Annette Taylor: Let's chalk it up for home-schooling

The holidays are well and truly over and across the country kids are back at school in their thousands.

But for some, school is only as far as the room next door or the kitchen table. At the last count (2003), almost 6500 children were being home-schooled in New Zealand. That's against 764,654 in school.

Waikato, interestingly, is among the regions with the highest proportion of home-schoolers.

My guess is that home-school numbers have increased since the last count. So why do we do it? The reasons are varied. Lifestyle is a big one, and doubts about sending your child off to be taught by a stranger is another. Religion plays a part for some.

David and I have home-schooled our 14-year-old daughter for eight years now. We started because she asked us to. After a term or two at the local school the sparkle had fled from her eyes - she was miserable.

Home-schooling is as ordered or disordered as you want. There are groups one can tap into and any number of trips to zoos, wetlands or waste treatment stations, but you can also just put your head down and do it your way. Not all home-schoolers see eye to eye.

Many have taken their child out of school to prevent him or her learning the evils of evolution. One family told us how shocked they were to learn their kid had been exposed to Darwin's ideas. I said I felt deeply shocked when told my daughter had to take religious instruction, which the school said was "mandatory". That friendship didn't last.

Home-schoolers are subjected to a number of questions. The socialisation concern arises constantly.

Most home-schoolers dismiss this with a snort. Te Pahu musician and solo dad Jim Fulton believes it's the other way round. He's taught his three at home for 11 years now and ticks off the many events and outings they attend, with large groups and small.

"We've even gone to schools, performed music and shown them how to make instruments."

His offspring get on well with people of all ages.

"Most of the socialising done at school is completely unnatural - friendships that are forced because of the environment you're in. When home-schoolers get together you'll often see a 17-year-old talking with a 5-year-old or an 80-year-old. There's no concept of social parameters, no division between your age, sex or how good you are at maths".

Here's a bonus - many home-schoolers never develop that nasty teenage attitude. Most never learn to pout, grunt or look bored. Home-schooled kids are generally enthusiastic, bright-eyed and eager to learn.

Which is one of the reasons Judy McDonald chose to teach her two herself. The thought of plonking her kids in a class with 30 others, with one person in charge, never appealed.

"It's not the teachers' fault," she says. "It's just too easy for some to fall through the cracks.

"When it's one-to-one, you know what your children know. You can see when they don't understand something and you need to fix it."

Home-schooling is not a life sentence. Ruth took two of her children out of school, at different times, for six months.

"They needed time out for different reasons, to do some focused learning away from the hassle and hustle of school."

Both blossomed when they returned to the school environment and she never considered home-schooling for longer.

"It takes a lot of effort, and I was doing my doctorate at the time."

Jim agrees that home-schooling can be hard, "and it brings in no money".

"It's probably easier to send your kids to school. But it's worked really well for us; we can go off somewhere for a week or stay up late with no worries about catching the school bus at 7am.

"Spending this time together is more valuable than any other considerations - my kids have had a childhood."

Another common query is about NCEA qualifications. Some schools will accommodate home-schoolers, but NCEA can be sidestepped. Many institutions, such as the Open Polytechnic, have courses that offer a path to further study.

Home-schooling is not for everyone, but for us, the experiment has paid off. We've enjoyed a wonderful life that has seen us travelling round the country, learning all the time. And that's not just Iris doing the learning.

* Annette Taylor will contribute occasionally to Stevenson's Country.