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The Trend to Home Schooling
Homeschooling is on the rise, not just in the USA, as this article illustrates, but here in Australia too.
There were 26,013 homeschooling children registered in Australia in 2020, but many children are not registered – and policing this would be a challenge.
Homeschooling is a legal, but not a traditional practice, but over the last few years, it has become the fastest-growing mainstream education in the US and other nations around the world.
In Australia, this number does not include distance education students, as they are following the school system online.
Covid and the lockdowns have seen a 20% increase in homeschooling applications in NSW.
Why Homeschooling?
Homeschooling is not the first choice for many parents, but when children are suffering from the pressure, stress and trauma of schooling, often due to learning difficulties or special needs, parents may turn to homeschooling as an alternative.
It becomes the responsibility of the parent to teach the key subjects of:
- English
- Maths
- Science and Technology
- H.R. (history, geography etc)
- Creative / Practical Arts
- Personal Development (Physical Education etc)
Languages: optional
So when school doesn’t work for a child – and for many children with learning problems school is not a safe place – parents, who are dissatisfied with the school’s achievement, might opt to homeschool.
In the case of special needs, NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority) allows for adoption of the approved curriculum to suit the needs of a child. However, NESA doesn’t give a guideline on how that may work in a theoretical or a practical way.
Homeschooling Dyslexic Children
The question of how to teach a child who is dyslexic, ADD/ADHD, dyspraxic or on the autistic spectrum, has not been answered for a mother who takes on that huge job.
The failure to get a roadmap to a successful academic outcome for their child is causing most parents to not go down the homeschooling journey.
Without doubt, most parents are able to facilitate a rich learning environment that supplies their child with the practical requirements they need in life – but what if they fail to help their child reach the literacy and numeracy milestones – or even the most basic needs in that area?
Which choice creates more opportunities and solutions and less harm?
The One Year School is working on a solution to become the link between the two options, becoming the school between schools, in a physical centre.
Can we upgrade a student’s literacy and numeracy to a significant extent within one or two months, in a small group environment?
Taking a child out of school, where they have stopped learning until they can actually read, write, spell and understand maths, should not be a huge problem.
What if we add the most significant dyslexia correction and numeracy program in the morning and leave the afternoon for passion projects that support what we have learned before lunch?
Can they illustrate and/or write a book?
Would they like to create a little movie, or music video cartoon?
Would they prefer to research and do a project on their favourite sport or movie star?
I am currently training tutors (for free) for this passion project of mine with the goal of:
- Reigniting the passion for teachers to facilitate students they couldn’t reach with traditional teaching methods, changing lives.
- Creating a nourishing environment for these brilliant dyslexic minds to bloom and learn effectively, gaining confidence and academic abilities they didn’t know how to develop
- Helping parents to find the answers that they may not have found in schools or at the prospect of homeschooling.
- Becoming a link between two schooling options, a support for schools that fail to help their dyslexic students, or a link for homeschooling parents to help their child thrive at home.
The project is in the pipeline and I will keep you updated with progress and any new development.