Click photo to enlarge
Nicola Pye enjoys home-schooling her children Harper (left)
and Liberty (right) Thein-Pye at their Dunedin home. Photo
by Peter McIntosh.
Brushing off labels such as "hippie" and "religious nut",
and debunking the socialisation myth, Nicola Pye followed
natural progression and took a stand for freedom to home-school
her children.
Harper (7) and Liberty (11) are happily schooled in their
Dunedin home.
Mrs Pye found it an easy decision to make, having had them at
home since infancy.
"It's quite natural."
Allowing her children to absorb information through practical
experiences was preferred to having them spend hours sitting
at a desk.
Key learning tools were conversation and observation and with
"every moment being a teachable moment", simple tasks such as
making lemonade became a science lesson and baking bread
became a mathematics lesson.
"You really can't stop them from learning," Mrs Pye said.
Liberty spent one term in a primary school as a trial, before
she pulled out, while Harper's only schooling has been at
home.
As an energetic boy who could barely sit still, he and his
mother did not believe he would cope well with the restrained
nature of school.
Liberty also preferred home-schooling because she had more
opportunities to learn her own way and was not tied to a
desk.
However, Mrs Pye believed it came down to the individual.
"I think both ways are good. I think it depends on the kids."
To those who believed home-schooled children missed out on
social opportunities, Liberty said, "That's not true at all".
She took part in 12 different activities with other children
of all ages including drama, gymnastics, choir and underwater
hockey.
"I know heaps of kids."
She was unsure if she would attend high school, which was a
common move among home-schoolers, but knew she "definitely"
wanted to go to university, entrance to which could be
achieved by correspondence.
Mrs Pye believed about 50 families home-schooled in Dunedin,
going from those who were part of two groups in the city -
Dunedin Christian Home Educators and Supporting Home
Education Among Families in Dunedin (SHEAF).
Both groups intermingled and provided opportunities for
parents and children to socialise and attend trips to museums
or go walking.
Yolanda Storm home-schooled her five children, through
different stages of their education, for a different reason -
religion.
With no "Christian" high school in Dunedin, she sent her
children, who now range in age from 5 to 23, to a Christian
education primary school.
They started home-schooling at varying stages of their
primary and intermediate years, according to their individual
needs.
The oldest remained at home until he enrolled in a bible
college, with the next three returning to school at different
stages as they pleased.
Her decision to home-school was initially based on a fear of
the children being exposed to sex and drugs but later, having
them at home became a preference.
"This was where my heart was - to have my children at home,"
she said.
She operated with a purchased curriculum which included
English, mathematics and social studies.
With no set study time at home, the children followed their
own routines and efficiently completed their work.
About half of home-schoolers she knew followed a set
programme, while others created their own.
The most significant benefit she said she experienced was
having confident, outgoing children.
"They are able to talk to anybody because they are not
confined in their peer group at school."
Children also spent a lot of time with their parents, so
engaging in adult conversation was common.
To her, the beauty of home-schooling was having a say in what
was being taught to her children.
"To me, home-schooling is the ultimate."
The only thing she thought may be a disadvantage was a lack
of personal time for the parent involved.
Some "struggle with the fact they don't get any time away
from their children".
Prof Terry Crooks, of the University of Otago, believed, from
his casual observations, it was important home-schooling
parents gave their children the opportunity to socialise with
other children and to ensure they filled any gaps in their
knowledge by engaging in their community's museums, groups
and clubs.
He also believed the one-on-one tuition home-schooling
allowed offered children "a very good education".
"It really depends on the expertise of the parent and the
willingness to make it a priority."
ellie.constantine@odt.co.nz
Home-schooling
- Ministry of Education figures show the number of
home-schooled children increased 29% over the past 10 years,
from 5274 pupils to 6787.
- Between July 1 July 2008 and July 1 2009, the number of
home-schoolers increased by 286 students, 4.4%.
- Children could legally begin home-schooling at age 6.
- An application for exemption had to be filed with the
ministry which asked for lesson plans outlining how the
parent intended to educate their child.
- Parents were exempt from having to follow the NZ Curriculum
Framework Requirements but they did have to satisfy the
ministry their child was being taught regularly and well and
were subject to Education Review Office visits.
- For more information about home-schooling in Dunedin, visit
http://sheafdunedin.blogspot.com/
or http://dunedineducators.blogspot.com/.
