Homeschooling, education at home

He homeschooling, also known as family education, is an educational option that more and more families around the world are choosing. The parents who bet on it They decide to educate their children outside of educational institutions, both public and private..

The range of reasons why parents decide to educate their children at home, in academies with external support or in nature is wide. Among them, being in disagreement with the traditional teaching model that is offered in the educational system, betting on an innovative form of learning.

A common question when we talk about this type of education is: do children reach an adequate educational level? And don’t they need other children their age to also develop their social side? It depends a lot on the parents and the way they focus the content. There is the case of parents who follow a calendar similar to that offered in schools, so the pace that children follow is the same as those who are in school.

Many parents practice homeschooling because they are not convinced by the traditional teaching model of the educational system.

What is Homeschooling?

Homeschooling is the English name of the option of homeschooling. This method has been installed for years in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where in addition to having an estimable percentage of followers, it is adequately legislated. In the case of Spain, current legislation establishes that education must be exercised in approved centers, being mandatory up to the age of 16, although the law does not explicitly prohibit homeschooling.

“If a parent decides to educate their child at home, they must submit to a plan given by the Ministry of Education, which goes against the very essence of the homeschooling, where there is no plan, only studies. It is not about moving the school as we know it at home, but rather about unschooling education,” explains psychologist Peter Szil.

Supporters of home education rely on the idea that with individual education it is easier to implement teaching methods that adapt to the best way students learn.

“The objective of unschooling is to prevent cognitive burnout, that is, preventing the child from allowing his or her own body to guide him or her to what he or she really needs. In the end, what happens is that his natural appetite for knowledge is killed when he is forced to swallow too many things without him feeling truly hungry,” says Szil.

Society’s expectations and judgment

Perhaps the greatest risk for children homeschoolers not if their parents teach them to add and subtract a year later than the rest of the children their age, but the misunderstanding that exists in society for this type of education. The most normal thing when we hear about homeschooling is that the first reaction is to criticize it, but let’s reflect… Are all students who study in a formal educational system successful?

The detractors of homeschooling They criticize that this system is based on ideological bases, that while promoting a lifestyle, they can form individuals not adapted to the system. On the contrary, families who have chosen to educate their children at home consider that this education model helps children to be more autonomous or independent with respect to the general model of thinking.

Take into account the interest of children

Whether at home or at school, the primary and essential thing is take into account the children’s needs and desiressince they are the ones who will build their future and make the decisions that will mark their lives.

So that education is equal and of quality for all, whether in a classroom or at home, it is necessary to allow children to choose their teaching and learning path, and provide them with the possibility of obtaining an academic certificate and an opportunity to join the formal education system and, of course, the labor system.

Teaching parents?

For Peter Szil, Any parent, as long as they know how to read and the basics of mathematics, can now opt for the homeschooling. “A father does not need to be a doctor to guide a child. We must keep in mind that what is essential is learning, rather than teaching,” says the professional. But not everyone agrees with the psychologist.

On the contrary, Javier Carrascal from ANPE states that: “home education also presents multiple drawbacks. Through organized, systematic and meaningful learning, the information the student receives is transformed into knowledge, and that can only be achieved in the classroom. That’s why, The figure of the teacher has been, is and will be irreplaceable”.

Most accepted methods

Not all homeschool systems are the same. Rather, each family adopts the system that best suits their children and the family dynamic in general.

The methods that have the most acceptance for educating at home are homeschooling and the unschooling which are differentiated by:

Homeshooling: You educate at home, but following the traditional planning and curriculum.Unschooling: or total denial of the traditional school. It arises as a consequence of the educational failure of the seventies in the United States. It consists of educating without content or curriculum, allowing the student himself to learn guided by his natural curiosity.

Homeschooling follows the traditional curriculum.

What are your objectives and what goals have you achieved recently?

He homeschooling It is an alternative to traditional education. Recently, there has been great interest among mothers and fathers in discovering alternative educational systems that meet the learning needs of their children.

In this search for the diversification of education, innovative pedagogies come to break the traditional educational paradigmto create the concept of a new school that offers new and better alternatives to its students.

The wide range of possibilities that can be accessed today includes self-directed education spaces, Waldorf pedagogy, the Montessori method, Reggio Emilia pedagogy, 3000 pedagogy, nature schools, popular high schools, among others.

These unconventional educational alternatives, whether due to their pedagogical practices or their management model, have been gaining strength in recent decades and it seems that they are here to stay.

You might be interested…