Home Educators Briefing Document on the CSF Bill 2009

With many thanks to the authors, here is an extremely helpful briefing regarding the Children, Schools and Families Bill 2009,  which was intended:

"to help inform and assist MPs, Peers and their assistants to understand fully the impact upon Elective Home Educators and their children of the Children, Schools and Families Bill 2009 should it enter into statute in its current form."

"It is compiled and presented by a number of people with independent skills and expertise. They also have between them over 50 years of personal home educating experience."

Tania Berlow's work, also summarised here, can be found from page 49.  A even simpler summary of the figures is here.

New Look HE UK

HE UK updated and sparkly.

What most autonomous educators already know

...that late reading isn't a disadvantage.

Ken's at it again!

Lovely! And he will mention autonomous education soon, am quite sure of it.

First Australia, next the UK?

Queensland dad says the state doesn't know best.

On-line Education

...disrupting traditional models and not a moment too soon!

News from Lord Lucas

...here.

Ken Robinson's 2010 TED talk

...just in case you haven't seen it yet.

Still thinking about Autonomous Education!

I need a motivational self-talk just now, and what better way to re-energise myself (other than some balmy runs in the country, and some lovely friends), than to think about the theories of AE! This set of theories means the most to me in the whole wide world. They are beautiful in the way that the writings of great physicists are. They makes sense. They hang together, they fit the data, and they work and at times like this, when I could be so sad, it is my greatest consolation.

Elsewhere, (guess where, folks!), my attention has been drawn to the problem of knowing just exactly when one is coercing one's child and when one isn't. I mean, this can actually be a difficult problem, I think.

Take a child whose parent has offered an over-arching theory which makes sense to the child, but which results in the child adopting plenty of self-coercive theories in order to fulfill the over-arching theory with which she agrees. The parent doesn't have to do the coercion as the child will be doing it for themselves, so to speak.

Of course, this isn't AE, if one takes the definition of AE to be that a person is enacting the theory that is active in the mind (as opposed to being forced, or in this case, forcing themselves) to enact a theory that is not active...ie: is coerced. Setting an over-arching plan for the child, and leaving the child to do the rest: this is not AE, but a slow absconding with the being of another person.

How can one prevent such a scenario one wonders? Well, am not sure that the following suggestions are 100% reliable, but the parent can't do much more than to stick to these principles:

(Please don't think am being horribly preachy just here. This is really for me, a reminder and a pep talk., so to myself, I say....)

• I won't have an over-arching plan for the children in my life
  
• I'll make sure the theories I offer really are tentative...if they are good, the children will grok this
  
• I'll be prepared to change my preferences
• I'll help the child solve his problems so that he isn't subject to subtle self-coercion along the way, even if it is to fulfill his grand plan. (Coercion is never useful).
  
• And of course, we'll seek common preferences...we'll go wild, be creative, seek other solutions we never dreamt possible.
  

How to tell if this is panning out? If my children can happily tell you they have lost interest in something, (frick, do they do this!) then I do probably have it right!

The Essential Problem HEors have with LAs

... is neatly encapsulated here.

Proposed new guidance?

Everyone PLEASE NOTE: Gill has the answer to the conflicts that current education law presents.

Christian Homeschooling Org is meeting with the DCSF

...on Wed 29th. Tech has the details.

Home Educators = Neanderthal parents...

Well almost, insofar as many of them parent this way.

Also in the Mail and the Telegragh.

Home Education and Aspergers

A totally credible article about the misery experienced by some children at school and the salvation that can be achieved through home education.

Capita are at it again

...spreading misinformation that is. Maire has the details.

Home Educators and Socialisation

Julia is staying measured and polite. I need this link!

India's Self-Taught Children

Thanks Bishop for the link to Sugata Mitra's TED talk.

A Home Educated Heroine

...in the prequel to Skellig, reviewed in the Guardian here.

Education Outside School Magazine

Here.

Not Back to School Picnic

...in Sheffield, reported upon here at 0.32.30 mins.