One step forward

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2 responses to “One step forward”

1. 

   Debbie

   31 January 2013

   “The holy grail of home ed is autonomous child led learning” – is it? It certainly works for some families, but I’d say the holy grail of home ed is to have children who are learning according to their ages, abilities and aptitudes. *That* certainly doesn’t go on in school!
   I don’t think it matters a jot whether there is a structure, a timetable, outside tutors, or next to nothing planned for education, so long as learning takes place. If a child has specific goals (like Big’s GCSE maths, for example) then it makes sense to work out a way to facilitate that, but if the child has no idea which way they want to go, asking them to map out how they’re going to get there won’t work, will it?
   I think my role as a home educating parent is to provide my kids with plenty of opportunities, so that they can discover what they enjoy, and/or what they are good at. I often push them in directions they don’t particularly like, either because I can see a talent they haven’t noticed yet, or because I can see a benefit which they can’t. (For example, all my children do some form of music theory, because when I learned clarinet as a teenager, I was good at playing but got held up big times in my gradings because I didn’t have a clue about theory, and you have to have grade 5 theory before you can do higher practical grades. I don’t want them to be in the same position as me, so I make sure their music theory knowledge is on a par with their practical music skills.)
   My biggest fear is that by choosing to home ed I will have closed a door for one of my children to access something they really wanted to do…

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2. 

   Ross Mountney

   1 February 2013

   I think it probably describes the Home Ed in most houses and the best approach there is to education – flexibility!

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