The Hidden Life

I want to know how many people have shared their home education style/philosophy with their family. Have you you been up front with them? What was/is their reation? Or do they assume that home education means school-at-home?

I am in a predicament because I am one of the many underground natural learning families in Australia who haven't registered with the Department of Education. This was a hard decision when we started as I wanted it to be all above-board but I also didn't want to have to answer to the Ed Dept. I know a lot about the education system as I finished a 4-year Bachelor of Education degree in 2002. At first I thought the articles I read about unschooling were over-the-top and was satisfied with trying to plan integrated units of work using the philosophy and teaching practices I had learned about during my degree. However, whenever I tried to implement my structured plans there was something that didn't seem right about it. I spent my days planning and looking at the syllabus while my children got on with learning naturally.

It was when I started to witness all the learning that was taking place that my concept of learning started to change - seeing the children naturally having fun with maths concepts, investigating the natural world, sharing all sorts of information from the television shows they were watching, and so on. I read more about about learning naturally and realised that unschooling wasn't such a radical concept after all. In fact, it actually reflects most of the educational theories that are encouraged but just don't match up with the reality in the classroom. If only the theorists would stop trying to fit things into the existing mess and open their eyes to the bigger picture...if they want learning to be as student-led and real-life as possible it needs to happen in the REAL WORLD. You'll see what I mean when I tell you they are encouraging student-led learning, holistic education, experiential learning (learning by doing), integration rather than segmentation of subjects, opportunities for real-life experiences, and allowing students to progress at their own developmental rates. So why is home education frowned upon when it is the ideal way of implementing the top educational theories? Without all the crap that goes along with being in school!

I know I've gone off on a tangent, but it does relate to my original question because I know my family expect and assume that I am doing school at home with my kids...sitting down with the syllabus documents and planning lessons...having the kids sit at the table filling in workbooks...testing to see what they know, etc. Perhaps I dug myself a hole in the early stages trying to justify our decision to homeschool by reinforcing that you get an exemption to homeschool and that you plan as a teacher would. I never actually said that WE had an exemption though! Sneaky I know. :-)

Basically, the reason for writing about this is that I feel like we are living a hidden life. As long as we have to hide what we really do (or don't do), there will always be that void between us and the rest of the family. We can't truly be ourselves. I do try to be truthful in conversations about the children's learning without giving away the extent of our sepapration from the school way of doing things. In my mind the kids' achievements have come about naturally, whereas in the family's minds it is the result of teaching. I always try to promote what the kids are interested in, e.g. my son's recent bottle top collecting which led to counting, organising, analysing data, etc. (see our Learningland Blog) which shows that there is always learning happening.

I'm too tired to try to ramble on about this any more right now. I hope I have made sense! One of my biggest concerns to do with this "hidden life" is who to choose as guardians in case anything should happen to myself and my husband. I shudder when I think of our lack of suitable options but we don't have wills yet...need to make them...have bought will kits...but choosing guardians is nearly impossible in my eyes. UGH!