There was a very interesting discussion of the various types of homeschooling on Radio National’s Background Briefing this morning: Opting Out and Staying at Home. The subject goes to the heart of the issue of individual freedom versus state control, and there are some very tricky questions. For example, should parents be allowed to homeschool their children because they have religious objections to parts of the curriculum? Some of the comments on the program web page are also quite enlightening, such as the following one from Gordon:
As teachers in the public school system my wife and myself toyed with the idea of home schooing for our single child. Instead we opted to send her to a Catholic school although we are both atheists.
We figured it was more important for our daughter to have a social background but still within a disciplined environment hence the Catholic school which was very successful.
Our disgust with the public school system, from our working experiences up and down the east coast, prompted us to move outside.
The system is a mess, no discipline, no proper curricula, leadership granted according to old union loyalties rather than talent, and a heavy influence from politically correct elements amongst the teaching staff.
I’m not surprised to see the rise of home schooling. Good luck to them.
Simon Kidd 