Belinda Moore

An article orginally written for Stepping Stones Magazine several years ago.

“Children are being freed to learn as nature intended” – just one comment I love from my recent research into why Australian parents are homeschooling their children. I have asked friends and mailing list members, read comments from studies on the subject, and gathered some reasons as to why so many are taking the plunge into home based learning in Australia.

Some parents actively choose to home educate. They make the decision sometime – whether when their children are infants (and even earlier), or when they feel dissatisfied with their children’s schooling for any reason. Some parents feel that there was no other choice. They may have exceptional children (ranging from those labelled “learning disabled” to those with apparent giftedness – and many others in between), or their children are sick or injured, or unable to cope with the stress of school, or they are geographically isolated. In most of these cases, school was the original or preferred choice, but it just didn’t work out for the families involved – they feel that home education is the only option left for them. Yet, most declare that it is the best thing to happen to their families and continue with homeschooling even if the original hurdles are overcome (eg: in case of illnesses or living in a remote area).

Many parents lament that at 4,5 or 6 children are too young to hand children over to a system that is seen as having many flaws at the moment. Beverley Paine (homeschooling pioneer) explained, “We loved April and didn’t want to miss a minute of her five year old life.” I think many home educating parents utter a resounding “hear, hear” at that touching comment. Indeed, these early years are a sensitive time for the little ones. Many argue that it the ideal time to begin academics – the children are so open to new ideas and often learn at an accelerated rate – but at what cost? Pioneer homeschool authors Raymond and Dorothy Moore, in their book ‘School Can Wait’, give a great deal of evidence that early academics and separation from parents can do a great deal of harm.

In my research, parents reiterated that the freedom home based learning allowed them was the greatest gift. Time with their children, without the constraints of the school bus, cut lunches, school uniforms and a lot of rushing was what they valued most. Others stated that the upholding of family values and their religion are the main reasons they chose to educate outside the system. It is true that most schools today in Australia are not inclusive of all belief systems, and logically so – with so many people in an artificial social structure it would be near impossible to be so diverse in their curriculum alone!

I was touched and enlightened by a comment that home education allowed a child to evolve as a spirit at her own pace, to grow beyond what a school environment would allow. One caring mother said, “Maybe some of us homeschool out of curiosity of the possibilities. I’m sure that’s part of why I do.” And that gentle statement rang true with me. I see my children and can imagine how a school education would shape them – in and out of the classroom. I know I don’t like those possibilities. I can see the difficulties in home education and be hopeful that any obstacles are outweighed by benefits. The mother quoted above also said to me, “I think living in the inquiry and continuing each day and being open to questions allows the flexibility that gives her the space she needs to grow. And I don’t think that’s a bad place to be.”

Some parents argued that, due to the pitfalls of attending most Australian schools, home education is an ideal, wholistic environment to learn. They see home based learning as a near-perfect, tailor-made education, superior to even the “best” private schools available. This attitude is commonly resented by the school community. They see it as elitist and therefore unaustralian. I must admit to subscribing to the idea that home education offers the Individual Education Plan that schools hope to offer but logistically are unable to manage. We were taught at University, during my Bachelor of Education, that this was the way of the future. Ten years on, there is still mass-production schooling happening in almost all Australian schools. Perhaps I am the only student of my class able to put theory into practice as a now home educating mother of five…

Parents are deciding to home educate for many reasons. Each family has its own list of reasons and its own method of conducting their home based learning journey.