Having become increasingly alarmed by people trying to replicate school at home and all that nonsense it is reassuring to see someone doing it right.
Think of all the lessons learnt while doing this.
Home education
Elect
The Guardian’s [W:Ben Goldacre] piece today threw up some interesting links. The VoteMatch site is like an online dating service for you to be matched to your ideal local candidate. One particularly taxing question was the old tax breaks for educating children outside the school system….
I remain open minded about such things. While the BNP were in favour the Lib Dems (my ideal match apparently) were not…
It looks like a close call between Lib Dems and Greens but the local Green chappie, a teacher, has ruled himself out with a leaflet that promises to protect the education system; which is about as un-green a system as one could possibly devise.
A glass of water in the desert
Amongst all the home education dross we get these days [W:Astra Taylor] talking about her unschooling is a (long but worth sticking with) treat…
And an interview too.
The bare truth (will out)
It seems to me that the home education community (whoever they are!) lack a certain degree of imagination in their protestations against the [W:Badman Review]. “They sign those petitions ’til they’re sad in the face. And still they seem to be getting no place.” So “If public policy gets on your nerves. And no one pays attention to you” all you need to do is get naked!
What you have to do is what the [W:Doukhobor] did….
Written by [W:Malvina Reynolds] and performed by [W:Pete Seeger].
Select a quote, win friends, influence people
The Freedom In Education Under Threat blog is one of the reality distorting points of view that seem to predominate the home education blogging world. The Home Education and Religion post is a typical non-story that is inflated to bizarre proportions.
Selectively quoting is a dangerous game. Peter Traves was responding to a comment about failing schools. The full quote is:
May I respond to that? I don’t see how the issue of failing schools negates the issue about our responsibility to children who are not educated in schools. We have a responsibility to improve all schools, and that is absolutely right and proper. On the issue of withdrawal, parents withdraw their children from school for a whole range of reasons. I did six years of home visits, and there were parents who withdrew their children because we had failed them-that is absolutely true. There were parents who had withdrawn their children for ideological reasons because they had a profound belief in a different form of education, which I respected. There were also parents who withdrew their children for particular religious views because they wanted those views inculcated in that child. It is not just about the rights of parents, but about the rights of children. It is not necessarily about the state’s responsibility to children, but about the community’s responsibility to them.
So what is the complaint? Are we being asked to support the Indoctrination of children? Who knows? The original complaint is conflated with some perceived descent into a fascist state.
Really? The evidence seems to be a little slim.
Shall we just ignore “The council said the children would not have been moved solely on the basis of weight.” Perhaps they were the only fat family in town and so singled out. Perhaps not.
Nowhere in the linked article or in the report is there mention of “Your 5 year old being taught how to masturbate”
But why let mere facts get in the way of good rant story.