An Experiment of Homeschooling In England by Chris Shute
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The N.s live in a small town on the outskirts of Birmingham in the British Midlands. There are two children in the family, both boys. Neither has ever been to school. Their mother, J., had suffered at school, and when the time came to send her children there she and her husband decided that they could do a better job than the State. Both the parents, like their children, were, and are, Jehovah's Witnesses, but the parents' decision to homeschool was not taken simply because they feared the corrupting influences their children might encounter at school. It was just that J. liked her children, and wanted to keep them with her during their formative years.
I first met the boys when they were 11 and 12. Their father, a security technician, fitted my home with a burglar alarm, and the boys came to watch the operation. Once we had formed a relationship J. asked me to come and help with the boys' education. I tried at one time or another to teach both boys odd bits of knowledge, but I soon discovered that they had already handled their own learning for several years, and did not really need the sort of instruction I was used to giving. I was more use to them as a companion and interesting adult.
Both boys could read and write effectively. J. had taught them how, and they had not suffered from the fact that their mother, rather than a 'skilled professional' had handled that part of their education. However, it seemed to me that most of their time was taken up with some sort of play. When I first met N., the elder boy, he had a bedroom full of toys, including a gang of stuffed animals to whom I was introduced with enthusiasm, and models of Star Trek characters. I taught him a certain amount of BASIC programming, but what he really wanted me to do was have me play with him. I was happy to do so: I feel honoured when a child asks me to play, because I feel I have been admitted to his world, not as a dangerous adult, but as a companion.
As time went by I helped N. to write Star Trek stories and film them with a video-camera. I supplied the 'big' voices - Picard, Worf and assorted aliens. We set the models up against the best sci-fi backgrounds we could construct, and tried to find ways of moving the characters without our fingers appearing in shot, or knocking them over in mid-scene. We even had a 'premiere' for one film, with speeches and a printed programme!
The writing was valuable, but I never sensed that N. wanted to learn 'better grammar' or improve his lettering. That all came later, more or less naturally. He wanted me as a friend, and if I started to turn into a teacher he lost interest. In fact, I gave him a 'Word of Power' which he could say at any time if he wanted me to stop talking or explaining things. Together we explored his ideas and interests, between quite long bouts of playing computer games together. Both he and his brother, A., enjoyed talking to me and bringing me into their activities. I was useful to them because, unlike their other friends, I didn't get bored and goof off every so often.
When N. was about 14 1/2 things changed. He went to his mother and told her that for him childhood was now over. He put all his toys into a big bag, with love, and stowed them in the loft, for his own children to use in due time. Then he - and his brother, about the same time - set about studying.
Anyone who thinks that children 'need' years of lessons and homework in order to be able to cope with graduation would have been surprised by the ease with which both boys settled down to preparing for the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education). They had decided for themselves that they needed at least English and maths, in addition to the music which N. had chosen to study, and A.'s work on electronics. They also took an examination in computer literacy. Their mother persuaded some other homeschooling families to let their children take the same courses, and together they raised the money to employ tutors. The whole project was completed comfortably in two years.
I could tell long stories about the collective study I watched. Homeschooled children can work for several hours at a stretch without becoming bored or fractious. The boys' results were average, but this did not prevent them from doing what they wanted to do with their lives.
Both N. and A. are now employed. A. had been working with his father since the age of 11, and free from the pressure schools routinely place upon children to do everything but what they enjoy and are interested in, he had become a competent and reliable security technician at the age of 16. N., who is, perhaps, something of a dreamer, had not decided what he wanted to do as a career by the time he needed to make money for himself, so he got a series of jobs through an agency, without the slightest difficulty. He now works in a cinema. The nearest he has come to teenage angst was when he told his mother he thought he shouldn't be doing the job because he enjoyed it too much!
There is no space to describe these two young people more fully. Both are unusually mature and sociable. Neither has committed any of the grandiose misdemeanours young people often get into more or less serious trouble for. Both are formidably self-possessed, but courteous and helpful. If anyone questions the possibility of a successful home education, I should not hesitate to confront them with this family, and challenge them to define education in a way which would allow them to call what these boys and their parents have achieved, failure.
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© Copyright 2000. Chris Shute - All Rights Reserved.
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