools in the US are the tax supported ones)

Thank you, all of you for your information . For solving the mystery for me. I think that, like in Ireland, it wouldn´t be legal to chose to educate your kids at home, here in Sweden either.

It's quite a cool idea, especially since kids can work at their own pace and often "graduate" early. But it messes up the whole social aspect of things.

*would have loved to have been homeschooled, but is glad she wasn't*

One of my sister in laws home schooled 5 kids. She was great at it.
The kids did suffer socially. They are in public school now, happy and a bit bored by the curriculum. In their case that is good at the moment, until they are caught up on making social connections. Many people thought it was going to be an unfair shock later in life...to learn how the and people are. The mom considered that a possible future problem too.

One of my nieces (another family) had many phobias. Home school was wonderful for her. She is NOT at all sorry and she is older now.

Parental frustration with the school system has resulted in homeschooling becoming an increasingly popular choice in the last decade or so. So many parents choose this option in fact, that most sizeable communities have groups that provide support, text book and curriculum trading, opportunities for socialization, etc. Also, it should be noted that public school districts are compelled to allow students to participate in school activities, regardless of whether or not the student attends full time. So it is therefore possible to say, attend 'school' in the morning with one's mother for history and english, attend University for advanced Spanish later in the afternoon, attend high school for biology and choir, and participate in tennis after school. Americans are all about options (or the appearance thereof <or allowances made for flakey students &gt

home-schooling is legal in nz too. it falls into 2 broad catagories - christian and alternative. i've known a few people who have homeschooled for alternative reasons.

it is a lot of work but if the parent(s) have adequate support the kids seem to get an excellent education.

i disagree that there are inherent social problems though. i'm sure some kids are negatively affected, but in general i don't see how its different from kids growing up in isolated parts of the world. they just get a different kind of socialisation. also many kids suffer problems from being in mainstream schools. i think its more to do with the individual and their response to the situation they are in.

most homeshoolers i've come across go to a lot of trouble to ensure that their kids get time with all sorts of people, not just other kids. and there are homeschool networks too.

there is also a crossover between homeschooling and alternative schools. (some kids do both)

i'm surprised sweden doesn't do this - doesn't it have a reputation for being pro child?

No we don´t do this in Sweden, not for the reasons that are brought up here. Children can have "home-education" for a limited period because of illness or other social problems, but that is only for a limited period of time and during that time, the school is still responsible for the education, so the teacher may come to the home for a couple of hours per week. There are alternative schools in Sweden as well; Montessori and Rudolf Steiner for example.
I think the big difference in my country is that it its extremely rare to have a parent/Mother at home when you are a school-child. If you don´t have baby-siblings. Parents work.
Have you ever heard of any fathers staying home to home-school there kids?

one of the tennets of home schooling is that its not necessarily a 9 am -3 pm thing. its 24 hoursa a day. so any parents or other people involved have varying involvement with the kids depending on their time available.

the homeschoolers i have been around tcan ake any opportunity to teach, so learning becomes innate in the whole of life not just in the 'school' hours (though they usually have structured time too). its one of the things i love abut homeschooling, that learning happens everywhere.

Often, in the best homeschooling families, the father will teach one or two subjects after coming home from work, He would most likely teach the ones he is most knowlegable about, himself.

But yes, even though there is usually a structured schooling time (and it usually takes a few hours less per day than the school system devotes to it, unless the child is simply not cooperative), learning takes place all the time, everywhere they go, in everything they do as a family. Even a trip to the grocery store can be an opportunity to teach about such things as marketing strategies, or doing some mental math to figure out the best buy on the shelf.

When their are socialisation problems with home schooling it is usually due to lack of community support, and it is no worse than being educated on a remote scotish island.

in just about all other cases, the parents involved have been notified by others who have been through it that they need to take care to provide a broad base of socialisation, and they usually can.

the advantage is that not only can the child socialise with children, but they tend to get a broad base of adults to socialise with as well.

this results in a child who is generally more confident and competent.

an interesting side note on the subject of home schooling is that after trying to shut down summerhill school for not teaching to the national corriculum, and failing, the inspectors have been forced to take into account the aims of the people doing the educating and the childrens comments when they do the reviews. this will have a significant impact on home schoolers.

""When their are socialisation problems with home schooling it is usually due to lack of community support, and it is no worse than being educated on a remote scotish island."'

That is true in the case I was speaking of :
They are isolated, so with NO school socializing,it had a tremendous impact. Very little peer interaction without a school day there. Most kids did activities associated with school otherwise too. They were not able to join in if not attendees. The girls were very athletic so the organized sports were a big draw/plus to them.