- It teaches them the truth — the Bible, God’s Word.
- It teaches them to know the Creator — the only Living God.
- It fulfills the parents’ responsibility to educate their children.
- It allows the children to enjoy learning and flexibility and to cultivate their interests, giving them as much time as they need to learn the subject.
- It cultivates deeper family relationships.
- It shows good academic results.
- Total number of students reduced from 601,752 in 2001 to 511,306 in 2007;
- 66 % of children aged at 1-6 years in urban areas and 14 % in rural areas attending pre-school establishments (2003);
- 99.7 % of students were in the State schools (2002);
- Half of students take ethics and half take religion classes where 81 % are in Latin Catholic class;
- 631 children (age 7-16) were not attending school in 2005. Only 97 were due to disability and other 534 due to: reluctance to study, conflicts with teachers, willingness to work, asocial families, poor health, etc.
Europe Cracks Down on Homeschool Parents
This CBN article and video clip provide sobering details about the homeschool situation in Europe. Take a look and be reminded to pray for our brothers and sisters over there. We have so many freedoms here to be thankful for — and diligent to preserve!
Blog @ November 13, 2009 | International Homeschooling | Comments (0)
Calls Needed to Reunite Homeschool Family
- From the HSLDA e-lert service , October 7
Dear HSLDA Members and Friends:
We recently told you about the plight of the Johanssons, a Swedish family whose only child, 7-year-old Dominic Johansson, was seized by Swedish police from a plane just as the family was about to leave the country for a new life in India.
After investigating the facts surrounding the case, HSLDA President J. Michael Smith wrote to Swedish officials to protest this action.
Read his letter >>
Read the response from Mr. Berglind, minister of public affairs for the Swedish Embassy in Washington >>
Citing confidentiality concerns for not commenting on the Johansson case, Mr. Stigland noted that a county administrative board in Sweden is reviewing how it was handled by local officials.
In a telephone conversation with HSLDA, Mr. Johansson confirmed that he has been in contact with the county administrative board.
“They told me that they are looking into the case to determine if anything was done improperly,” he said.
And at a meeting with the social workers on Tuesday, October 6, Mr. Johansson was told that he and his wife would only be allowed to visit their son at the social workers office once every two weeks for a maximum of two hours.
What does Sweden hope to gain from such an aggressive action? The situation is tragic. It is deeply troubling that a Western democracy would go to such lengths to prevent a homeschool family from simply trying to leave the country.
Dominic has been traumatized, and his mother has been hospitalized several times because of the depression this incident has caused. Yet the social workers persist in keeping custody of Dominic. When Mr. Johansson asks why, they reply “Because it’s better for him.” According to Mr. Johansson, both he and Dominic have been subjected to psychological and other testing with results showing no valid reason for continued separation of the family.
In light of this aggressive behavior and because the Swedish parliament is poised to impose draconian regulations on homeschoolers, HSLDA is asking its members to contact the Swedish Ambassador to the United States.
Swedish Ambassador Jonas Hafström can be reached:
By email: ambassaden.washington@foreign.ministry.se
By phone: 202-467 2600
By fax: 202-467 2699
Visit Swedish embassy website >>
First, we ask you to request that the Swedish government return Dominic to his family. The social welfare agency has taken custody of Dominic, and they have the power to return him to his parents. Request that they do so immediately.
Second, inform the ambassador that homeschooling allows children to thrive academically and socially. Valid research has demonstrated that homeschooling is a mainstream educational approach that works. Tell him that the world doesn’t need any more countries like Germany that repress freedom in education, and that a person should be permitted to opt out of public education because of philosophical or religious convictions.
In his letter to Mr. Smith, Mr. Stigland noted that since Sweden is a state party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, that the starting point for children is Sweden is the “ best interests of the child and the child’s right to be heard .” Mr. Stigland noted that social services have an obligation to “intervene and remove a child from the family if the child’s health and development are endangered.” Mr. Stigland noted that a child should be returned home as soon as possible if it was “in the best interests of the child.”
Of grave concern to HSLDA is Mr. Stigland’s citation of the legislative history of the Education Act which says: “The legislative history of the current Education Act states that home schooling in isolated cases, mainly in the lower grades, might be an acceptable substitute for education if a particular external circumstance exists. Examples of such are: if the child lives in a sparsely populated area or needs special care. Legal practice shows that the situation also arises when parents for other reasons, such as philosophical or religious, want to educate their children at home. In connection with the new Education Act, these rules are now being reviewed.”
The act is indeed being reviewed and the proposal is even more draconian. The proposed language would remove philosophical or religious convictions as valid reasons to home school. The new law would allow homeschooling only in “extraordinary circumstances” (read: never). If the proposed Swedish law passes it would become as bad as in Germany where homeschooling is effectively banned.
Mike Farris recently said in his address to the World Congress of Families, “Any nation that severely restricts the ability of parents to choose alternative forms of education, including home education, in the name of creating national unity, cannot call itself a free nation. Freedom necessarily requires the individual to have the liberty to think differently and believe differently than programs instituted by the current rulers of any nation. Educational freedom is the cornerstone for all freedom of thought and conscience.”
HSLDA encourages its members to communicate their concerns to the Swedish Ambassador. We hope that his influence may help correct an injustice and also pave the way for better laws for homeschoolers in Sweden
HSLDA thanks its members and friends for their ongoing support. It’s when all homeschoolers join together that we are most effective advocating for homeschool freedom in America and abroad.
Read the HSLDA article: “Sweden—the Next Germany for Homeschoolers?”
Katherine Loop @ October 21, 2009 | International Homeschooling | Comments (0)
Lithuania: Another Homeschooling Movement Begins
Report from HSLDA. Our thanks to Lifework Forum for the picture of the Juoniai family, and to Wikipedia for the European map.
A young Lithuanian family devoted to discipleship through home education is pioneering the movement for their people.
In September of 2008, ten international homeschool leaders joined HSLDA’s annual National Homeschool Leadership Conference. The following is an update from Gintas and Ina Juoniai, one of only two Lithuanian homeschooling families and the head of ‘eimos mokykl? namuose draugija, the Lithuanian homeschool association. By God’s grace, the Juoniais are pioneering the home education movement for their people.
Meet the Juoniai Family
Gintas Juoniai and his wife, Ina, are a Lithuanian homeschooling family, but they currently reside in Norway.
Both Gintas and Ina trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior as young adults and they now have a family of four children (two boys and two girls) ranging in age from 8 months to 8 years old.
When their first daughter was born 8 years ago, Gintas and Ina felt strongly that they should take full responsibility for this precious gift from the Lord. So instead of enrolling her in an institution for school, the Juoniais kept their daughter at home, along with the children that followed. After several years of home educating alone, the family met Curtis and Sandra Lovelace, who came alongside them with love and encouragement. (Contact the Lovelaces at info@LifeworkForum.org and www.lifeworkforum.org.)
The Juoniais’ Homeschool Philosophy’Family Discipleship and Academic Excellence
Gintas and Ina homeschool because they believe it is best for their children:
Pioneering the Movement
Gintas and Ina’s desire is to love the Lord with all of their hearts and souls and strength, to raise their children for God’s glory and His Kingdom, and to be His faithful servants and walk His path of truth each and every day. Not only do they strive for this in their own family, but they also long to share God’s plan for the family and homeschooling with others. To this end, they have started the Lithuanian Homeschool Association ‘eimos mokykl? namuose draugija, which they are publicizing through www.smnd.lt.
Although they are only one of two known Lithuanian homeschooling families, Gintas and Ina are persevering, and they continue to reach out to other European families. One of their ultimate goals is to form a coalition of Christian homeschooling families in Europe.
Earlier in 2008, Lifework Forum, run by Curtis and Sandra Lovelace, held a homeschool conference at Gintas and Ina’s home. Nationals from Norway, Lithuania, Finland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Jamaica (via England), Cambodia, and the USA participated.
Lithuania’s Homeschooling Legal Climate
The Constitution of the Lithuanian Republic states that primary and secondary education is free until age 16, that everyone has a right to an education, and that education is compulsory. School attendance is mandatory for children ages 7 to 16. There is no state religion in Lithuania; the school system is secular.
Lithuania’s Law on Education guarantees a parent’s right to choose an educational institution for his or her children. However, parents must comply with local school requirements to homeschool. The law allows homeschooling (referred to as ’self-education’ or ‘independent studies’) as long as parents generally follow the state curriculum and have children examined by local school officials once or twice per year.
Children wishing to be homeschooled must be listed with a local state or private school, must sign a contract with that school (parents sign on behalf of the child until he or she is 14), and apply for permission to be homeschooled.
Then it is up to the school authorities to establish and oversee the order. There is a so-called ‘order of independent studies’ in which it is stated that ‘independent studies for a learner can be organized only by the school which has an educational program chosen by the learner.’ Usually this order is applied to gifted children and only in some schools, so local schools are not always aware of the provision.
The Law of Education states: ‘Parents (foster parents, guardians) must send their children who have reached the age of 6-7 to school,’ and ‘A learner has the right according to his abilities and needs, to study at school or independently and attain an education level and qualification that meets state standards, to study according to an individual program of studies, to study in a psychologically, emotionally and physically safe environment based on mutual respect, to have a learning workload and a workplace that conform to health (hygiene) requirements.’
Article 18 states this about self-education: ‘The purpose of self-education is to provide an individual with possibilities for continuous independent learning supported by the surrounding information space (libraries, media, Internet, museums, etc.) and life experience gained from other persons,’ and, ‘A person’s competence acquired by way of self-education may be recognized as being a part of a formal education program or a qualification as prescribed by the government or its authorized institution.’
The number of Lithuanian children who are being homeschooled is not clear because children being taught at home are registered at a local school and counted as a ‘normal case.’ The statistics that are available indicate that homeschooling may be gaining popularity:
A Prayer for Europe
Article 2 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights states: ‘No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching in conformity with their own religions and philosophical convictions.’
Gintas and Ina’s prayer is that this article will not disappear or be lost in long corridors of bureaucracy and wrong interpretations. They ask that we keep Europe in our prayers, specifically that families will have enough strength to keep Gods commandments:
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (NIV)
You can provide financial support to the homeschooling movement in countries like Lithuania by donating to the Home School Foundation’s International Homeschooling Fund.
Juoniai Family Photo Credit: Lifework Forum.
Europe Map Credit: San Jose, Wikipedia. Image coloring and appearance modified and arrow added. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this map under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU Free Documentation License“. The map has been created with the Generic Mapping Tools: http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/ using one or more of these public domain datasets for the relief: ETOPO2 (topography/bathymetry): http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/global/global.html, GLOBE (topography): http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/topo/globe.html, SRTM (topography): http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/
Katherine Loop @ January 28, 2009 | International Homeschooling | Comments (0)
Taiwan: Homeschooling Movement on the Rise
In September of 2008, ten international homeschool leaders joined HSLDA’s annual National Homeschool Leadership Conference. The following is an update from Mrs. Chuo-chuin Fan, who founded and now helps run the Mujen Chinese Christian Home Educators’ Association. This organization is the largest multi-denominational homeschool support group in Taiwan, has more than 270 homeschooling families, and is operated mainly by volunteers. This update introduces Chuo-chuin, recounts the birth of her homeschool organization, and describes the present and future of Taiwanese home education.
Note: If you’d like to learn more about Taiwan or share some interesting facts with your children, check out the CIA’s World Factbook.
Meet Chuo-chuin
Chuo-chuin Fan is a pioneer in the homeschooling movement in Taiwan. She has home educated her own children for years, and they are currently 23, 20, 15, and 13. The oldest just graduated from college, and the second is a student at Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia. Though she is still homeschooling her youngest two children, Chuo-chuin spends much of her time building home education resources for families in Chinese countries.
Thirty years ago, Chuo-chuin and her husband moved to the United States from Taiwan to attend graduate school. At about the same time, Chuo-chuin became a Christian.
As Chuo-chuin furthered her education in both academics and Scripture, she and her husband were convinced that they should homeschool their own children. Using techniques learned at the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential in Philadelphia, various resources, and the Bible as their first and utmost textbook, Chuo-chuin and her husband began teaching their children at very young ages.
Building a Foundation During the Early Years
The family lived in Richardson, Texas, during their early homeschooling years, where they spent a total of 7 years. As the only Taiwanese family in the area and brand new at homeschooling, they relied on the generous support and encouragement from several local families.
Chuo-chuin will never forget one of those mothers’ selflessness in driving her daughter to spend time with Chuo-chuin’s daughter, Katherine. Katherine was the Fans’ firstborn and the only Chinese girl in their support group, and the friendship helped alleviate her loneliness. This gesture was a huge encouragement to the whole family and set an example for them to model to other families in later years.
Back to Taiwan
Thirteen years ago, Chuo-chuin’s father was diagnosed with a brain tumor, so the family quickly decided to move back to Taiwan to be with him. The Lord was gracious and granted him another 7 years of life, and he eventually accepted Christ as his personal Savior six months before he left this world to be with the Lord.
After Chuo-chuin and her family moved back to Taiwan, some Taiwanese parents became interested in the Fans’ educational methods. At the same time, the Lord miraculously opened the door and legalized homeschooling in Taiwan, even before Chuo-chuin and her husband had a chance to lobby for it. In September 1999, Chris Klicka of HSLDA was very helpful in providing model legislation and law summaries from the States that were used as basis for proposals for subsequent regulatory policy.
On September 6, 1998, the Fans invited a few friends over to share their story. The invitation quickly spread by word of mouth, and over 20 families came that day. This was the birth of the Chinese Christian Home Educators Association (in Taiwan).
Homeschooling in Taiwan Grows
For the past 10 years, the Fans’ organization has become the channel between the government and the homeschooling movement. They have organized various support groups and book fairs, published newsletters, designed teaching material for brain-injured children, held Bible Camps, Chinese Literature Camps, and Youth Camps, and appealed cases on behalf of members and even non-members. The culmination of all the outreach efforts was their first youth team sent to help the Taiwanese aboriginal children with their schoolwork last summer. The team won the hearts of those children as well as those of their parents.
Taiwan is the size of New Jersey or Israel but has the population of Australia (approximately 22 million). Currently, the compulsory school attendance law only applies to students up to the 9th grade in Taiwan. There are about 1,200 elementary and middle school-aged children receiving education at home this year and half of those 1,200 students belong to the homeschool association.
In the past, China and Hong Kong have asked the Chinese Christian Home Educators Association to help with their countries’ homeschool movements. The Taiwanese homeschoolers ask for our prayers as they seek to assist these countries as their brothers and sisters in Christ. Their hope is that as the homeschool movement advances there, a spiritual revival will soon follow.
For more information about homeschooling in Taiwan, see www.hslda.org/hs/international/Taiwan.
You can provide financial support to the homeschooling movement in Taiwan by donating to the Home School Foundation’s International Homeschooling Fund. For more information, go to www.homeschoolfoundation.org/funds/international.asp.
Picture Credits: Picture of Taiwan is from the CIA’s World Factbook, courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin. Picture of the Siouguluan River in Taiwan, Hualien is by prattflora, and shared on wikipedia.org.
Katherine Loop @ January 7, 2009 | International Homeschooling | Comments (0)
South Korea: Homeschooling Prospers by Families Helping Families
In September of 2008, ten homeschool leaders from around the world attended HSLDA’s annual National Homeschool Leadership Conference. The following is an update from Bernie and Linda Beall, who work through Family Mission International (FMI) to assist South Korean homeschoolers. This update highlights two South Korean homeschooling families, describes FMI and the Bealls’ goals, and summarizes the legal climate of homeschooling there.
Bernie and Linda Beall, veteran homeschoolers, serve with Family Mission International (FMI). For the past five years, their mission team has been working to assist the development of the South Korean homeschool movement. The following two stories demonstrate the impact that the Bealls’ ministry is having and how the homeschooling movement is affecting Christian families in this country.
Ministry Encourages Families to Homeschool
Five years ago, Pastor Kim Won Tae and his family attended one of FMI’s first homeschool conferences. At the conference, the mission team challenged parents to take responsibility for the discipleship of their children. Pastor Kim and his wife became convinced that God wanted them to withdraw their children from a high-quality school where they were already academically excelling and bring them home to focus on spiritual and character development. The family has been delighted with the results. Though very few curriculum and supporting resources were available when they began, the family has watched God bless their act of faith. Because of the excellent results Pastor Kim and his wife saw in their children, they began encouraging other families to homeschool. Pastor Kim’s church now has a thriving homeschool academy, which currently supports approximately 50 homeschooling families.
The Excellence of Homeschool Worldview Curriculum
The second story is about Pastor Lee Je Hun. Pastor Lee began homeschooling three years ago and quickly saw this as not only a new education program for his children, but also as a ministry calling for himself. As he began to examine Christian worldview-based curriculum from America that the Bealls had provided, he was astounded by the depth of these teachings. He remarked, “What middle school and high school students are studying in these homeschool curriculum surpasses what theological education I received in seminary.” With his wife and two children, Pastor Lee has dedicated himself to assisting their church of 10,000 people with becoming a “model church” with the goal of supporting and developing thousands of homeschool families across the nation.
FMI’s Homeschooling Ministry – American Homeschool Families Helping Korean Families
One of FMI’s goals is to support the development of homeschooling in South Korea by connecting American homeschoolers to Korean homeschoolers. The Bealls have helped several American families move to South Korea, and they spend an extended period of time discipling South Korean families through weekly co-op and training meetings. They also help South Korean families travel to America for home-stay experiences and are encouraging families and homeschool graduates to help with tutoring Korean students through an online program called Homeschool Friend.
Legal Climate
Currently, homeschooling is not technically permitted by law in South Koreabut neither is it prohibited!
Homeschoolers have been able to peacefully remove their children from public school without any government intervention. The South Korean government’s new 2008 administration has announced plans to legalize homeschooling by 2010. Despite this good news, it is not yet clear what restrictions and requirements might be attached to this legalization. Chris Klicka of HSLDA plans to provide model legislation and to assist the process.
The current Christian homeschool population is estimated to exceed 1,000 families; the total homeschool population is about double that number.
For more information about homeschooling in South Korea, see www.hslda.org/hs/international/SouthKorea.
You can provide financial support to the homeschooling movement in South Korea by donating to the Home School Foundation’s International Homeschooling Fund. For more information, go to http://www.homeschoolfoundation.org/funds/international.asp.
Katherine Loop @ December 8, 2008 | International Homeschooling | Comments (0)
International Homeschooling Report 2: Mexico, Homeschooling Ministry Gives Hope to Families
Note from HEAV: Our thanks to HSLDA for forwarding this report to us.
In September of 2008, ten international homeschool leaders joined HSLDA’s annual National Homeschool Leadership Conference. The following is taken from Mike Richardson’s presentation at the conference and describes his family’s ministry though Vida Nueva Ministries.
From Candidate for State Legislature to Homeschool Dad
In the mid-1980s, Mike Richardson ran for the Georgia House of Representatives. During his campaign, a small group of homeschool families invited him to speak to them. Through that contact, Mike became close friends with Daniel, a local high school teacher and homeschool father.
Daniel and his family had a tremendous impact on the Richardsons. It was through Daniel’s teachings as well as his example in daily life that Mike and his wife Pam decided to begin homeschooling their three children in 1986. (Seven of the Richardsons’ ten children are still at home.)
Mike credits Daniel for his accomplishments in the Spanish-speaking world:
“The things that I learned from “sitting at Daniel’s feet” have become the basis for any success that we have had in our ministry to Spanish-speaking families throughout the world. Daniel, not Pam and I, is the one who truly deserves the praise for the homeschool work throughout Latin America. His faithfulness in mentoring one person has brought many rewards in the kingdom of God.”
Ministering to the Spanish Speaking World from Mexico
Mike and Pam Richardson have lived in Mexico for the past fourteen years and have orchestrated a national homeschool conference in Saltillo. Seven years ago, they began a second homeschool conference near Mexico City. In 2008, the conferences had a combined attendance of nearly 3,000 people, from 22 of the 32 Mexican states as well as several other countries.
Richardson will tape each speaker and have the speeches transcribed, translated, and re-taped. These tapes are sent free of charge to families throughout Mexico who request them. He is also involved in providing translations of several books on home education including books by Gregg Harris, Mike Farris, and Chris Klicka.
Since 1996, the Richardsons have published a bi-monthly Spanish homeschool magazine, “El Hogar Educador,” which currently ministers to 4,500 families in 32 countries. The newsletter offers many tips on homeschooling and raising a Christian family.
The Vida Nueva Ministries Gives Hope to the Poor
The admission to the homeschool conferences and the newsletter are free, so that the expense will not discourage many families who have very little money.
“Vida Nueva Ministries has changed the lives of hundreds of families, giving them hope for the future for their children,” says HSLDA Senior Counsel Christopher Klicka. Recalling his past experience as a speaker at the Saltillo conference he continued, “Families came to me with tears and heartfelt thanks for Mike Richardson’s homeschool ministry. They testified to how their children were being blessed. Without the Richardsons’ providing free registration at conferences, free tapes, and a free home education newsletter, homeschooling would be an impossibility for these families.”
In the past, HSLDA has supported the El Hogar Educador by providing them a printing press to meet their needs in the area of publishing a Spanish newsletter and Spanish books.
Richardson’s El Hogar Educador is fulfilling his two-fold goal for the ministry: serving as a conduit for the gospel, and supporting homeschool families. Homeschooling is providing an answer to the poor education in Mexico and is enabling families to work together.
Mexican Legal Homeschooling Climate
Mexico is the second largest Spanish-speaking country in the worldsecond only to California. In Mexico, parents can homeschool their children without any significant interference from the governing authorities, and they praise the Lord for His blessing in this area!
Not Without Challenges
Despite the positive homeschooling climate in Latin America, leading the homeschool movement in Mexico has not been without its challenges. The past year has been very challenging for the Richardson family and their ministry. They have passed through many highs and lowstragedies and triumphsand these ordeals have truly been the most mentally and spiritually challenging trials of their lives.
However, the Richardsons desire to not live a mediocre lifebut to live life to the fullest, serving God with their whole hearts. They appreciate your continuing prayers for their ministry and family as they seek God’s guidance and direction.
For more information about homeschooling in Mexico, see www.hslda.org/hs/international/Mexico.
You can provide financial support to the homeschooling movement in Mexico by donating to the Home School Foundation’s International Homeschooling Fund. For more information, go to http://www.homeschoolfoundation.org/funds/international.asp.
Katherine Loop @ December 3, 2008 | International Homeschooling | Comments (0)
International Homeschooling Report 1: Australia
Note from HEAV: Our thanks to HSLDA for forwarding this report to us, and to wikipedia.org for the pictures! We hope you have fun exploring the land “Down Under” with your children, and learning about how parents on the other side of the globe are being called to raise their children at home. Be sure to leave a comment to let us know what you learned!
In September of 2008, ten international homeschool leaders joined HSLDA’s annual National Homeschool Leadership Conference. The following is an update from Terry Harding, who presented his work with the Australian Christian Academy at the conference. This update describes the history, current practice and legal climate, and projected future of homeschooling in Australia.
History of Education in Australia
Australia is a nation of 22 million people. It covers a land area equivalent to the USA. The Australian indigenous people inhabited the continent prior to English settlement in 1788.
The first formal education in Australia commenced in 1788 in three homes. Later, education became the domain of the Christian church, with the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Presbyterian churches seeking to establish their denominational education systems. From 1872 to the 1880s, the governments of what are now the 6 Australian States established “compulsory, free and secular” Education Acts, and since then, governments and government schooling has grown to become the dominant factor in Australian education.
Reasons for Homeschooling
With the rise of an aggressive atheism on the Australian educational landscape in the 1960s-1980s, home education has experienced a significant resurgence. Research (Harding, 1997) has demonstrated that parents have chosen to educate their children at home for the following reasons: (i) religious reasons; (ii) parenting reasons, in that parents wanted to create close bonds with their children; (iii) social reasons, as parents wanted to promote positive socialization in their children’s lives; (iv) academic reasons, as parents sought to secure their children’s academic success; (v) practical reasons where private schooling was unattainable, or for traveling families; and (vi) for the special educational or health needs of children, which would be best met by home education.
Home Education in Practice
Australian home educators choose one of three methods of home education (Barratt-Peacock, 1997; Harding, 2006a, Thomas, 1998). They can use a structured program similar to what is used in schools or they use an eclectic approach, accessing books and courses from a variety of sources or some use a natural learning/unschooling approach, with little formal structure. The key factor common to each method is that parents are practicing their chosen form of education with their own children, in their own homes.
Australian home educators practice either home schooling, where the education is the total responsibility of the parents, with little or no structured outside help; or government or nongovernment distance education, where a structured program is provided to the family, with some teacher assistance provided on a for-fee basis.
It is difficult to determine the numbers of home educated children in Australia, and estimates range from 20,000 to 60,000 children. Governments tend to underestimate the numbers, whilst some home educators seem to take the opposite approach.
The Australian Christian Academy was the first official home schooling support institution appearing on the modern Australian home schooling terrain. Commencing from six families in October 1982, it now supports over 4,000 children and their families, and remains the largest quantifiable home education group in Australia, supporting both home school and distance education families.
Legal Climate
Home education has flourished during the 1970s to the present, despite oppressive legislation and practices from the governments of all 6 states and 2 territories. These laws usually require home schooled children to be registered and monitored by the state. While many families are happy to comply with such laws, many others have practiced civil disobedience with respect to home schooling laws. In Queensland, for example, it was estimated (Queensland Government, 2003) that 85% of home educators did not comply with State requirements of registration and monitoring of students. Despite these draconian laws, most Australian home educators are practicing home education in freedom in remote areas, regional towns and in suburban and urban centres.
Moving Forward
Research (Harding, 2006b) has demonstrated that home educated graduates are gaining entrance into universities and colleges and that, as adults, they are expressing satisfaction with their childhood educational experiences.
Home education in Australia is still a growing phenomenon. It is creating its own infrastructure with all states having their own official networks. In 2007, the first National Home Education Conference was held in all capital cities. Based on the growth of Australian home education, the success of its graduates and the establishment of good support networks, one could easily expect Australian home education to continue to flourish well into the 21st century.
As a leader in the Australian homeschooling movement, Terry Harding personally believes that the modern home education movement is God’s way of restoring people to the power of family and deepened relationships, in an era when many have strayed from what it means to be human.
References
Barratt-Peacock, J. (1997). The why and how of Australian home education. Unpublished doctoral thesis, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria.
Harding, T.J.A. (1997). Why AustralianChristianAcademy families in Queensland choose to home school: Implications for policy development. Unpublished thesis, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland.
Harding, T. J. A. (2006a). A study of Victorian home educators: Home school law reform. Paper presented at the Home Education Symposium: “Feel at Home with Education”, The Camberwell Centre, Melbourne, Australia.
Harding, T. J. A. (2006b). Australian Christian Academy graduates and tertiary entrance: A survey of post schooling study pathways of 438 home educated graduates. Brisbane, Australian Christian Academy.
Harding, T. J. A., & Farrell, A. (2003). Home schooling and legislated education. Australian and New Zealand Educational Law Association, 8(1&2), 125-133.
McColl, A. (2005). Home schooling: The graduates speak. Unpublished Masters Dissertation, Christian Heritage College, Brisbane.
Queensland Government, (2003). HomeSchool Review, Brisbane: Education Queensland.
Thomas, A. (1998). Educating children at home. London: Cassell Education.
For more information about homeschooling in Australia, see www.hslda.org/hs/international/Australia.
You can provide financial support to the homeschooling movement in Australia by donating to the Home School Foundation’s International Homeschooling Fund. For more information, go to www.homeschoolfoundation.org/funds/international.asp.
Katherine Loop @ November 26, 2008 | International Homeschooling | Comments (0)