Otherways: Home Education Network

Alternative title – “Am I doing the right thing?”
Home-education – the great escape

So, you’ve decided to home-educate your children, you’re thinking about doing it, or just interested in the subject. I won’t go into numerous reasons why I think/know it is the right decision for the majority of children, but most parents making this large step on the journey of life have many doubts about this route. After all, if most parents still decide to send their children to school, surely it must be the best option around, isn’t it? NO! There are many aspects of modern life where just because the majority of people do it, it doesn’t mean it is right or the best option. Hopefully I can open-up some minds and show them that opting for this minority (at present) style of education (I prefer to call it ‘living’) benefits our children, families, lifestyle and, ultimately, society as a whole.

This article is an amalgamation of thoughts and opinions that I’ve accumulated over the years, partly as a result of my own experiences as a home-educating father, but also from questions I am regularly asked in the street, in the local shop, in the library, on the telephone, by family, work colleagues, etc. I have often been asked “How do I…?”, “What about…?”, “I’m worried about…”, “Is it true that…?” with respect to home-educating. I quite enjoy answering these questions, “spreading the gospel” and hopefully at the same time enlighten and “educate” whoever I am talking to. …

By Fred McArdle, West Brunswick
The school system is designed to produce citizens, not individual thinkers, despite the rhetoric of most educational authorities.
If we are to make sense of our society, what we need are thinkers who [...]