Exceptions to the Rules

There are now at least four families who we know relatively well whose children, despite the fact that they are given the option of home educating, choose to go either to school or college. This can be a difficult one for parents naturally in favour of HE, but for anyone who ascribes to the idea of the superiority of autonomously driven education, it is the right to assist one's child to follow through on his educational choices.

It so happens that all of these children are thriving in school/college. Perhaps this may in part be attributed to the fact that all of these parents are exceptionally skilled at offering remedial theories. One mother, of whom I stand in awe, regularly corrects teacher errors, whether these be ethical, logical, category errors, misnomers, misspellings, the sad list goes on; but of course, the success of these children may also be due to do with the fact that they have made a free choice to be in school, are interested in learning what they are learning, and being familiar with making important free choices, are able to treat others well.

The same mother also reports that the two children in her child's class who are given the option not to be in school are the ones who are most obviously thriving there in every way, socially, academically, emotionally and in physical ability. I guess this could be a coincidence...