Grahamstown is well-known for having some of the best schools in South Africa. So in a place with such good educational facilities, why would some families decide to home-school their children?
Grahamstown is well-known for having some of the best schools in South Africa. So in a place with such good educational facilities, why would some families decide to home-school their children?
There has always been a heated home-schooling vs mainstream schooling debate. There are those who welcome uniforms, school fees and taxi duty and others who slam their front doors on formal education.
One home-schooling parent says: “Besides teaching us how to answer exam questions very well, school was actually pretty useless.”
The parents, Mark* and Lynne,* had a standard schooling background which influenced their decision to homeschool their children.
Mark says: “I found it unsatisfying. The school system is very flat whereas everything outside is three- dimensional.” He says that his children have essentially been “unschooled”.
“They haven’t had regular hours of school; their education is more complex and organic.” Mark says another benefit of home-schooling is that children can “grow up as a family, not just as individuals”.
Mark is aware that one’s view of the formal schooling system is relative. “It’s easy to criticise an institution from a middleclass background while people who live in a shack might see school as a second home.”
One of their children, Sally*, says that home-schooling has made her family closer. “The main thing is that our family has always been very close, and I find that a lot of children who go to school don’t really know their families so well.”
She says that home-schooling has also instilled in them a love for learning. “We never looked on learning as a chore; we’ve always done what we wanted rather than what we were told to do.”
It’s 10am. The Harrison’s youngest child Kate* runs through the house singing loudly and is busy collecting leaves for her silkworms.
Both Sally and Kate are barefoot. Sally says: “When I was six, my mom said ‘Well do you want to go to school?’ She didn’t want to say that school is nasty, so she made it sound very nice, and then I said that I wanted to go.
She was not pleased about that so eventually she said ‘If you go to school, you’ll have to wear shoes.’” She laughs, “That was the last time I wanted to go to school because I couldn’t even stand the thought of wearing shoes every single day!”
The Harrison children work at their own pace and time. Sally’s smile almost reaches the flower tucked behind her ear when she sums up her home-schooling experience: “For me it’s amazing, I think it’s perfect. School was made for some people but unfortunately not all of us are like that.”
Guy Martin, a fourth year student, was home-schooled during his teens. He attained his matric exemption through the Cambridge system.
Martin says that when he first came to university, he experienced problems adjusting socially: “Adjusting to university life was a real shock.
It took me nearly a year to get totally accustomed to Rhodes. I had never been in such a large social network before and at first I was very shy and retiring and used to sit quietly in my room watching
movies.
Living in residence really helped as it slowly brought me out of my shell. But at first I was anxious and awkward.
I had to relearn all the social skills I had forgotten or missed out on during the previous seven years of home-schooling.”
Other than the social aspect, Martin says that he adapted well to university life. “I didn’t really have much of a problem with the forms of control and the rules and regulations.
Academically, the transition was fine because I was used to working by myself and I didn’t find the work too challenging.”
Like the Harrisons, Martin has an aversion to conforming to some of the institutional regulations: “Silly rules like not being allowed to walk barefoot into the dining hall still irritate me.”
Martin says that being home-schooled was a mixed bag. “On the one hand, it was very lonely, especially in the beginning. I had to get used to being without my friends and I had to learn to become independent.
On the other hand, home-schooling saved a lot of time because there was no travelling involved as the classroom was 20 metres from my bedroom.
Another good point was that I became self-sufficient; there is no one to tell you that you can’t do something.For instance, I got my first article on an aircraft published when I was 15 years old.”
Like Martin, Mark Harrison believes that homeschooling gives children more independence: “It gives the children space to explore what they’d like to do; it’s child-led,not parent-led.
They have to be independent because very little is done for them. They do everything in their own time. They have to arrange their own lessons.”
Warren Schmidt, deputy principal of Victoria Girls’ High School, acknowledges that formal schooling is not for everyone: “Although I work in a conventional schooling system, I don’t necessarily believe such a system is best for all learners.
I have worked with a couple of parents in the last few years who have moved their daughters out of VG to be home-schooled because they weren’t enjoying or coping with a conventional schooling system, and this seems to have worked for them.
We have also accepted just as many learners who have been in a home-schooling environment who wanted the structure and social interaction provided by mainstream schools.
I think that girls leaving VG says something about the traditional school environment not being for everyone, but also we must realise that not everyone thrives in a home-schooling environment.”
Lindy Greaves is a member and an area representative of the Eastern Cape Home Schooling Association. Greaves represents the Grahamstown Home-school Group which consists of six other home-schooling parents.
Her role is to also pass on information to other homeschoolers around the district. Greaves says: “There are as many different reasons for homeschooling as there are homeschoolers .
Each family is unique in their reason for homeschooling . There are great schools in Grahamstown, but home-schooling offers an individual educational plan that no school can. Some of our home-schoolers are also far from town.
Greaves says that there are enough resources for parents in Grahamstown: “There is a huge variety of educational, cultural and sporting resources and activities for home-schoolers, as well as festivals and eisteddfods.
There is also support in the form of a weekly group and field trips. With access to the internet, there is plenty of support and information for home-schoolers.”
Mark shares Lindy’s sentiments: “Fortunately, Grahamstown is full of academic people and there are many retired academics.”
One of these academics is Dr Ron Hall, a retired English lecturer who jokes that he is a ghost who still haunts the Rhodes English Department. Hall has tutored the Harrison children.
“It’s very enjoyable for me to meet individually with bright, courteous, committed and responsive students who read plenty of other things as well.
They are cheerfully open about enjoying the world of literature, art, music and ideas. Quite outside of syllabus matters, we enjoy lending each other books, videos, music recordings and so on.”
Hall compared these individual lessons with the broader schooling system, saying: “In the dim past when I schooltaught there were great enjoyments too, but class discipline was a pretty tiring business, I must admit, together with administration and extramural duties.
It is a treat just to sit and teach someone who is always paying attention.” Those who wish to homeschool their chidren are acting within their legal rights as home-schooling is protected by the Constitution of South Africa.
A parent may apply to the Department of Education for the registration of their child to be home-schooled but is not compelled to.
There is ample research about home-schooling available on the internet and parents should get in touch with local home-schooling groups.
While Mark has had success with home-schooling his children, he says: “I don’t like to be superior or arrogant about it that’s a big mistake. We don’t know if it’s superior, but it just feels like the right thing to do.”
Mark’s opinion on why so few people decide to opt for home-schooling is that “it’s such a mission”. He pulls a face and laughs. “It’s not for the faint-hearted, but for me, it’s been grand fun.
It can also be expensive as it’s not that much cheaper than normal schooling. Also, because the children are at home all the time, they eat so much!”
*Names have been changed.
