Archive for month: October, 2001

We are a family of ten, with children ranging in age from one to fourteen, and have been home educating for over three years. I am a biologist, my wife has a diploma in graphic art and design. Our reasons for starting to home educate were varied, but chief amongst them was the awareness that with a large family (at that time we had seven children) the logistics of traveling and being involved in school life were tearing our family structure apart. Also, we were less than happy with the state options open to our oldest daughter for secondary schooling in our area, and deciding that one out all out was the best for our family, we took the plunge. We did not have any major complaints against the primary school from which we withdrew three of our children—in fact I was and still am a Governor of that school. I suspect that this involvement was useful in overcoming the initial reservations of the Local Education Authority advisors/inspectors, with whom we have been quite open and have a good relationship—that is, we have (or are meant to have) two visits a year (one for our primary and one for our secondary age children). They have generally been positive in attitude and the children are quite pleased to receive the attention and interest of an outsider in their work. My governorship also provides me with a view into current state educational practice and policy, and has also been useful in obtaining access to catalogues of curricular materials.

Graham N. Like, Volume 14, No. 4, 2001, p. 13-23