About Home Education

“(As) a father of eight and grandfather of twenty-two, I have had ample opportunities to experience parenting in action, and I sense that what today’s parents lack most is not expertise or ideas, but daring. They simply lack the courage to put their children first.” Johann C Arnold ~ Endangered. Your Child in a Hostile World

The definition of homeschooling

1) HS’ing is a legitimate educational alternative (that unfortunately very few people are aware of) that is protected in the South African constitution. By legal definition it is a PARENT teaching his or her OWN children in the safety and comfort of their own home (at their own expense).

2) I like to call homeschooling “Purposeful Parenting” as it involves the mentoring & nurturing of your child as a whole: Spirit, soul (will, intellect, emotions) and body (the intellect makes up only one fifth of your child!) and starts at birth!

The aim of homeschooling

1) To prepare your child for LIFE (not an exam)!

2) To give your child all the skills, character traits and knowledge he needs to be a successful (successful = doing what you enjoy & were created to do), happy (happy = having good self esteem) fulfilled adult, spouse (you’re raising someones wife/husband), parent and citizen (with the ability to question, reason, think critically & independently.

3) To instill a lifelong love for learning (and good books!) "Education is not the filling of a bucket,but the lighting of a fire" ~ WB Yeats

The origin of homeschooling

1) Homeschooling has always been around, it’s not a brand new concept!!

2) In Bible times people homeschooled! See God’s instructions to Moses (Deut 22) and Hannah that took Samuel to Eli, even Jesus didn’t send his disciples to a Theological Seminary!

3) In the Medieval times people homeschooled!

4) In the Victorian times people homeschooled!

5) The early American Pioneers homeschooled and so did the South Africans!

6) Institutionalized learning started with the Industrial Revolution because it freed the parents to work in factories and it prepared the children for mindless mass labour!

7) The “powers that be” saw the benefit of institutionalized learning (it boosts the economy if both parents are economically active & it gives the state control over future generations thinking!) therefore it was made compulsory in a few countries!

Why homeschooling works

“All truth passes through three levels: First it is ridiculed, Second it is violently opposed, Third it is accepted to be self-evident.” ~ Shakespeare

1) In every study on the performance of home schoolers it has been found that they have performed at least the same as institutionalised learners, but in general substantially better. This could be ascribed to the combination of maximal parental involvement with minimal class size.

2) Curricula can be chosen (or altered) according to a child’s learning style.

3) One-to-one tutoring is far superior to 7 minutes personal classroom interaction. High parental involvement always leads to success.

4) Self-paced learning is possible. True learning takes place when a child’s interests are followed

Why homeschooling sometimes appears to fail

1) Parents are not in agreement (the mother carries all responsibility & has no support only unfair expectations from her spouse)

2) God’s order is not established in the home (parents have surrendered their authority and the children are in charge)

3) Curricula is chosen to suit a parent (to alleviate the parent's insecurity) & not the child

4) Homeschooling is not given pre-eminence in the home (lack of investment of time and attention, mom is juggling too many balls)

5) The vision and goals are not clear

6) It is seen soley as an academic exercise at most (character building & skills development is lacking)